9/11 - Dubya's Unanswered Questions

On the Sunday after September 11, in an interview with Meet the Press, Vice President Cheney said the potentially fateful decision had been made—with his own wholehearted agreement—by the president himself. There had indeed been moments, Cheney said, when he thought a shootdown might be necessary. In November 2001, speaking with Newsweek's Evan Thomas, Cheney said Bush took the decision during one of their phone calls around 10 a.m. that morning. "I recommended to the president that we authorize ..." Cheney recalled, "I said, 'We've got to give the pilots rules of engagement, and I recommend we authorize them to shoot.' We talked about it briefly, and he said, 'OK, I'll sign up to that.' He made the decision."

On Aug. 28, when Americans sit down to listen to the president's latest account of his actions that morning, they should do so with an awareness of his—and Cheney's—past remarks on the subject. Based on what they have claimed previously, the American people will hardly be able to rely on the "candid observations" promised in the NatGeo press release. More Here.