Richard Rhodes Quotes
Throwing money after security turns out to be a classic example of the law of diminishing marginal utility.
Richard Rhodes, Historian & Journalist, “To Protect the Homeland”. The Washington Post, October 16, 2011
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The bipartisan Presidential Commission had unanimously made 41 recommendations to prevent future terrorist attacks. While the Bush Administration and Congress implemented a few many of the more critical ones were left unaddressed. The commission on its final day issued a report card giving failing grades to both the White House and the Republican-controlled Congress.
Plan Orange was the code name of the united states plan for possible war with Japan. In this ironic quotation, American military planners realized five years before Pearl Harbor that surprise attack was the major vulnerability. We were surprised and had no help from our intelligence service which despite the recommendations was almost nonexistent.
Manava Dharma Shastra. Espionage and counter espionage was called for in “good government Ancient Hindu style.” This text is a part of the Hindu Holy Texts. Hindus believe that Manu was a prophet whose text is revealed or inspired.
36 days later, September 11, he did strike. See {617467} for some of the specific contents. The memo was kept secret by the Bush administration until public pressure as a result of the 9-11 Commission hearings forced the declassification and release. At that point it became clear that there was no reason that the memo could not have been released much earlier except that it was embarrassing. See {637530} and {637533} for two other Bin Laden Warnings that Bush and his team ignored.
He was discussing the genetic atrocities, genocide and ethnic cleansing, and the murdering of scientists that had been justified by governments for national security reasons especially the murder of Russian geneticists by Stalin in Russia.
The largest refinery also in Houston did not have a single armed guard on duty.
They are supplemented by contractor building guards and security officers who have minimal training, no law enforcement authority.
Bush claimed he did not remember the conversation. His incoming National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, was also briefed about bin Laden by the Clinton anti-terrorism director, Richard Clarke. The Bush Administration ignored the warnings until bin Laden struck on 9-11
The Bush administration were busy making their appointments and setting some domestic priorities. In 4 months 9-11 would make them wish that they had taken these warnings more seriously. See {637530}.
Richard Lee Rhodes is an American historian, journalist, and author of both fiction and non-fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1986), and most recently, Energy: A Human History (2018).
