Could September 11 Have Been Prevented

There are people in this country who are convinced that September 11, 2001, could have been prevented.  They treat information glowing in the light of hindsight as clear dots that could have been connected beforehand.  There are some things that need to be considered, though.

In 2001, before the attacks, there were over 24,000 commercial flights per day.  There were over 5000 per day at major airports.  There isn't enough manpower in the country to check everyone boarding all those flights.

Additionally, the hijackers used box cutters and plastic knives to take over the planes.  Those items were not typically confiscated in 2001. There would have been no way for the government to anticipate that.

Now, let's look at the hijackers.  Other than connections to Bin Laden, these men hadn't broken any laws beyond immigration violations.  Now, if any of you have dealt with the INS, they weren't typically interested in individual illegal immigrants, and depending upon the part of the country, there might not have been any INS agents close by.

But, to satisfy the finger pointers, let's say that all twenty are targeted and  detained.  Under Federal law, prior to September 11, illegal aliens are entitled to bond.  If they had been detained without bond, the ACLU would have pounced in a heartbeat.  We can't racially profile, you know.

Further, even if they had been detained at the planes, they would have had to have been released.  They hadn't broken a law.  All we would have accomplished is to make September 11 turn into October 18 or something similar.

It might make political points to blame someone, but it is futile and shows a lack of logic.  September 11 couldn't have been prevented unless clairvoyants had been permitted to violate the Constitution.