If anybody should feel the guilt, it should those in the Oval office. The one question they should answer is what did Iraq do to harm the American people?
Who sold Iraq all the weapons to fight Iran?
Who sent our young soldiers to fight and get killed in Iraq?
They sent our soldiers to Afghanistan to catch Bin Laden, but death is catching them first, because they are not looking for Bin Laden. Laden is in safe haven in our oval office

Hi Mike!
Sorry to see you over there and all our troops because these people have been fighting for thousands of years and will continue to long after we're gone. What happened seems to have been God's will. I know of the Oganowski's and their farm so I share the sorrow. As fate would have it, many died and many suffer today. In my opinion, IRAQ has nothing to offer the world. All countries need to unite and see the good before its too late, before we destroy the entire earth. After all Mike, we are only visiting planet earth. Come home soon becasue there is nothing more you can do. Those people are not civilized enough to make sense of Democracy. We all know that WAR is big business and NO ONE EVER WINS! Sorry to say, I feel it's just another Vietnam. You take care and be well!

If anyone should feel guilty Mike it is the aircraft designer who should have anticipated the possibility that an airliner could be not only hijacked but used as a missile. This was written into science fiction novels and several hijackers actually tried to fly into a hotel long before 9/11.

One could also say the exact same things for any fool who designed and built a sky scrapper. Heck, my grandfather had a piece of the B-25 bomber that accidentally flew into the Empire State building 60 years ago. No way was ever developed to get people out of such a high building in case of a fire nor was their any way for fire fighters to reach the upper floors... And hear we thought the Neanderthals had really hard heads…

We never ever address the real issues of our day. Whether it is the fact that we build so many mega cities right on fault lines and in the shadow of volcanoes or the fact that we failed to develop any method to check for or prevent these liquid explosives (known about for over a decade), we literally are an accident waiting to happen. We’ll likely die off from our own stupidity long before any terrorist has had a chance to blow us up.

BEFORE IT HAPPENS - I would like to see airliners with ultraviolet missile detection systems and standard chaff dispensers like we see on every military aircraft to foil shoulder fired missile attacks.

---

I have always thought that the US invasion of Iraq was actually done (and executed) in such a way as to actually PROVOKE a broader war in the Middle East. They did not have nearly enough troops to secure the country and after the very first act of sectarian violence in Iraq, an Egyptian newspaper even said that it was likely an act caused by the US to provoke a civil war (divide and concur they said).

Further more, I have to wonder about the absolutely bizarre yet surprisingly consistent prisoner abuse in Iraq. I don't think I would ever think to take photos of such things and yet it happened consistently at several facilities - almost as if to deliberately try to provoke a broader war.

---

Given the highly vulnerable nature of our cities, I think the military should try to establish small "defense base-like" outposts from which anti aircraft missiles can be kept. I'm not talking about some mega military base. Just a 24-person, 25m-diameter, cylindrical garrison that is equipped to shoot down a runaway airliner if fighters cannot make an intercept is all that is needed. Such patriot missile systems can be stored in the vertical position are ready to go. An armored mortar position might be able to fire anti-tank shells if a city were under a ground attack.

If not a military outpost, such defensive items could be built into a new and much more robust emergency center that combined fire, police, medical, and municipal functions to cope with everything from a dirty bomb to a devastating hurricane. In fact, if you go out to www.Trafford.com/04-2708 and page down to the bottom, you will see two diagrams of just such an emergency center. Rooftop helicopter pads and a few pre-positioned national guard assets would round out such an amazing facility.

That is how to prepare – not just sit and wait for it to happen!

MIkE, THANKS FOR YOUR EFFORTS. BUT WHY DO YOU FEEL GUILTY WHEN THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ADMINISTRATION WITH MUCH MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU HAD DID NOTHING TO HEIGTEN CONCERN? DO YOU TRUELY BELIEVE THAT YOUR PPROPOSED SHOW WOULD HAVE DONE MORE WITH THIS ADMINISTRATION, THAT IGNORED CLEAR WARNINGS INCLUDING THE AUGUST PDB?

A fictional TV drama would not have woken the U.S. citizens to the danger of a terrorist attack. Even if journalists had realized that Bush was gutting the anti-terrorist programs that were in place when he entered office and sounded the alarms, no one would have cared. It would be just another headline, hidden somewhere on a back page, while the latest missing person story stole the headlines. It's just a simple fact that people refuse to act until they are slapped upside the head. We knew about New Orleans levees, and even now there are engineers in Amsterdam who could fix them, but there is no will to do it. Bush knew from his memo "Bin Laden determined to strike in the U.S.", but he let it happen. Now, we have about ten years to turn around our global warming problem before we start facing the consequences of our destructive behavior, but there is no will to deal with that either.

If you want to assuage your guilt, then do a project on global warming. We THINK we have a few years to react to that danger.

A lot of people are going to have feelings of guilt for a variety of reasons about 9/11, but there are only two groups who really SHOULD feel guilty -- Bin Laden and his surviving terorists, and the Bush Administration that really did know the terrorists were planning to strike soon and did nothing about it.

I am glad that you are doing what you feel right. If you feel like you should be in Iraq then it is justified. It was and is a horrible day, lets never forget that. I am also tired of hearing the negativity towards our government. Lets stand united and fight for our freedom. The problems will never be solved, the only thing we can do is unite and try

Jeff, Morton Il.

Mike, My son is on the way to where you are ... for his second tour. He, like you, loves his country enough to actually DO something to protect it. I wish that neither he nor you had to be there, and I pray that soon you won't. But in the final analysis, I thank God that men like you and my son are there. Our country is in good and competant hands. Thank you, and be safe.

You have did a good job! May God continue to bless you with strength and a hedge of protection.

It'a amazing the difference of opinions you get by reading CNN and MSNBC versus Foxnews. If you had posted this article on Fox I bet 9 out of 10 responses would have been positive. Because it's here on MSNBC, more than half the comments are "Why are you feeling guilty, it's Bush's fault". Even on a somber day of remembrance, leave it up to the left wingers to take a comment section and use it blather on about things they know nothing about.

Although Saddam certainly had nothing to do with 9/11, it's fuzzy logic to conclude that Iraq has nothing to do with the war on Terror. The country is full of Islamic extremists from all over, who if asked will make no secret of the fact that they are on a mission for Islam. Letting the country self implode is not really an option, as the result will be an insurgent-run state that has infrastructure and money at its disposal.
You're in the right place, Mike.

Mike

If you look at why terrorism exists...I recollect as a young boy my first awakening at the 72 Olympics and in innocent wonder could not understand why a group of individuals would take other innocent lives at their own hands. I believe that much of America did not face up to the known threat of terrorism that could be hailed on our own shores...the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, Oklahoma City, later the USS Cole abroad and I could go on.

We all know there were significant signs that something eventually would happen here, but we are a complacent society, politics seems to govern instead of sound Policy, the US has not done anything to rehabilitate its image in such third world extremism and we truly don't understand the motivations of those that seek to destroy what we hold dear...life, liberty, justice and freedom. It appears we need constant wake up calls because our collective conscience and memory fades with time.

Perhaps you could have done more, but in every level of public and private society WE all could have done more, especially those public servants, appointed, elected or employed therein.

The real question is what have we learned, are we safer, and when will we have a cogent public and foreign policy that is bipartisan, muti-lateral, seeks to prevent future terrorism here and abroad but most importantly (the movie Syriana comes to mind) what are we doing to rehabilate our image to the youngest generations of Islam, so as to "un" inspire extremism.

Mike: I applaud your efforts, but I doubt any word of a future attack against the U.S. will originate from Iraq. I'd also agree with a few of the previous opinions that al-Qaeda wasn't in Iraq during the time of Saddam, hence no real reason for us to have gone there in the first place. This war is of President Bush's making. What ever you do, please keep your head down and stay safe.

Mike,
Thenk you for doing what you do everday. Stickn' your neck out so we can know what's going on.

I agree with a few things on this board.

Yes, the Bush Administration should have done more.
Yes, we should still hunt down Bin Laden.
But I also agree...

Stop the negativity in this country. We should have done this, we should have done that, blah blah blah.

Everyone forget ther was someone else in office just before this. Sat in office for 2 terms. You telling me President Clinton didn't know about Bin Laden or his intents. Come on, get off it. America got hit with the biggest "sucker punch" since pearl harbor. This was worst! Everday people living everyday lives died because this SOB's wanted to hurt the USA and then watch us bicker and fight over what we "should have done."

Call me the angry american. Say what you want but I fell this.

WE ARE THE USA.
WE NEED TO STAND UP AND FIGHT. THEY BROUGHT THE FIGHT TO US. NOW ITS TIME TO TAKE THE FIGHT TO THEM.

SADDAM'S FOLLOWERS HAVE THE SAME INTENT TO DO TO THE USA OF WHAT BIN LADEN'S FOLOWERS DID. WHAT, WE WALK AWAY AND THEY WILL BE OKAY. THEY WON'T HURT US.
B.S.

I won't want every American wants. For our men and women to finish the job and come home.

GOD BLESS THIS COUNTRY,
GOD BLESS OUR MEN AND WOMEN OF THE ARMED FORCES,
GOD BLESS OUR FIGHER FIGHTERS, POLICE, AND EMERGENCY PERSONNEL,

AND GOD BLESS EVERY AMERICAN.

GO USA!! FINISH THE JOB AND COME HOME WE MISS YOU!

Mike,
As a former Army tank crewman, I couldn't agree more with how General Norman Schwartzkopf put it replying to a question regarding if there is room for forgiveness toward the people who have harbored and abetted the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on America.

"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting."
-General Schwartzkopf

Someone needs to show the American public the way these savages operate over there. Stay safe

The front line is not in Bagdad or Kabul or Beirut it is in New York and London. This is not a battle between terrorists and civilians. This is a battle between capitalists and humanity. For Americans to make a difference we have to take back our country and give back the world.

thank you for all the hard work that you have done just to save our country and it was Bush that knew about the attack(s) before anything even happened and he didnt to sh** about it! so its not your fault and I thank you and pray for all of them men out there!

Mike, thanks for being there to report back. All you can do is report the truth and it is up to every American to get our government to act responsibly. Iraq is a different bell than 9-11 and we need it rung, too! Thanks again.

Hey Mike,
You are the last one who should feel guilty about the events of 9/11. You have to understand that there is nothing that anyone, especially you, could have done to prevent that. Be safe where you are and trust in God that everything will be okay. The work that you're doing in Iraq is appreciated by so many on so many different levels.

Mike you are a good man and you will be in my prayres daily. God Bless You!

Right on, mike. I'd do the same. I'm sure irony is not lost on you, i will continue to google you, Vaya con dios!

It is not your fault, sir. It could not be. No one could have foreseen such evil. All of us in the USA were far too innocent to such horrible possibilities. They were the stuff of fiction, of novels and films, where at the end we could put the books down and go to sleep or have the lights come up in the theater and everything was alright.

It was the mentality, we did not imagine that there could be anyone so hateful as the monsters who attacked the US and killed so many innocent people on that day. People who came from all corners of the earth to make it in the USA and live right for themselves and their families. No one could have foreseen such evil on September 10th, even in the realm of fiction it was beyond most peoples' comprehension.

Do not hold yourself to blame for things beyond the control of civilized humanity on that day, sir. It was not you or anyone else to blame. Only the evil bastards who did the crime are to blame for it. You are a good man, and like the rest of the good people of the world, are not to blame for that madness in any way, shape or form sir. Please always remember that.

God bless you and yours, sir, and stay safe.

It is because most Americans are willfully ignorant of history and politics that we are in this situation; we have allowed our own Taliban, with the help of the neocons, to rush into a modern day 'crusade' to impose our values on an unwilling Middle East. My wife is a Lebanese Christian who emigrated here to escape religious warfare, only to find it here in a different form. We both shake our heads in dismay at the missteps this chickenhawk administration have made. My heart goes out to the troops. BRING 'EM HOME SAFE! (Were it not for a medical discharge for back surgery, I'd be in Iraq for a second tour by now).

Hey Mike!
If you had completed the doucmentary, it likely would have fallen on deaf ears for the most part. Americans (and obviously our government,) couldn't possibly fathom an attack of that magnitude and that the buildings would fall! We also walked around with this attitude that no one would dare to attack us here. We dont have the same experiences that you and many people in the world have, of living in a war zone and dealing daily with brutal attacks and the destruction of the landscape. We have been spoiled by what we viewed as "security," and trusted that the crucial information passed from one administration to the next would be taken seriously. There is the most remote chance that maybe some of your information might have tipped the FBI or CIA to something that they hadnt known previously, but honestly, their hands were tied at that point anyway.
The Bush administration barged into office with an agenda and then proceeded to dismantle our intelligence and security systems anyway. The point has always been to dissemble our Democracy, empowering a ruling class, and creating a permanent base in the middle east. Their lack of knowledge of the region or history is epic and alarming, in that they wouldnt take any advice.
So, nothing you could have said or done; no documentary, even if you took over your station and forced the truth onto a national feed a la Howard Beale, (or more like Jack Bauer as Howard Beale.... how bout that?) they wouldnt have done squat.
So, try not to put this on yourself. You were working to get the truth out to a public that was not ready for it and a government that would have no part of it because they had their plans already in place; Then it was too late.
You've been through so many wars and seen so much death, some of it for noble causes and some, like this, for less than noble causes. Of course, you are our witness to all of this, and you are on the front lines of what America is doing, telling us what is happening, and serving as a voice from the front lines of what WE are doing. To answer the few ding dongs above who would question what you are doing THERE as opposed to some other place, it seems to me that you are on the front lines of America, and you not being in the other place speaks for itself as far as what WE are doing and not doing! What good would it be sitting in Afghanistan hoping that we might turn back to OBL's cold trail? The point is to follow the front line, be it wrong or right. Tell us what they are doing in our name. As a journalist, at this point, you really dont have to make an argument that we should be in Afghanistan when it is so obvious to everyone (except for the 33% or the 40%, depending on the poll, that I cant, for the life of me, find anywhere!) You have only to tell us how it looks and how it feels and what you've found.
Thank you for being a trustworthy and experienced surrogate for all of us, and risking your own tail daily to get the story back to us. Be careful, and get back to your family soon!
I look forward to your reports, as an MSNBC junkie.
Don't be so hard on yourself...youve done a great job all around.

Five years later and people are talking about airline safety, Iraq, Big Oil, and everything else under the sun. Five years, and there is still no real outrage in America, just business as usual while Bin Laden celebrates and announces his plans for more of the same. Where are the widows and orphans demanding justice? Where are the American citizens asking our President why we haven't brought this animal to justice? Why haven't we captured or killed Bin Laden, well because no one really cares that much or we would have demanded it and it would have been done.

Mike,

Dont feel guilty.. the govenment was involved in the Attacks.. tehy knew about it, but do you ever wonder why no remebers the other towr that fell, the W7 building?? no one remember becaus ehe media and govt do not want you to see.. the buildings came down striaght and perfect like their bombs under the building. do some research... there is alot we donot know.. seek the truth and report it.. good luck to you brother in Iraq, report the truth!! We need journalism to be real and truthful not filled with opinions and idea... but facts.... I am more afraid of Bush and Cheaney, the true terrorists of the world... Sept 11th should have never happened, but the U.S. govt needed it in order to wage war.. its like Vietnam all over again... and i wasnt even born yet.. Good luck to you,

In Soldiarity,

Terrorists is a word used by Govts to stop the oppressive minorities from gaining power...

Viva the Revolucion!!!