‘The attack would have been prevented’: co-author of 9/11 report reflects on missed opportunities

Thomas Kean on conspiracy theories, intelligence sharing and a scarred nation

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States," begins the 9/11 Commission Report in limpid prose. Millions of men and women readied themselves for work."

Thomas Kean, however, had spent a rough night with an aching jaw. I was recovering from a dentist appointment," he recalls by phone, and my dentist called to see how I was feeling and he said, Turn on the television. There's something happening at the World Trade Center.' So I turned it on and kept it on until the second plane came in."