The preliminary report was released as two days of hearings began.

Janet Reno said, "The FBI didn't know what it had. The right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing".

But the former FBI director, Louis Freeh defended the FBI, explaining that the US wasn't at war until the attacks and didn't have the resources needed.

Could FBI have prevented the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Or is it easy to criticise with hindsight? What's your opinion?

Your comments:

Criticism is as essential as appreciation in any healthy system but it should be based on fact and truth. It will reflect the vision of US to fight with such future incidence.
Pradeep Shukla, Chicago

A waste of time and a comfort for our enemies. Political grandstanding (especially by the Democrats on the committee) in an election year is worse than pointless. Especially when many on the left still oppose meaningful pre-emptive action against terrorism.
Peter C Kohler, Washington DC, USA

Lets make sure that blame is firmly placed on terrorists Warren Rolfe, UK

Lets not forget, it wasn't the FBI who flew planes into buildings to kill innocent people. Lets make sure that blame is firmly placed on terrorists.
Warren Rolfe, UK

My question is not how effective was the FBI, but did they in fact know what was going on? Let's not concern ourselves with funding anti-terrorist measures before 9/11, but instead with finding out what we actually knew.
Nate, USA

In a society like the US it is almost impossible to stop these acts because of the overall freedoms we enjoy here. ACLU would have a field day with law suites (and they already are) if we actually untied the hands of the CIA and FBI as well if we actually tried to secure our own borders from undocumented aliens. These terrorist thugs do not play by any rules and here in the US it is not hard to blend in with the population as ethnically diverse of a country as we are. I think it is important for this commission to see where we can improve but nothing they do or say will ever make us safe from this threat unless people in this country are willing to give up certain freedoms
John Crane, Houston, Texas

Instead of playing the blame game, everyone should get together to make sure this does not happen again Dennis, Iowa

The Democrats and Republicans seem intent on placing the blame on the other for the failure of American intelligence leading up to 9/11. Obviously, the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration both failed to adequately assess the situation. The FBI and CIA both ignored warnings and failed to communicate with each other. Instead of playing the blame game, everyone should get together to make sure this does not happen again. There's plenty of blame to go around. Let's move on.
Dennis, Iowa, USA

No, it's not valid! The function of the FBI is to investigate crimes after they happen. If they play a hand in prevention then so be it but their primary function is investigation. Look to the guys who got the Iraq WMD issue wrong and you'll find the 9/11 intelligence culprit. Hint: it's not the FBI.
ERH, Bakersfield, USA

I guess it's normal to have rivalries between government agencies - EG the Army and Navy or the FBI and CIA. Maybe this is a wake up call that these rivalries are getting expensive and are not in the best interest of the people they are sworn to protect.
Anders, Raleigh, NC, USA

Blaming the Clinton administration for everything is a lame excuse.
Jean, Alexandria, VA, USA

I studied in the same school as one of the attackers. When he was in Turkey with his classmates, he wanted to contact a certain Islamic political party - his only interest. The German police had him under surveillance and informed the US that he was in their country prior to the attacks. Months after the 9/11 event, we were told that the INS had extended his US visa. Someone in the US is incompetent? Yes, for sure! A lot of government agencies.
Ursula Hineman, Germany

The criticism is good as long as it is constructive and it doesn't become a witch hunt Patrick, USA

The criticism is good as long as it is constructive and it doesn't become a witch hunt. Congress should also share some of the criticism since they are the ones who cut the budget of our intelligence agencies. We shouldn't lose focus on the goal. Tightening up our agencies to hopefully prevent the next 9/11.
Patrick, USA

We will never know the truth about whether or how 9/11 could have been prevented - by the FBI or any other intelligence agency. Testimony before the 9/11 commission is universally self-serving and politically motivated. Such investigations are done for show and are simply part of partisan political theatre.
Joe Bob, Santa Fe, USA

Absolutely valid. I don't think you can prevent attacks from people willing to kill themselves to kill others. However, the prior administration imposed a policy of not working with 'undesirables' in protecting the country. If we don't work with those who know about the 'bad guys', how can we ever have a chance? It's time to start playing the game the way they do. The ethical high road will not prevent further attacks.
Clint, NYC, USA

The FBI is not an intelligence gathering organization; its focus is, and should be, solving crimes that have already occurred. Look to the CIA and the State and Justice Departments for this one.
Susan, USA

Is it good to put your dirty laundry out for all to see? No. The problem here is very simple to understand. The Democrats, who have been notoriously weak on defence, are looking to blame someone, namely Bush and the Republicans, when all along it was the Clinton administration that had the opportunities to fix the problem. And Janet Reno was a poor choice for AG. Yet they all still make the most noise. It's the same as if we 'blamed' Roosevelt for Pearl Harbour. What we need is a fix. Go back to the days when the CIA and FBI cooperated, before the 70s when the Democrats like Frank Church crippled the FBI and CIA. That would help fix some of the problem. The rest is to take politics out - if you can.
Peter, Lighthouse Point, FL, USA