Don't ask what went wrong, it's unpatriotic!

-- If you believe Dick Cheney, don't read this column. It's unpatriotic.

At a Republican fund-raiser last week, he attacked anybody who dares raise questions about what the president knew about possible terrorist attacks before September 11. "Such commentary is thoroughly irresponsible and totally unworthy of national leaders in a time of war."

Dick Cheney is dead wrong. It is not irresponsible to demand that bureaucrats do the job we pay them to do. It is not irresponsible to expect people in authority to be held responsible for dumb, and perhaps fatal, mistakes. And, finally, it is not irresponsible, even in time of war, to raise questions about the presidency of George W. Bush.

Americans deserve to know what went wrong. How did the CIA, the FBI and the White House miss so many clues before September 11 about what Osama bin Laden was planning next for the United States? Who is responsible for the screw-ups? Whose heads are going to roll? And how can we be sure the problem has been fixed?

Immediately after September 11, we were told there were no advance warnings. We now know that's not true. There were plenty of warnings. They were simply ignored. There were lots of dots. Nobody ever connected them.

With Dick Cheney's permission, let's review the facts. Those 19 terrorists did not just slip into the country and carry out their terrorist attacks. They had been here for years, planning and getting ready. And, despite the fact that several were on the FBI's most-wanted list, they were living openly in major metropolitan areas, renting cars and apartments in their own names, procuring driver's licenses and taking flying lessons.