September 11 attacks called avoidable

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said yesterday that the September 11 "hijackers could have been stopped" had U.S. officials acted on intelligence information available before the terrorist attacks.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, in an interview that aired yesterday on CNN, called September 11 the "worst example of what happens when information is not shared and is not acted upon."
"There was plenty of information available before September 11. I think historians are going to find, tragically, that, had it been acted upon, the hijackers could have been stopped," Mr. Leahy said on CNN's "Novak, Hunt & Shields."
The Democratic chairman, whose committee is holding public hearings examining the failure of top FBI officials to take seriously leads given to them by field agents about the possibility of hijackings and planes being flown into the World Trade Center, joins at least two others on the Judiciary panel who have said they believe the September 11 attacks could have been prevented, given the clues that were available.