Reading the 9/11 Commission Report

Submitted by John Lovas on August 19, 2004 - 01:12.

I've been reading the 9/11 Commission Report because I will use it in two sections of FYC this fall. It's worth a careful read by every member of Kairosnews. I've explored some first responses to the first three chapters in my own blog at http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/jocalo/2004/08/18

I quote some brief passages, including one on the FBI's failure to use analysis to good effect and the critical importance of creating a culture of information sharing. Teaching to this report could be an effective way of making our work and values more visible.

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You might want to take a look

Submitted by scott on August 19, 2004 - 21:42.

You might want to take a look at Ohio State's "A Humanities Response to National Security." It's a project headed up by Jacqueline Royster of the English Dept. and featuring folks from across the humanities. The text of the report is available as HTML or as a PDF document. Basically the project is arguing for the need to include a humanities-based prespective when drafting "National Security" type documents and that by doing so we'll end up with better policy.

I'll quote just a bit to give you a sense of what the project is about:

In the absence of an informed humanities perspective, the documents present idealistic—or strategically simplistic—visions of “freedom.” They outline specific technical, economic, and military strategies without attention to either the social costs or the educational possibilities for fostering a safer world. They represent the administration’s agenda and approach, often incorporating veiled pre-existing interests (particularly economic ones) under the security umbrella. Their broad sweep and inspiring vision is achieved, in part, by ignoring histories of conflict, controversy, and diversity. The failure to understand these histories can itself foster the unrest at the root of terrorism.

Thanks.

Submitted by John Lovas on August 19, 2004 - 22:04.

That's a great site, Scott. I'll include it in the list of places I'll recommend my students search to get perspectives on the 9/11 Commission Report.