Bill Clinton, speaking at the Donnelley Privacy Forum in July, argued that 9/11 could have been prevented if the government had been able to scour the databases of the big information compilers. (Direct Newsline, July 19).
He has a point. The data on Muhammad Atta and company was right there and might have been easily discerned in 2001. But that would have required a much closer working relationship between Uncle Sam and the data business.
And to the extent such a partnership exists today, it scares the hell out of some people. Where do you draw the line?
History suggests that we proceed with caution.
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