Bill Press is a syndicated columnist, CNN political commentator and author of the newly-published book Spin This!

Who is responsible for intelligence failures?

WASHINGTON (Tribune Media Services) -- For almost nine months, we lived with the sad illusion: There could be nothing worse than the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Now we realize there is something worse: living with the knowledge that those acts of terror, the worse mass murders in U.S. history, could have been prevented — if only the FBI and the CIA had been doing their jobs.

As documented here before, the FBI was asleep at the switch. It is not true, as Director Robert Mueller insisted immediately after 9/11, that the Bureau had no clue such terrorist attacks might occur. There were plenty of clues. The FBI simply ignored them.

In July 2001, an alert FBI agent in Phoenix noticed an unusual number of Middle Eastern men taking lessons in American flight schools. Perhaps we should check these guys out, he suggested to FBI headquarters in Washington. The could be terrorists. The FBI did nothing.

In August 2001, agents in Minneapolis arrested Zacarias Moussaoui for trying to learn how to steer a 747, but not how to take off or land. After interviewing him, one agent concluded that Moussaoui might have been planning to fly a jet into the World Trade Center. He suggested that the Bureau investigate flight schools around the country for evidence of terrorism. Again, FBI honchos did nothing. They didn't even connect the two clearly related alerts.

Now Director Robert Mueller admits that, had the FBI followed through on those warnings, they might very well have uncovered the al-Qaida terrorist network — and stopped them dead in their tracks.

But we can't blame the FBI alone. Read the cover story of this week's Newsweek and weep. The CIA was even more inept.

As reported by Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman — under the chilling headline "The Hijackers We Let Escape" — the CIA was aware of at least two of the hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, at least 21 months before September 11. The agency knew both men had ties to al-Qaida. They knew one was connected to the bombing of the USS Cole. They knew both men once lived in the United States. They knew both attended a January 2000 al-Qaida summit meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. And they knew both men were returning to the States afterwards.

Yet, as hard as it is to believe, the agency did nothing. It didn't alert the INS, which could have stopped them at the border. It didn't notify U.S. Naval Intelligence, even though both men were living near the San Diego naval base. And it failed to inform the FBI, which could have tracked their movements and contacts with other al-Qaida members around the country.

Instead, thanks to the inaction of the CIA, from January 2000 to August 2001, Almihdhar and Alhazmi lived openly in the United States, all the while plotting to destroy us. They rented an apartment, got driver's licenses, opened bank accounts and took flying lessons — all in their own names. They were even listed in the San Diego phone directory! And they remained in constant contact with their co-conspirators living in other states.

Only in August 2001, after receiving additional "static" about a potential terrorist attack, did the CIA wake up and inform other agencies to be on the lookout for the two San Diego men. By then it was too little, too late. Almihdhar, Alhazmi and 17 other murderers were already underground, in final preparations for 9/11. If only the CIA had done its job and alerted them earlier, one FBI official told Newsweek, "There's no question we could have tied all 19 hijackers together" — and prevented the horror of September 11.

Where's the outrage?

The question all Americans should be asking is: Why isn't someone being held accountable for the intelligence failures that led to September 11? They happened on CIA Director George Tenet's watch. Why is he still on the job? It's hard to blame FBI Director Robert Mueller, since he only took office a week before 9/ll. But who are the knuckleheads at FBI Central who ignored the warnings from Phoenix and Minneapolis? And why haven't they been fired?

If local police officers failed to act after receiving a tip that a gang of thieves was about to rob a bank, you can bet they'd all be out of a job. We should demand no less of the FBI and CIA. The best way to prevent future terrorist attacks is to fire those responsible for the last ones.