Oops, sorry. Our breaking news about Rathergate has been interrupted by a story that actually matters.

From "A 9/11 Anniversary Primer: A neglected report shows how the U.S. government was a travel agency for terrorists:"

A report explaining how that horrific 9/11 attacks came about, and why something similar will likely happen again, has received little attention, apparently by design.

"9/11 and Terrorist Travel: Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States" [warning: PDF file] was released on August 21, a Saturday and the same day the 9/11 Commission disbanded. In a strange disclaimer, executive director Philip Zelikow says the report "does not necessarily reflect" the views of the commissioners. Zelikow leaves readers to speculate about the details, but there can be no doubt on one score. Had this document been released as part of the larger 9/11 Report (the bestseller), it would easily have been the most damning passage. "9/11 and Terrorist Travel" confirms that government ignorance, incompetence, and arrogance facilitated Islamic terrorists in their quest to murder Americans.

"It is perhaps obvious to state that terrorists cannot plan and carry out attacks in the United States if they are unable to enter the country," explains the preface. "Yet prior to September 11, while there were efforts to enhance border security, no agency of the U.S. government thought of border security as a tool in the counterterrorism arsenal. Indeed, even after 19 hijackers demonstrated the relative ease of obtaining a U.S. visa and gaining admission into the United States, border security still is not considered a cornerstone of national security policy..."

A couple of days after it was released, I discussed the most revealing parts of Chapter 3 of the above report, and I provided some excerpts from Chapter 4 here. Those chapters are part of the larger PDF report linked to above.