Posted on: Tuesday, May 21, 2002

EDITORIAL
Less politics, more learning experience

The sudden dust-up last week about what the president knew and when he knew it about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack has calmed just a bit, which we hope will allow for constructive discussion.

It's far from clear that President Bush was given anything on the order of information he could act on in a briefing before Sept. 11. The day or two of hysteria that followed an announcement of the contents of that briefing was mostly partisan politics at its worst. It quickly subsided.

But what also is becoming somewhat clearer is the extent of the intelligence failure that preceded Sept. 11, with revelations, for instance, of FBI field reports that weren't relayed to the bureau's management or shared with the CIA. These shortcomings have nothing to do with which party is or was in charge.

But, especially in light of Vice President Dick Cheney's weekend warning that the next major terrorist attack is "almost certain," this nation cannot afford business as usual when it comes to intelligence.

It's the responsibility of Congress to closely examine what went wrong, and to recommend changes. It is to be hoped that this vital business can be accomplished with a minimum of political one-upmanship. We need answers, not scapegoats.