The 9/11 Commission on Monday will explore one of the most critical elements of the attack that claimed the lives of 3,000 innocent Americans: how the terrorists got into the United States. We have long known that all 19 of the 9/11 terrorists came here on legal visas, but one of the topics the commission will cover is that several other would-be hijackers did not make it because they were stopped by alert officials who sensed that something was amiss. Though this might appear a vindication for the State Department’s beleaguered visa division, it is actually just the opposite. State has long argued that there was no way it could have prevented any of the 9/11 terrorists from entering the U.S. precisely because they didn’t have advance, specific intelligence about the threat posed by any of the individuals. What State fails to mention, however, is that at least 15 of the 19 did not qualify under the law for visas—yet were given them anyway. Full Story
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