Many area bookstores are stocking their shelves with copies of the Sept. 11 commission’s final report on the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
The 575-page report, released to the public Thursday, will be available at most bookstores for $10.
Some, including Barnes &Noble in Lynnwood, had copies specially delivered Thursday.
“We’re getting calls,” said Roseann Holm, a book buyer for the store, which ordered 120 copies of the 565-page report. “I don’t think they were expecting us to have it quite so soon.”
Mary Kay Sneeringer, owner of the Edmonds Bookshop, said when expected copies of the report arrive today, she’ll display one on the store’s front counter.
“Something that topical will be nice to have right out where people can see,” she said.
Snow Goose Bookstore in Stanwood started getting calls about the report as soon as it was released, co-owner Kristine Kaufman said.
That store, as well as Scott’s Book Store in Mount Vernon, expects to have the report available today.
Even before the full report was released, local reaction to the massive study ranged from opinions on specific findings to the commission’s proposed changes to prevent future attacks.
The Herald sought comments from its Reader Network, an e-mail list of hundreds of people in the area, to see how residents felt about the commission’s findings.
Chuck Wright, a counselor from Mill Creek, vividly remembers the acrid smoke billowing from the Pentagon. He was sent there on a Red Cross assignment 10 days after the attack.
“This shows the power of the motivation of the people,” he said of the report. “Some of our political leaders didn’t want this (report) to happen.”
One of the key questions raised by the attack is whether, in the event of a similar future attack, an airliner should be shot down to protect the nation, he said.
“These are hard questions we have to answer.”
Roger Serra, who directs the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, said that the state has requested $3 million in federal funds to improve communication among law enforcement agencies throughout Washington on possible terrorist threats.
Washington could become a national model for improved communication among law enforcers, he said.
Patricia Burke of Everett wonders how anyone can say that the country is no safer today than it was on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Have we had other terrorist attacks that I’m unaware of? … Nothing so far,” she wrote. “Heaven forbid that the Bush administration should be given credit for doing something right.”
“My main fear right now is not terrorists, but the probable political football and assault upon traditional liberties that the report will become a catalyst for,” wrote Joe Hamelin of Edmonds.
Members of Congress were briefed on the commission’s findings.
Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., called the report “very comprehensive.” He is backing its suggestions to improve efforts to cut off al-Qaida funding sources, to increase sharing of intelligence between agencies and to improve congressional oversight.
Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., said the report provided “thoughtful recommendations on how we can further improve our national security.”
Washington state is particularly vulnerable to terrorist attack because of its border with Canada, its seaports, and its globally recognized companies such as Microsoft, she said.
Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield also contributed to this report.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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