Write An Essay On Groupthink And 9/11
Groupthink and 9/11
Group decision making can be very helpful in getting different thoughts and opinions out of discussion, but also can be dangerous because of groupthink. Groupthink occurs when people avoid individually testing, analyzing, and evaluating facts in order to avoid upsetting the consensus of a group. In effect a conflict occurs whereby some topics are okay to discuss while others are closed often without the group being consciously aware of it. Those who violate the unspoken rules often find themselves being ostracized, alienated and ultimately expelled from the group.
9/11 is a good example of groupthink.
Rejection of expert opinion is a classic symptom of groupthink. About a week before Bush’s inauguration, …show more content…
Fixated on and preoccupied with Iraq, and seeing themselves as creators of a “new world order,” they deprecated other actors, especially non-state actors like al-Qaeda. Wolfowitz, for instance, told Clarke, “You give bin Laden too much credit!”
Secrecy is a symptom of groupthink particular to high officials who are privy to intelligence bearing on national security. Secrecy is obsessive in the Bush administration.
The 9/11 Commission points to the millennium, when the Clinton administration, Congress, the security agencies, major media and the public were on high alert and attacks by al-Qaeda were thwarted. In contrast, the public was unaware of 40 references to al-Qaeda in President Bush’s daily briefings prior to 9/11. The Aug. 6 “aircraft briefing” wasn’t released until April 2004.
The commission report specifically mentions secrecy. Confronted with the crescendo of ominous intelligence, Bush could have and should have alerted the nation by simply revealing what he knew before Congress. That he did not was a grievous failure of
Group decision making can be very helpful in getting different thoughts and opinions out of discussion, but also can be dangerous because of groupthink. Groupthink occurs when people avoid individually testing, analyzing, and evaluating facts in order to avoid upsetting the consensus of a group. In effect a conflict occurs whereby some topics are okay to discuss while others are closed often without the group being consciously aware of it. Those who violate the unspoken rules often find themselves being ostracized, alienated and ultimately expelled from the group.
9/11 is a good example of groupthink.
Rejection of expert opinion is a classic symptom of groupthink. About a week before Bush’s inauguration, …show more content…
Fixated on and preoccupied with Iraq, and seeing themselves as creators of a “new world order,” they deprecated other actors, especially non-state actors like al-Qaeda. Wolfowitz, for instance, told Clarke, “You give bin Laden too much credit!”
Secrecy is a symptom of groupthink particular to high officials who are privy to intelligence bearing on national security. Secrecy is obsessive in the Bush administration.
The 9/11 Commission points to the millennium, when the Clinton administration, Congress, the security agencies, major media and the public were on high alert and attacks by al-Qaeda were thwarted. In contrast, the public was unaware of 40 references to al-Qaeda in President Bush’s daily briefings prior to 9/11. The Aug. 6 “aircraft briefing” wasn’t released until April 2004.
The commission report specifically mentions secrecy. Confronted with the crescendo of ominous intelligence, Bush could have and should have alerted the nation by simply revealing what he knew before Congress. That he did not was a grievous failure of