Newsday
Bush must give the 9/11 commission the support
Sat Jul 12 15:03:32 2003
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Foot Dragging
Bush must give the 9/11 commission the support that it deserves, not just lip service.

July 11, 2003
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpnin113368003jul11,0,3988421.story?coll=ny-opinion-archive

The role of the "minder" in Saddam Hussein's Iraq was simple: No reporter could interview an Iraqi and hope for the truth, because a government minder attended every interview. Now our own government is using the same technique on the independent commission investigating the 9/11 attacks. That tactic, along with less ominous forms of delay, is absolutely unacceptable. It must stop now.

The commission has to finish its work by May 27. That's a tight deadline for exploring all the factors that allowed the attacks to happen and drawing the appropriate lessons to help avoid a repetition.

Unfortunately, the commission didn't get started until January, primarily because the White House had resisted it so mightily. Congressional probes of intelligence failures, plus pleas from the 9/11 families, overcame the resistance: Congress acted and President George W. Bush signed the bill. But the administration has since continued to drag its feet.

This week, the White House took a genteel but powerful bipartisan blast from the commission's chairman, Thomas Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, and vice chairman, Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana. They made clear that federal agencies have not been cooperating quickly or fully. The commission cited the Justice Department and the Pentagon as two chief culprits of delay and noncompliance. Kean suggested that the minder tactic smacks of "intimidation" of witnesses.

The White House must do more than issue vapid statements about its support of the commission's work. It must make sure the commission gets all the documents it needs and all the unfettered, unmindered access to witnesses.

These attacks happened on Bush's watch. Being commander in chief entails more than the cheers of the troops and the strains of "Hail to the Chief." It means ultimate responsibility. He owes the families - and all Americans - a full accounting for what went wrong. If his agencies keep delaying, that will arouse suspicion that he's trying to stifle the truth or postpone it until safely after next year's election.

Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

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http://www.911commission.gov/
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002, is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

The Commission released its first interim report on July 8, 2003.
http://www.9-11commission.gov/press/report_2003-07-08.pdf

The Commission held its third public hearing on "Terrorism, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim World" on July 9, 2003 in Washington, DC. [more]
http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing3.htm

Commission Members
http://www.9-11commission.gov/about/bios.htm

Email: info@9-11Commission.gov   

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