My Crime Beat Column: The Terrorist In Fact And Fiction

The below Crime Beat column originally appeared in the Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine: 

The terrorist has long been a staple villain in fiction. From Ian Fleming to Tom Clancy, the terrorist in thrillers has been portrayed as a criminal out to extort money, a religious fanatic doing the work of God (as he sees it in his deluded mind), or a former soldier seeking revenge for some perceived slight.

We’ve seen neo-Nazis, white supremacists, international criminals, misguided youth and of course, the Islamic fanatical terrorist exporting the Mid-East conflict to America. 

In Money, Money, Money, Ed McBain’s Middle Eastern character arrives at an American airport, and he is deeply offended at being profiled as a terrorist - even though he is one. 

McBain’s crime novel, involving money laundering and international terrorism, was published two days before the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  

Ed McBain, aka Evan Hunter, aka Salvator Lombino, said he was on a book promotion tour in Chicago when he heard the news of the attack. He noted the eerie similarity between his novel and the real unfolding events. 

Since 9/11, the stock bad guy terrorist in fiction and action movies has become a very real villain and a very real threat. 

America’s war on terrorism may have begun in earnest following the September 11th attacks, but the terrorist's war against America and the Western democracies can be traced back to the 1960s and the 1970s. 

Plane hijackings, kidnappings, car bombs and other acts of terrorism plagued the capitals of Europe throughout the 1970s and right on into the new century. Europeans have long lived under the gun (and the bomb) of Middle East terrorists, as well as the IRA, organized crime, separatist movements and a variety of left- and right-wing terrorist groups. These groups considered embassies, hotel lobbies, sports arenas, airport lounges and sidewalk cafes free-fire combat zones. 

I lived in Europe for two years in the mid-1970s while serving in the U.S. Navy and I saw how life could be affected by the fear of terrorism. I talked to a good number of Britons, Italians, Germans, Spaniards and other Europeans in train stations, restaurants and bars as I traveled throughout Europe. I recall that nearly all of them expressed a deep fear of terrorism following every news account of a car bombing or assassination in London, Paris or Stockholm. 

Terrorism was not an abstraction to them. It was a very real threat to their well-being. 

I was in Belfast during the Christmas season, and I was saddened to see this war-torn city with British troops in full combat gear on street corners. 

While I was there a bomb was detonated at a store, and several innocents were killed. 

I recall being glad that we didn’t see terrorist attacks on American soil. I also reflected on America’s good fortune to have fought all our modern wars on foreign shores. 

Previous to 9/11, terrorists mostly targeted our military people at overseas posts, from the Marine barracks in Beirut to the USS Cole in Yemen. They also targeted Americans traveling abroad on foreign airlines and cruise ships. 

Of course, since 9/11, that’s all changed now. The terrorists have brought the war home in a big way. 

The terrorists have brought the war to our shores and like the Europeans, we now must live with the threat of terrorism. 

9/11 was perhaps America’s worst disaster, but the acts of heroism and humanity that followed the attack led me to believe that we have the resolve to win the war on terrorism. 

Note: The above FBI.gov photo shows the Statute of Liberty and beyond it the World Trade Center on fire on 9/11.

DEA Dedicates September 11th Memorial At DEA Headquarters to NYPD And NYSP Task Force Officers

The DEA released the below information:

WASHINGTON - On Friday, September 9, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration dedicated a memorial at DEA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, to DEA New York Drug Enforcement Task Force Officers who have lost their lives from illness or disease caused by their work at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This new memorial consists of artifacts from the World Trade Center and Pentagon and a photograph from Shanksville, Pennsylvania; as well as seven names of DEA Task Force Officers who were assigned to the DEA’s New York Drug Enforcement Task Force:

• New York State Police Senior Investigator Thomas G. Moran, Jr. - July 22, 2012 – Cornwell, NY
• New York Police Department Detective Traci L. Tack-Czajkowski - January 15, 2013 – Dix Hills, NY.
• New York State Police Investigator Paul R. Stuewer- October 5, 2016 – Poughkeepsie, NY
• New York Police Department Detective Mark Mkwanazi - February 16, 2017 – West Hempstead, NY
• New York Police Department Detective Thomas J. Barnitt - June 11, 2018 – Campbell Hall, NY
• New York Police Department Sergeant Robert P. Masci - June 9, 2018 – Smithtown, NY
• New York Police Department Detective Terence P. Mulvey - December 1, 2021 – Bronx, NY           

Administrator Milgram was joined by NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell and NYSP Major Brian P. Webster to honor these Task Force Officers during a private dedication ceremony attended by the families and friends.

“We will never forget the tremendous sacrifice of the men and women who responded to the events of September 11, 2001. Not only on that day, but in the weeks, months, and years that followed. These American heroes showed true courage and bravery in the face of unimaginable adversity,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “This 9/11 memorial is a tribute to their lives, their work, and their service to country. We are proud to honor these TFOs who showed incredible integrity and dedication to their mission. They will forever remain a part of DEA’s legacy, both in our hearts and as an element of the DEA Museum.”

“On September 11, 2001, more than 70 law enforcement officers – including 23 members of the New York City Police Department – lost their lives in defense of our nation,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said. “And in the two decades since, hundreds more have died as a result of their rescue and recovery work that day and in the weeks, months, and years following. Tragically, we know that our losses will continue – but we are strengthened by the solemn pride and selfless devotion of all of our first responders and their loved ones. The memories of our fallen heroes live on through this memorial, and their legacies endure through every officer who continues their vital work. Thank you to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the New York State Police, and all of our 9/11 line-of-duty families who inspire us each day.”

New York State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen said, “The tragic events of September 11, 2001, have left a tremendous void that is felt throughout our nation. Memorials such as this are imperative to show the survivors and loved ones of our fallen heroes that yes, we remember. These honored men and woman have displayed uncommon courage, remarkable bravery, and exceptional service. The New York State Police is forever thankful for their sacrifice and selflessness in putting others before themselves.”

The September 11th memorial, developed as part of the DEA Museum, serves both as a constant reminder of the selfless sacrifice our brave men and women made, and educates the public and visitors to DEA Headquarters about the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the impact it continues to have on our nation. The DEA Museum and Visitors Center is located at 700 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA and is free to the public, open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

CIA Officers Reveal How Bill Clinton Stopped Them From Killing Bin Laden And Preventing 9/11

Marlow Stern at the Daily Beast offers a piece on a new documentary that features former CIA officers blaming former President Clinton for 9/11, as he didn’t allow American forces to take out bin Laden when they had the chance before 9/11.

Former President Bill Clinton has talked openly about how he could have killed Osama bin Laden—but passed. 

“I nearly got him. And I could have killed him, but I would have to destroy a little town called Kandahar in Afghanistan and kill 300 innocent women and children, and then I would have been no better than him. And so I just didn't do it,” Clinton confessed to an Australian audience just 10 hours before two planes struck the World Trade Center. 

AdChoices

But in The Longest War, a new documentary from director Greg Barker (Manhunt) and executive producer Alex Gansa (Homeland), former CIA agents reveal that they had another opportunity to take out Osama bin Laden with little collateral damage. 

“Bin Laden was constantly moving, and we were using Afghan tribal networks to report on his travels and his whereabouts,” Bob Grenier, then-CIA station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan, says in the film. 

When the Afghan tribal networks uncovered that a caravan carrying bin Laden would be traveling along a certain route, they suggested U.S. forces bury a cache of explosives along it to eliminate the infamous terrorist. But Grenier told them they’d be “risking jail” if they did, and that was all thanks to President Clinton. 

“The CIA had a so-called ‘lethal finding’ [bill] that had been signed by President Clinton that said that we could engage in ‘lethal activity’ against bin Laden, but the purpose of our attack against bin Laden couldn’t be to kill him,” Grenier explains in the film. “We were being asked to remove this threat to the United States essentially with one hand tied behind our backs.” 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link: 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cia-agents-reveal-how-bill-clinton-stopped-them-from-killing-osama-bin-laden-and-preventing-911 

Note: I changed the headline from CIA agents to CIA officers. Career Americans at the CIA are officers, not agents. Agents, or assets, are the foreign nationals that CIA case officers recruit to spy for America. 

On This Day In History Osama Bin Laden, The Mastermind Of The 9/11 Terrorist Attack, Was Killed By American Forces

As History.com notes, on this day in 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed by Navy SEALs.

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, is killed by U.S. forces during a raid on his compound hideout in Pakistan. The notorious, 54-year-old leader of Al Qaeda, the terrorist network of Islamic extremists, had been the target of a nearly decade-long international manhunt.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/osama-bin-laden-killed-by-u-s-forces?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2018-0502-05022018&om_rid=d7a6a4618fea152ee101c52ce6bad4d7f3138899598191c1d8e241260a87276f&om_mid=367657479&kx_EmailCampaignID=21201&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2018-0502-05022018&kx_EmailRecipientID=d7a6a4618fea152ee101c52ce6bad4d7f3138899598191c1d8e241260a87276 

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine interview with former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill (seen in the above photo), who shot bin Laden via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/09/my-q-with-robert-oneill-navy-seal-who.html 

David French: The 'Idiots' Were Right, Mr. Bannon - Trump’s Newly Ousted Chief Strategist Says He Has ‘Total And Complete Contempt’ For The Members Of George W. Bush’s Foreign-Policy Team. They Deserve Better.

David French at National Review responds to Steve Bannon’s criticism of President George W. Bush’s security and foreign policy team on 60 Minutes.

How quickly some of us forget. How arrogant some of us have become.

Those of you old enough to remember the shock and horror of September 11, answer me this: If I had told you that the George W. Bush’s anti-terror policies would be so effective that after that terrible day jihadist terrorists would kill only three Americans on U.S. soil for the remainder of his term, would you judge his policies a success, or would you call him an “idiot” and hold him and his foreign-policy team in “complete contempt?”

I know my answer. I know the fair answer. In the days and weeks after 9/11, fear gripped America. We knew al-Qaeda possessed an immense safe haven in Afghanistan. We had no idea of what other plots might unfold next. After all, our intelligence agencies had just missed the worst attack on American soil since the British burned Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. We believed that the 9/11 attacks were the first of a series of assaults to come. That they never came is to the eternal credit of Bush and his team. Steve Bannon has a different answer, and it’s ridiculous. On 60 Minutes last night, the man credited with shaping Trump’s “America First” brand of politics clearly and unequivocally declared his disdain for George W. Bush and Bush’s entire national-security team, calling them “idiots” and saying that he holds them “in contempt, total and complete contempt.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/451247/steve-bannon-wrong-george-w-bush-foreign-policy-kept-america-safe-post-911 

You can also read an earlier post on President Bush and the Iraq War via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/03/will-bush-be-vindicated-case-for-iraq.html 

FBI Remembers Fallen Heroes During National Police Week 2017

The FBI released the below report:

The FBI this week honored seven special agents who responded to the 9/11 attacks and later died from illnesses linked to their exposure to toxic air and hazardous materials at the sites. The agents were recognized as part of National Police Week, an annual event that draws thousands of law enforcement officers to Washington, D.C. each May to honor their fallen colleagues.

In the weeks following the 9/11 attacks, Special Agents Steven Carr, William Craig, Jerry Jobe, Robert Roth, Gerard Senatore, Paul Wilson, and Wesley Yoo were among the FBI personnel who recovered the deceased and gathered critical evidence in the largest investigation in FBI history. After scientists confirmed a connection between 9/11 responders and their illnesses, the agents—who passed away between 2007 and 2015—were added to the FBI’s Hall of Honor this week. They ranged in age from 44 to 68 at the time of their deaths.

During a memorial service on May 17 at FBI Headquarters for all agents who have died in the line of duty, FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe called the fallen 9/11 responders “peacemakers dedicated to protecting the lives of Americans.”

“They did their jobs not knowing that responding to the scene of a tragic attack would set into motion another tragedy that they would not realize until many years later,” he said.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week. Multiple events are held in the nation’s capital each year in the days leading up to and during the week, including a candlelight vigil, a Blue Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and several others.

This year’s events were underscored by the release of a preliminary FBI report that shows 66 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed last year in the line of duty. An additional 52 officers were killed in line-of-duty accidents, according to preliminary statistics compiled by the Bureau’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which will release a full report, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2016, in the fall.

An Israeli Perspective Of Homeland Security

Back in September of 2002, on the one year anniversary of 9/11, I attended the American Society of Industrial Security's annual seminar in Philadelphia. On assignment for The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International,  I interviewed a number of current and former intelligence, security law enforcement and military people, including two former members of the Israeli security services and a former Israeli Special Forces commando.

As the Israelis have dealt with terrorism far longer than the U.S., I thought the Israeli perspective was interesting.  

You can read my piece above and below:

  

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge.

CIA Releases Memo Showing Agency Blamed Bill Clinton For Bankrupting War On Terror Ahead of 9/11

Stephen Dinan at the Washington Times reports on a CIA document that blamed President Clinton for failing to allow the CIA to combat terrorism prior to 9/11.

The Clinton administration had bankrupted the intelligence community and refused to let the

CIA prioritize anti-terrorism over other major priorities in the late 1990s, leaving the agency stretched too thin in the days ahead of the 2001 terrorist attacks, former Director George J. Tenet (seen in the below photo) said in a 2005 document declassified Friday.

Mr. Tenet, who was head of the agency at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks and has taken severe criticism for not anticipating and heading them off, said in the document that he took the threat of Osama bin Laden very seriously, and put major effort into trying to penetrate al Qaeda, beginning as far back as 1998.

In one revelation, Mr. Tenet says those efforts averted off an earlier “major attack” planned by al Qaeda for some time in 1999 or 2000. The document gives no other details.

The document was a response to an inspector general’s draft report that had accused Mr. Tenet of failing to give al Qaeda enough attention in the months leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks. But Mr. Tenet said he did take steps, amid all the other work CIA was also required to do.

“Your report does not adequately address the context of an intelligence community that had to respond to wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, the prospect of war between India and Pakistan, China’s military buildup and threat to Taiwan, the requirements of policy makers, particularly in Congress, to pursue narco-traffickers in Central and South America, and numerous other such requirements,” Mr. Tenet wrote. “Despite all of these stresses, despite the fact that we had effectively been in Chapter 11 as an intelligence community, we continued on a path to methodically increase both CIA and intelligence community resources and our personnel base devoted to terrorism.”

In addition to Mr. Tenet’s response document, which had originally been classified “top secret/codeword sensitive,” the CIA released more full versions Friday of several other documents that had been released earlier

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/12/clinton-admin-bankrupted-cia-ahead-911-ex-director/

Man Our Ship And Bring Her To Life!: In Honor Of 9/11, U.S. Navy's Newest Warship Is Comissioned In Philadelphia

The U.S. Navy released photos, a video and the below piece by Mass Communications Specialist Elena Pense, USS Somerset Public Affairs:   

PHILADELPHIA (NNS) -- USS Somerset (LPD 25), the Navy's newest amphibious transport dock ship, commissioned during a formal ceremony at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, March 1.

USS Somerset represents the heroic actions of the 40 crew and passengers of United Flight 93, honoring their collective sacrifice and the tremendous courage displayed in the face of overwhelming adversity. Had it not been for their brave actions, the terrorists would have likely reached their intended target and countless more lives may have been lost.

Thousands of guests, including military veterans and family and friends of the crew, witnessed the ship coming to life and enter the naval service. Distinguished guests included the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Adm. Jonathan Greenert and the Honorable Pat Toomey - United States Senator, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James F. Amos, delivered the principal address and spoke of the ship and employment to the nation.

"Somerset is a welcomed edition to the Fleet, make no mistake, this vessel along with the other San Antonio Class Amphibious ships represent America's commitment to security around the world," said Amos. "When this ship sails the worlds oceans, she will carry the spirit and determination and the fighting spirit that has always defined America."

Somerset's commanding officer, Capt. Thomas L. Dearbon, spoke of her crew and her namesake's heroic actions.

"We are here today to not only honor and pay tribute to the heroes of United Flight 93, but also to celebrate the commissioning of this great ship USS Somerset," said Dearborn. "Somerset will leave a legacy that will never be forgotten by those wishing to do harm to this country. A ship is but a steel vessel, it is the crew that brings the ship to life. USS Somerset is truly a fine warship and the crew that mans her, is second to none."

At the conclusion of the remarks, Somerset's ship sponsor, Mrs. Mary Jo Myers, the wife of former Joint Chiefs of Staff retired Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, gave the time-honored command to "man our ship and bring her to life!"

"[Flight 93 passengers and crew members] exemplified such courage and bravery that day as they sacrificed themselves to protect others and to rally our nation they were indeed the first warriors in this war on terrorism," said Myers. "Today we come together as families, but mostly as Americans to celebrate and witness this momentous occasion and wish the USS Somerset and her crew Godspeed."

The commissioning was the culmination of a week-long celebration in Philadelphia honoring the ship, her crew and the legacy of the 40 passengers and crew member of United Airlines of Flight 93. The ship will be homeported in San Diego.

Former CIA Official Reveals The Truth About Waterboarding

Ronald Kessler, the veteran journalist and author of several books on the FBI and the CIA, offers an interesting column at Newsmax.com on a former CIA official who wrote a book defending waterboarding and other aggressive CIA actions after 9/11.

For nearly 10 years, we have been subjected to claims by critics and the media that CIA-enhanced interrogation and waterboarding were useless and constituted torture.

Jose Rodriguez Jr., the former chief of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, told the real story recently to a luncheon gathering of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO).
You can read the rest of Ronald Kessler's column via the below link:

http://www.newsmax.com/RonaldKessler/CIA-Official-Waterboarding-Rodriguez/2012/06/21/id/443019 

Nation Mourns Fallen, Honors New Generation, Says Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

Cheryl Pellerin, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2011 - The nation comes together this weekend to mourn nearly 3,000 innocent lives taken 10 years ago on 9/11 and to honor a new generation that has volunteered to shoulder the burden of protecting the United States, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said here last night.

"Today we not only commemorate those nearly 3,000 innocent lives who perished on Sept. 11, 2001, but we also honor those who stepped forward in the wake of those attacks -- the generation that answered the nation's call to serve at a time of war," Panetta said.

This new generation, the secretary added, "has volunteered to shoulder the burden of protecting this country, a young generation fighting for a better life, a better America and a better world."

In a Kennedy Center concert hall lit by chandeliers and festooned with large screens that held images of the National Cathedral -- the originally scheduled venue for the concert before it was damaged by a recent earthquake and a subsequent crane accident -- the Marine Chamber Orchestra, the U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters and the Washington National Cathedral Choir honored the victims of 9/11.

On the stage, Panetta addressed hundreds of Washington dignitaries, families of those who died on 9/11, survivors of the attacks, military service members, and National Cathedral officials and staff who helped to transform the concert hall into a sacred place for the commemoration.

"Ten years ago, just days after the horrific attacks of Sept. 11, leaders from all political, religious and cultural backgrounds gathered in Washington at the National Cathedral," he said. "As the nation stood traumatized, we came together to mourn the dead, to begin the healing, and to remember those values -� of liberty, and equality, and tolerance, and fairness -� that we all hold dear and that make America the great nation that it is."

And so it is fitting, he added, "that we gather again under the leadership of the National Cathedral on this 10th anniversary of 9/11 to remember, to continue to heal, and to pledge anew that we will continue to show the world the enduring strength of the American character."

At the heart of a strong democracy, Panetta said, are citizens who are willing to roll up their sleeves and serve their country.

"It was true for our forefathers. It was true for our pioneers. It was true for the immigrants who have come to this country," said Panetta, whose own parents emigrated from Italy to the United States in the 1930s. "And it is true for all of us today."

Among the protectors of America's freedoms are the men and women throughout history who have been willing to wear the country's uniform and defend the nation's liberties and values, the secretary added.

"For 10 long years, they have fought and they have died in places such as Fallujah and Sadr City in Iraq, and in remote outposts in Afghanistan's Helmand and Korengal valleys," Panetta said. "In Iraq's city streets and in Afghanistan's mountains, this generation has spilled its blood so that their fellow citizens and future generations will have that better and safer life."

A military commander who led those men and women in battle also addressed those who attended the commemoration.

CIA Director David H. Petraeus, a retired Army general and former commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and coalition forces in Iraq, said that in large measure, the gains made against America's enemies "are a testament to the skill, energy and commitment of the members of our country's new greatest generation."

A significant number of them, he added, were inspired to join the ranks of the nation's armed forces, intelligence services and law enforcement agencies by the events of 9/11.

"Like their great-grandparents before them who survived a depression and won a war," he said, "the members of the new greatest generation have responded with courage and purpose to the great challenges of their day. They have earned their place in the long line of patriot-soldiers on which our country depends."

In the years leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, more than 6,200 of America's finest sons and daughters gave "the last full measure of devotion" in Iraq and Afghanistan, Panetta said, quoting Abraham Lincoln's 1863 address at Gettysburg.

"We honor America's service members, their families [and] their sacrifices by remembering that protecting the things that we hold dear is the work of all Americans," he said. "It is the duty of the American people to share in that sacrifice. Out of the darkness of that tragic day of 9/11 has come the bright light of inspiration, renewal and resilience -- inspiration that brought a generation of young men and women to the service of their country.

"Their sacrifice will ensure that the American dream of my parents, the American dream of giving our children a better life, is achieved," the secretary continued. "But more importantly," he added, "it will ensure that we always have a government of, by and for all people. And because of their sacrifice, the torch of freedom burns brightly, now and forever."

In the above DOD photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta addresses the audience at "A Call to Compassion," a Washington National Cathedral commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, hosted at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

September 11th: Ten Years, With Former NYPD Detective And Writer Edward Conlon

The New Yorker asked their contributors to look back and comment on how their lives have changed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Edward Conlon, a former NYPD detective and author of  Blue Blood and Red On Red, offered his comments in the current issue of the magazine.

I was a new detective in a South Bronx precinct. That morning, I’d caught a case—a gunpoint bodega robbery from the night before—when the news came on the TV. The sergeant told us to put on our uniforms: “We’re at war. Let’s suit up.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/09/september-11th-ten-years-with-edward-conlon.html  

You can also read an earlier post on Edward Conlon via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2011/07/writing-detective-retires-to-focus-on.html

My Piece On Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Discussing The Iraq War And 9/11 At The National Constitiuion Center In Philadelphia

A while back I ventured to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to hear former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld discuss his memoir, Known and Unknown.

The center was the site selected by Donald Rumsfeld to be his kick off for his national book tour. I covered the event for Counterterrorism magazine.

Althought the book covered Rumsfeld's long life and government career, historian Michael Beschloss based most of his questions on the Iraq War and 9/11.

You can read my magazine piece below:

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Kicks Off Book Tour At National Constitution Center In Philadelphia

Donald Rumsfeld began his national book tour to promote his new book, Known and Unknown (Sentinel), at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia last night.

I covered the event for Counterterrorism magazine and along with more than 700 people in the audience I watched the exchange between historian Michael Beschloss and Rumsfeld.

(Beschloss is on the left and Rumsfeld is on the right in the above Zimbio photo).

Donald Rumsfeld, 78, who served as the youngest Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford, and later served as the oldest Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, was "on watch" at the Pentagon during the 9/11 terrorist attack and the subsequent launching of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I thought Rumsfeld was engaging, forthright and humorous.

Unfortunately, I thought Michael Beschloss asked the sort of softball questions one would expect from CNN's Larry King.

I received a review copy of Known and Unknown today and I look forward to reading it.

I'll post my Counterterrorism piece here when it comes out.

Oliver North's Column: Never Forget 9/11

Retired Marine Lt Colonel Oliver North's column is about the anniversary of the horrific 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

North, seen above in the Fox News photo, suggests we never forget.

You can read the column via the below link:

http://townhall.com/columnists/OliverNorth/2010/09/10/never_forget/page/1