9/11 Commissioner Says U.S. Gov "Knew A Whole Lot More..." !!!

[JackRiddler]

Is it really happening? Is the "puppet commission" on the trail of truth about 9/11?

Why not believe it, for a day?

From the New York Times, October 26, 2003:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/26/national/26KEAN.html?pagewanted=print&position=

9/11 Commission Could Subpoena Oval Office Files

(...snip...)

Mr. Kean's comments on Friday came as another member of the commission, Max
Cleland, the former Democratic senator from Georgia, became the first panel
member to say publicly that the commission could not complete its work by
its May 2004 deadline and the first to accuse the White House of withholding
classified information from the panel for purely political reasons.

"It's obvious that the White House wants to run out the clock here," he said
in an interview in Washington. "It's Halloween, and we're still in
negotiations with some assistant White House counsel about getting these
documents ‹ it's disgusting."

He said that the White House and President Bush's re-election campaign had
reason to fear what the commission was uncovering in its investigation of
intelligence and law enforcement failures before Sept. 11. "As each day goes
by, we learn that this government knew a whole lot more about these
terrorists before Sept. 11 than it has ever admitted."

Interviews with several other members of the commission show that Mr. Kean's
concerns are widely shared on the panel, and that the concern is bipartisan.

---

READ THE WHOLE THING HERE:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/26/national/26KEAN.html?pagewanted=print&position=

KEEP THIS KICKED!!!

[Terwilliger]

1. would LOVE to see Bush have to reveal all his little secrets

:bounce:

[JackRiddler]

2. not just Bush...

All he really needed to know in advance was that it would be best to sit still and keep listening to "The Pet Goat." What we should all demand to know is not just who knew what when but - WHAT REALLY HAPPENED!

[abelenkpe]

3. still wanna know

who sold all that stock in United and American airlines the day before 9/11? Why can't that be answered, and who is responsible for witholding that information?

[nostamj]

4. they need Cheney's papers too

the tie to 9/11 (read: Saudis) is the BIG turd he's covering up.

go KEAN! this is an issue that can destroy the House of Bush/Saud

[JackRiddler]

6. And loads more...

Here's a little starter list from www.911truth.org (and I'm a co-author, so I can include the whole thing here):

Sense of the "Unanswered Questions - Demanding Answers" conference

Presented to the press and public on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003 in Berlin.

The following are "starter questions" for seven sets of witnesses that an independent and appropriately empowered 9/11 investigation would logically call:

1. To Richard Myers and Ralph Eberhard, the military generals responsible for United States air defense on Sept. 11, 2001:
Why did the U.S. air defense system fail to follow the standard operating procedures for dealing with errant aircraft, such as were long in place before Sept. 11? Under these automatic procedures, the U.S. air defense system sent jet fighters to intercept errant planes on 67 occasions in the year prior to 2001, and on 129 occasions in the year 2000. What were the average response times of these routine intercept actions?

2. To Kay Nehm, Attorney General of the German Federal Republic, George Tenet, director CIA and Robert Mueller III, head of the FBI:
Please tell us about your agencies' surveillance of the "Hamburg Cell," the group that formed in Germany before moving to Florida and allegedly masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks. When and where did this surveillance begin? When, if ever, did it end? What did you discover about the cell's members and associates, and their plans, in advance of Sept. 11, 2001?

3. To David Frasca, FBI official responsible for the anti-terror investigations (al-Qaeda) unit prior to Sept. 11, and to Robert Mueller III, head of the FBI:
Why were five separate investigations into suspected al-Qaeda terrorists (and specifically into potential hijackers at U.S. flight schools) suspended by your offices, at a time when there was a crescendo of warnings of an imminent attack involving hijackings in the U.S., and despite the urgent protests of FBI case officers like Colleen Rowley and Robert Wright?

4. To Harvey Pitt, head of the SEC (on Sept. 11, 2001), Ernst Welteke of the German Bundesbank, and financial investigators in Tokyo, London, Hongkong, Frankfurt, Chicago and San Francisco:
In the days immediately following Sept. 11, your offices all issued statements that you had located cases of possible insider trading suggesting specific foreknowledge of the attacks, their location, and the way in which they were carried out. Mr. Welteke called this evidence unmistakable and said it would ultimately lead back to the perpetrators. Investigations were supposedly started. After a few days, this story was never heard from again. Where did the investigations lead?

5. To Major General Mahmud Ahmad, chief of the Pakistani intelligence service ISI as of Sept. 11, 2001 (when he was on an official visit to Washington):
Why did your agency wire $100,000 to Mohamed Atta? Please describe ISI connections to the Hamburg Cell, al-Qaeda, and the 9/11 plot. Was your counterpart at the CIA, George Tenet, whom you met in Washington during the week of the attacks, unaware of these connections?

6. To Rudi Dekkers and Arne Kruithof, manager-owners of flight schools in Venice, Florida where the alleged 9/11 pilots Atta, Alshehhi and Jarrah trained starting in the summer of 2000 (or earlier):
Were the two of you, who purchased your flight schools less than a year before the terrorists arrived, operating as cut-outs for a clandestine operation? NOTE: In July 2000, the same month that the terrorists are said to have arrived, the real owner of Dekkers's Huffman Aviation, Wally Hilliard, had one of his planes (on a regular flight) impounded with 42 kilos of heroin on board.

7. To leading members of the Bush administration (among them George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft and Condoleeza Rice):
What was the content of the Presidential Daily Briefing of Aug. 6, 2001, entitled "BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN U.S.?" What prompted the Pentagon to twice rehearse the scenario of a passenger plane crashing into its headquarters in the year prior to Sept. 11, 2001? What prompted the CIA's wargaming of a kamikaze-crash scenario into the building of the National Reconaissance Office in Washington, DC on Sept. 11, 2001 itself? How specific were the warnings of imminent attacks received from Russian President Putin, the Israeli Mossad, the Echelon system, the German BND, French and British intelligence, Morrocco, Egypt and Jordan? Which of these warnings reached which of you? What did you know and when did you know it?

The disclosure of the following records could help in settling certain unanswered questions about September 11, 2001:

• The recorded audio communications between the four flights, air traffic control stations, and other responsible authorities on the day of Sept. 11, 2001.

• The original passenger manifests of the four hijacked flights.

• Full, uncensored data from any undamaged cockpit voice recorders and flight "black boxes," as well as all records of phone calls from the four flights.

• Primary and secondary radar records of the four flight paths.

• Video footage from the airports from which the alleged hijackers boarded their flights (boarding areas, parking lots, check-in).

• Video footage of the Pentagon attack as taken from the Sheraton Hotel across from the Pentagon (impounded on Sept. 11 by the FBI) and from video cameras on Pentagon grounds.

• Deployment and readiness plans in effect on Sept. 11, 2001 at the bases responsible for air defense procedures, including Otis AFB, Langley AFB, Andrews AFB and others in the Northeastern United States.

• The content of the Presidential Daily Briefing of Aug. 6, 2001, entitled "BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE U.S."

• The content of the redacted passages from the Congressional Joint Inquiry Report on the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as of relevant documents relating to these and other passages.

• Records of surveillance by CIA, BND and other German and U.S. agencies in the cases of Mohamed Atta, Ramzi Binalshibh, Marwan Alshehhi, Ziad Jarrah and other reputed members of the "Hamburg Cell" during their time in Germany up to summer 2000, and of their movements and actions in Florida and the United States up to the Sept. 11 attacks.

• The documents said to prove the involvement of Osama Bin Laden in the attacks, which the German government reported receiving from the United States after Sept. 11, 2001.

[charlie]

12. Whoa

You're primed and ready for those clowns. Good job, Jack :thumbsup:

[Unknown Known]

5. I don't think any of these papers will ever be handed over

They will just stonewall this until the clock runs out. But, the perception will remain that they were hiding something.

[JackRiddler]

9. Bah!

Enough of that defeatist talk... This is up to us, too!

Why do you think this is still an issue?

Because of the unrelenting pressure from 9/11 relatives (most of all, of course), because of the bravery of a handful of whistleblowers like Colleen Rowley and Steve Butler, because of a handful of brave politicians and journalists like Cynthia McKinney and Michael Meacher, because of a few thousand Internet activists and researchers like ourselves... and all the stuff we've been doing together on our sites, on message boards, in meeting halls and occasionally on the street...

9/11 has not been buried, the questions are better known now than ever. They're finally forced to admit that there are unanswered questions, and that these require DOCUMENTS and TESTIMONY to answer, not just reassuring coincidence palaver. Read the article. Even Kean is saying:

"Anything that has to do with 9/11, we have to see it ‹ anything. There are a lot of theories about 9/11, and as long as there is any document out there that bears on any of those theories, we're going to leave questions unanswered. And we cannot leave questions unanswered."


It's up to us to keep up the pressure, encourage more whistleblowers, until this thing finally cracks from within.

Let's make this a movement!

[maggrwaggr]

14. exactly just like the Cheney energy papers

Evil liars do this all the time. They stall, they say they'll do something and then they won't.

Evil liars only respond to force.

Who's going to force these guys out?

[knight_of_the_star]

15. A subpoena will!

Sadly for Mr. Bush, if he is issued a subpoena by the commission, he will NOT be able to hide the documents without breaking the law. US v Nixon ruled that the President CANNOT use Executive Privelige to hide information that is related to a criminal or Congressional investigation. I think that the work of the 9/11 Commission would qualify as both, wouldn't you? If he refuses to turn over the info he can probably do jail time for that. Gotta love it, damned if you do, damned if you don't. I love it when that happens to other people that I despise!

[proud patriot]

7. Of course they knew more then they are fessing up to

Why else are they not following SOP in protecting the American People
The only thing they have done is weave a wicked web of deciet .
Practicing to devieve the Sacred Trust of that which is America .

TRAITORS

[jbfam4]

8. also posted

in editorials and articles:http://democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=18162

[Abe Linkman]

10. Perps usually do know a lot more than they admit.

n/t

[Minstrel Boy]

11. I'm cautiously optomistic

that 9/11 could still unravel on Bush.

Here's what gives me hope: look at how much LIHOP/MIHOP has infiltrated the public consciousness in the past year, and become a mainstream topic. Much thanks is due to the amazing widows who refused to be bullied by Bush. And to the courage of Meacher, who put his name and reputation on the line.

Most of all, there's this: EVERY DAMN THING WE LEARN points in the direction of foreknowledge and complicity.

If they had nothing to hide, they wouldn't be hiding something. But they are. Case-the-fuck closed.

[jokerman93]

13. Let me see if I'm getting this right...

If what this thread is suggesting is actually akin to truth, then our "War on Terror" is an enormous lie -- basically a psy-ops attack on the American soul.

That also suggests someone knew the Iraq oil conquest would probably have the unfortunate side-effect of an escalating Islamist jiad (oops! I meant "Terror War") against our great xtian nation.

This is brilliant. Part of the neocon agenda is to ultimately privatize all government services -- including war-making itself. The intent has apparently been to expand the market scope of the international war-support industries, e.g. Halliburton, Bechtel et al.

We may be entering a period of continuing world-warfare because warfare has just become

much
more
profitable

[Abe Linkman]

16. You got it right, and that's no Joke, man.

n/t

[JackRiddler]

18. no doubt this is an angle...

9/11 doesn't touch on any one motive of the globalist neocon Bushista agenda as it has developed over 30 years...

It touches on ALL the motives; it cuts through the Gordian knot.

The U.S. majority, judging by the 2000 election, is now center-left.

You need a lot of leverage to work against that for:

-- more fascism at home - institutionalizing it with PATRIOT and Homeland...
-- justifying several wars of aggression abroad to fulfill the PNAC agenda
-- securing physical control of the oil at the point of Peak Oil
-- switching a trillion-plus annually in budgeting priorities (from $500 billion surplus to $500 billion deficit in two years flat)
-- moving to a political system of constant fear
-- burying all the Bushco. and related scandals
-- moving the weakening dollar on to the "Megaton Standard" (we can bomb anyone, therefore we are still rich...)
-- creating a modern form of divine-right government
-- privatizing everything, even the making of war, as you say...

9/11 accomplishes all of it, in one stroke. It is a coup d'etat on the zeitgeist. It mobilizes new psychological and physical resources for fascism and war...

[jokerman93]

22. yes your overview hypothesis fits the facts

This really isn't just about America...

[angka]

17. make the connection!

at some point the light bulb will switch on...

will they have the courage to go where their investigation leads...?

[JackRiddler]

19. how can the lightbulb not have switched on?

At this point, it's more of a case of what they will dare to say - even to each other.

And whether they are not all already on the payroll or otherwise compromised.

And whether those who are not compromised do have the courage to transcend the lifetime of conformity without which one is unlikely to ever get a position on such a panel.

[JackRiddler]

20. kickeroo

k

[Nlighten1]

21. For the love of god! Get Bush under oath!

christ,,,what are they waiting for?

[OneTwentyoNine]

23. Sure as hell knew enough to get Asscroft off of commercial flights

That in itself speaks volumes in my GD opinion. Keep Asscroft safe but let 3,000 die.

SOAB,will someone call for Impeachment proceedings??

David

[Stephanie]

27. Ashcroft Flying High (Not just Ashcroft - Bush & Cheney LEFT TOWN)

COWARDS.

www.msnbc.com/news/907379.asp?0cv=KA01

The Secrets of September 11
The White House is battling to keep a report on the terror attacks secret. Does the 2004 election have anything to do with it?

April 30 — Even as White House political aides plot a 2004 campaign plan designed to capitalize on the emotions and issues raised by the September 11 terror attacks, administration officials are waging a behind-the-scenes battle to restrict public disclosure of key events relating to the attacks.

<snip>Some sources who have read the still-secret congressional report say some sections would not play quite so neatly into White House plans. One portion deals extensively with the stream of U.S. intelligence-agency reports in the summer of 2001 suggesting that Al Qaeda was planning an upcoming attack against the United States—and implicitly raises questions about how Bush and his top aides responded. One such CIA briefing, in July 2001, was particularly chilling and prophetic. It predicted that Osama bin Laden was about to launch a terrorist strike “in the coming weeks,” the congressional investigators found. The intelligence briefing went on to say: “The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning.”

The substance of that intelligence report was first disclosed at a public hearing last September by staff director Hill. But at the last minute, Hill was blocked from saying precisely who within the Bush White House got the briefing when CIA director Tenet classified the names of the recipients. (One source says the recipients of the briefing included Bush himself.) As a result, Hill was only able to say the briefing was given to “senior government officials.”


www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A15957-2001
Summer Spinning
To GOP, Vacation Boosted Bush Agenda; To Democrats, Voters See a Shirk Ethic
Aug 29, <2001>

<snip>The White House had announced that Bush would stay at his 1,600-acre ranch in Crawford from Aug. 4 through Labor Day on Sept. 3, a 31-day stretch that would have broken a modern record for a presidential vacation, held by Richard M. Nixon for a 30-day trip to San Clemente, Calif., in 1969. News reports played up the record, and a Gallup Poll found that 55 percent of respondents thought Bush's vacation was too long.

The length of the trip revived old questions about Bush's work ethic, and the poll and the news coverage caused consternation in the White House. Aides said they had planned an ambitious schedule for Bush as long ago as late June, but reporters were not told about it, even after they landed here. The White House, suddenly defensive, took every opportunity to show Bush on the go and even created a "Western White House" logo for the briefing room at Crawford Elementary School. Bush revealed that his ranch had new video conferencing equipment for keeping in touch with his national security team.

www.jacksonholenews.com/Archives/NewsArchive/2001/010815-News.html
News story - Aug. 15, 2001
A Working Vacation
Vice President Cheney plans to fish, travel during month-long valley sojourn.
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

Vice President Dick Cheney took time off from his month-long working vacation Monday to outline his plans for August in Jackson Hole and to reflect on "an amazing year."

Cheney, who will live at his Teton Pines home about six miles west of Jackson until Labor Day, defended his energy policy, supported a local decision to limit drilling around the Gros Ventre Wilderness, recalled a life of service in Washington and said his health problems are not affecting his ability to fish for trout on his favorite Western waters.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/main303601.shtml
Ashcroft Flying High
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2001

(CBS) Fishing rod in hand, Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

"There was a threat assessment and there are guidelines. He is acting under the guidelines," an FBI spokesman said. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. WooHoo

Anybody else notice Tenet has his finger on another trigger?

<snip>
One portion deals extensively with the stream of U.S. intelligence-agency reports in the summer of 2001 suggesting that Al Qaeda was planning an upcoming attack against the United States—and implicitly raises questions about how Bush and his top aides responded. One such CIA briefing, in July 2001, was particularly chilling and prophetic. It predicted that Osama bin Laden was about to launch a terrorist strike “in the coming weeks,” the congressional investigators found. The intelligence briefing went on to say: “The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning.”

The substance of that intelligence report was first disclosed at a public hearing last September by staff director Hill. But at the last minute, Hill was blocked from saying precisely who within the Bush White House got the briefing when CIA director Tenet classified the names of the recipients. (One source says the recipients of the briefing included Bush himself.) As a result, Hill was only able to say the briefing was given to “senior government officials.”

[ComerPerro]

24. tinfiol kick

This is very good to read!

[lostnfound]

34. AFT and a kick n/t

[Pastiche423]

25. Does anyone know

WHY there is a deadline? I mean, have they given a reason?

[kayleybeth]

26. I don't think they've given a reason

but if I had to guess, I'd say the shrub admin doesn't want the commission to finish its work.

[stickdog]

49. The election, of course.

They admitted as much when they set up the commission.

[fizzana]

29. Wouldn't the CIA have the same documents that the White House

has? After all they were the ones to brief the White House.

My hope is that someone in the CIA is pissed off enough that they will pass the info on to someone in the media. Even if Bush accedes to the demands for the info the commission will never officially allow it to see the light of day.

We need another Daniel Ellsberg.

[Jackpine Radical]

31. It was TENET who classified the names of the recipients

of the intelligence reports. OF COURSE they have that stuff. If there's anything in there, you can bet that Bushco is gonna get nuked with it when the CIA decides the time is right.

[PurityOfEssence]

43. Exactly

More than anything else, we need a new Ellsberg.

[LibertyorDeath]

30. The Truth Will Set You Free

[Mike Niendorff]

32. key excerpt: McCain, extension of commission's deadline.

from the same article (way at the bottom) :

-----

Congress would need to approve an extension if the panel requested one, a potentially difficult proposition given the reluctance of the White House and many senior Republican lawmakers to see the commission created in the first place.

"If the families of the victims weighed in - and heavily, as they did before - then we'd have a chance of succeeding," said Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who was an important sponsor of the legislation creating the commission. He said that, given the "obfuscation" of the administration in meeting document requests, he was ready to pursue an extension "if the commission feels it can't get its work done."

-----

This means that both Joe Lieberman and John McCain are now -- as of today -- going on record for extending the commission's work to counter BushCo's run-out-the-clock plans. BIG story here, imho.


MDN

[DeepModem Mom]

33. And the New York Times knows how big this story is...

or they wouldn't have placed it on the frontpage today, top right. I hope they stay on it --

[JackRiddler]

35. KICK!!!

morning, all - is there a more important story out there?

WMD/Plame is the body blow -

9/11 is the knockout punch.

And it's partly up to us.

Here's a couple of things you can do, suggested by William Douglas, who specifically asks for maximum forwarding of the following:

(Thanks, Bill...)

9-11 cover up is Chapter #1 in Michael Moore's new book, and is also in Al Franken's new book. These are both #1 best selling books !!

Urge everyone on every list to read them. "Dude, Where's My Country?" and "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them."

http://new.globalfreepress.com/article.pl?sid=03/10/27/013224&mode=thread

Stop the Bush 9-11 Cover up!

By William Douglas -October 24, 2003
Seattle and Kansas City activists are considering organizing 200 or 300 or more protesters to stand one on each corner of downtown intersections on a Saturday (when traffic is high), thereby covering 75 or more intersections with signs on 4 corners reading "Stop the Bush 9-11 Cover up!" or "9-11: Bush Knew!" or "9-11: What is Bush Hiding?"

EVERYONE should forward this idea to ALL their contact lists, and urge
other cities to contemplate the same actions, perhaps coordinating into a national day of 9-11 action.

BEGIN APPROACHING THE MAINSTREAM ACTIVIST COMMUNITY, THEY ARE BEGINNIG TO LISTEN:

WHY THE ACTIVIST COMMUNITY SHOULD ACT ON 9-11 NOW:

9-11 cover up stories are beginning to break in mainstream media (28 redacted pages, censored PDB, and FAA covering up why they waited 30 minutes to call NORAD on 9-11)

Congressman Jim McDermott just passed out 9-11 Deception dollars
(deceptiondollar.com) to all members of Congress - entering them in the Congressional record.

The ONLY thing holding Bush up is the illusion he represents security (few support him on any other issues). IF the swing voters see a crack in the "Bush=Security" facade, it will bring him down. 9-11 failures are the way to do that, by shining a light on the Bush 9-11 cover up. This will not only expose Bush but the entire shadow govt. promoting war after war.

TELEVISION NEWS REPORTERS HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN COVERING SUCH AN EVENT IN SEATTLE AND WASHINGTON DC. THOSE WHO DID NOT HAVE EARS FOR THIS BEFORE ARE BEGINNING TO LISTEN NOW.

It is time for all 9/11 Activists to begin getting on the agendas with the mainstream peace & justice activists and informing them of the above- and urging them to help organize a national day of 9-11 cover up.

[Q]

36. A whole series of scandals connected to 9-11...

...Enron...hidden Presidential papers and national energy policy documents.

- All of these ( and more) are connected by a common thread. A real investigation into any of these matters would have exposed the SAME PLAYERS that now benefit from 9-11.

[laylah]

37. Keep this baby goin'! n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

38. Few things speculated on and discussed here on DU...

have failed to enter the mainstream, and been found to be based on truth. It's difficult to get past the print media, onto tv, and into public consciousness, but I hope that's starting.

[JackRiddler]

40. you said it, DeepModem Mom!

Where are all those now who wanted to dismiss the very idea of questioning 9/11 because
a) the idea that the official story is untrue is ipsofacto absurd,
b) the inconsistencies are unworthy of investigation since they could all be due to coincidence,
c) the questions are biased because they allow for the unthinkable possibility that the U.S. government or elements thereof were involved in advancing the attacks,
or
d) all these questions are posed by obviously insane people/Elvis worshippers/tinfoil hatters etc.?

Where are all the strawman and adhominem arguments against the very idea of investigating LIHOP now?

Even Kean is saying it. There are theories out there and therefore all the questions need to be answered. For the first time, we do not see contempt in advance of inquiry. This is a very important step.

[gandalf]

50. you forgot e)

always a nice argument: If you doubt elements of the official story, you ignore the suffering of the victims' families.

[RebelOne]

39. Kick again

[JackRiddler]

41. why thank you rebel one

he said opportunistically.

Is there a more important issue? I don't see it. This is the fraud that goes to the heart of everything!

[TacticalPeek]

42. Kick!

:kick:

[JackRiddler]

44. Latest from Unanswered Questions/Citizens Watch

Here is the UQ/Citizens Watch pass-it-along open bulletin ...

unansweredquestions.org

From: Kyle F. Hence
Subject: <911commission> 9/11 CitizensWatch Newsletter No. 3 -- Committee Hearings on 9/11 Investigation

Commentary
Kyle F. Hence, Co-founder, 9/11 CitizensWatch

Before Senator McCain gets up on the floor of the Senate to call for an
extension of the Commission's deadline, as he has offered to do, the
appropriate committees in both the House and Senate should hold hearings
to address a range of concerns being raised by 9/11 victim family
members, the Commissioners themselves and many others.

Just as the Administration has been engaging in stonewalling and
foot-dragging relative to Commission requests for 9/11 related
documents, so has the Commission been 'foot-dragging' relative to
exercising its power to issue these subpoenas while it 'negotiates' over
access.

The Commission knew over 6 months ago it would need access to critical
intelligence documents from the NSC and the Oval Office. Despite a
looming deadline, they have played softball and not aggressively pursued
these documents; perhaps in part because the Commission's Executive
Director, Phillip Zelikow, has close ties to National Security Advisor
Condaleeza Rice (they've co-authored a book) and to the National
Security Council which he helped organize through the transition from
the Clinton Administration to the Bush Administration.

Earlier conflicts of interests illuminated through the efforts of victim
family members have led to Commissioners with close ties to the Airlines
to recuse themselves from aspects of the investigation dealing with
Aviation industry related matters. Now an apparent conflict of interest
with the Commission's Executive Director and a pattern of stonewalling
by the White House, FAA and DoD may force the Congress to extend the
Commission's deadline.

Before this occurs it is incumbent upon members of Congress to exercise
their oversight role and review the work of the Commission and hear from
the family members who have a long list of serious concerns about the
work of the Commission.

The Commission's dismissal of the family's concern over Zelikow's
conflicts of interest and its willingness to tolerate unexplained delays
over access to 'highly material' White House documents is just the tip
of the iceberg as far as the families are concerned.

Concerns raised by the 9/11 Family Steering Committee and by 9/11
CitizensWatch include (but are not limited to):

1) No testimony under oath: not a single minute of testimony offered the
Commission has been given under oath. Explanations as to why the
Commission has refused to require an oath as to truthfulness from its
witnesses are counterintuitive and have never been fully explained in
the formal setting of their periodic press conferences.

2) Presence of Minders during 'interviews': The 9/11 Commission has been
charged with producing the "definitive account" of what happened on 9/11
and why and they are conducting 'interviews' with minders? Interviews?
What's going on here--is the commission still hiring staff? What they
should be doing is taking testimony under oath without the presence of
intimidating 'minders'. Why do they continue to knuckle under to the
Administration's insistence that minders be present?

3) a general lack of investigative rigor applied to questioning of
witnesses who offer public testimony (not under oath) in Commission
hearings.

4) hearings with inappropriate witnesses that do not even come close to
addressing the
questions posed by the Family Steering Committee and 9/11 CitizensWatch.

5) failure to release substantive findings of fact and progress on lines
of inquiry in conjunction with the interim reports of the Commission, as
was done by the Congressional Joint Inquiry.

6) failure to release all non-classified records and evidence to
facilitate a broad range of expert public analysis, as well as release
of all key evidence relating to the findings of their final report
instead of a "series of monographs" predicted by Commission co-chair Lee
Hamilton.

The 9/11 Commission established by Congress and the President nearly a
year ago is ultimately accountable to the American people, and most
certainly to the 9/11 victim family members, without whose effort there
would be no commission. Getting definitive answers from the White House
and other agencies is absolutely critical to learning the truth about
the horrific and tragic events of September 11th. Taking the Commission
to task over apparent conflicts of interest that may have softened their
approach to the issue of access and the litany of aforementioned
concerns is a must before the Commission and the Congress breaks for the
Holiday.

Regardless of whether or not a extension of their deadline is required,
it is time Congress hold hearings to review the course of the
investigation thus far and if necessary make adjustments in the
legislation to be sure they are properly addressed.

================================================================

None of this will happen without a concerted campaign by the American
people to demand accountability and a higher standard of investigative
rigor. To that end CitizensWatch will soon be announcing a letter
writing and call-in initiative to call upon key members of Congress to
hold hearings in a timely manner.

[Kahuna]

45. Go Tommy Kean! Now just follow through.

:bounce:

[lostnfound]

46. Glad Kean isn't letting his ties to Khalid bin Mahfouz stop him..

I'm sure most DUers already know Kean 'shares a sheikh' with Bush -- Khalid bin Mahfouz bankrolled Bush's Harken & Arbusto & BCCI, and was a partner in Kean's Amerada Hess. Guess it's all in the oil family.



REPORT HIGHLIGHTS: Kean's earned income included $160,660 in fees and options from Fiduciary Trust International and $172,523 as a director of Amerada Hess Corp., an energy company with interests around the globe.

Kean serves on the board of Amerada Hess, which had a four-year alliance with Delta Oil of Saudi Arabia on a venture in Azerbaijan. Amerada Hess ended its role in the venture in November.

[janekat]

47. You know it's bad when the Republicans are attacking Bush

(Hegel also criticized Bush.)

[Myra]

48. I agree with Michael Moore...

Impeachment is too good.
I want a perp walk out of the white house
into a paddy wagon. Then jail time, where
every one of the BFEE gets to be someone's
prison "wife" for life.