“The new administration seems to be paying no attention to the problem of terrorism. What they will do is stagger along until there’s a major incident and then suddenly say, ‘Oh, my God, shouldn’t we be organized to deal with this?’
“That’s too bad. They’ve been given a window of opportunity with very little terrorism now, and they’re not taking advantage of it.”
— L. Paul Bremer, currently the U.S. administrator in Iraq. Bremer said these words in a speech at a McCormick Tribune Foundation conference on terrorism on Feb. 26, 2001, after he had chaired the National Commission on Terrorism formed by former President Bill Clinton.