As the inquiries into the status of US intelligence prior to the 9/11 attacks continue, I read in the paper today of an online poll that seriously asks the question, "Who's to blame for the 9/11 attacks?" This qualifies as a stupid question. Even if our "country let us down" and failed to respond appropriately to intelligence in ways that might have prevented the attacks, it does not follow that the CIA, or the president, or the security advisor, are to blame for the attacks. The primary responsibility must always be attributed to those wicked men who glory in their responsibility for the attacks: the Al Qaeda fighters themselves. On the other hand, what do you guys make of the following analogy? Suppose I am privy to some information that leads me to justifiably believe that Jones is going to murder Smith. Furthermore, it is within my power to attempt to stop Jones. Now, not because of any malice of mine toward Jones, I fail to attempt the intervention, whether due to mental or physical lethargy, inappropriate synthesis of the relevant information, or some other incompetence, and Smith is killed. Of course I've thereby incurred some blameworthiness, and depending on what kind of incompetence I displayed, I should be punished accordingly. In a similar way, should it turn out that there was sufficient information available prior to the 9/11 attacks for some preventative measures to be taken, and it also turn out that those measures were not taken, then the appropriate people should be reprimanded in proportion to their form of incompetence or negligence. I think the analogy pretty clearly stands. So the investigations are probably worthwhile. But the attacks were two and a half years ago, and the investigations are becoming a media focus just as the '04 campaign kicks into high gear. I can't help but feel like there are attempts being made to put the current administration in a bad light through this process. Furthermore, the dimmer our vision of the heinousness of Islam-rooted crimes against humanity, the harder it becomes to justify US efforts against terrorism and terrorism supporting regimes. If there is any blameworthiness on the part of the administration, it is a distant secondary responsibility at worst. What do you guys think?