National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up in late 2002 "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the" September 11, 2001 attacks including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The commission was also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks. Some have compared its important, and potentially controversial, role to that of the Warren Commission of 1963-1964.

Criticisms

Because the investigation was controversial and politically sensitive, many participants have been criticised during the process. Most of the complaints fit into the following categories.

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Claims of bias within the commission

Some members of victims' families have claimed that the commission has numerous conflicts of interest. 9/11 CitizensWatch, in particular, called for the resignation of Philip D. Zelikow, the executive staff director. Zelikow is a Bush-appointee who served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. He spent three years on the President George H. W. Bush's National Security Council. Zelikow worked closely with Bush NSC advisor Condoleezza Rice and even co-wrote a book with her. Some worry that Zelikow may be using his power to deflect blame from himself and to protect Rice.

Related Topics:
Philip D. Zelikow - George H. W. Bush - NSC - Condoleezza Rice

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In addition, many members had ties which could be viewed as conflicts of interest.

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• Thomas Kean has ties to the National Endowment for Democracy, a long-time conduit of CIA covert operations abroad. Kean also has a history of investments that link him to Saudi investors who have financially supported both George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden in the past. One example is his former business connections to Khalid bin Mahfouz, an alleged terrorist financier.
• Fred F. Fielding has done legal work for two of Bush's leading "Pioneer" fund-raisers. Fielding also works for a law firm lobbying for Spirit Airlines and United Airlines.
• Slade Gorton has close ties to Boeing, which built all the planes destroyed on 9/11, and his law firm represents several major airlines, including Delta Air Lines.
• James Thompson is the head of a law firm that lobbies for American Airlines, and he has previously represented United Airlines.
• Richard Ben-Veniste has represented Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe, and continues to represent Boeing and United Airlines.
• Max Cleland, former US senator, has received $300,000 from the airline industry. He has since resigned from the commission.
• Lee Hamilton sits on many advisory boards, including those to the CIA, the president's Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the US Army.
• Tim Roemer represents Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
• Jamie Gorelick's firm has agreed to represent Prince Mohammed al Faisal in the suit by the 9/11 families. The families contend that al Faisal has legal responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. According to Attorney General John Ashcroft in his testimony before the commission, Gorelick wrote a procedural memo that would have prevented communication between various government agencies (the wall memohttp://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper441/documents/5nkzph1t.pdf).

The commission's defenders claim that these do not represent significant conflicts of interest, and that the commission can be expected to maintain its neutrality.

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Claims of lack of cooperation from the White House

In April 2002, Bush said that the investigation into 9/11 should be confined to Congress because it deals with sensitive information that could reveal sources and methods of intelligence. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/15/attack/main509096.shtml. But by September, the White House came under intense fire concerning the commission from many victims' families http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/20/national/main522682.shtml. President Bush promptly responded, only a few days later, that he now supported the creation of an independent 9/11 commission. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/24/attack/main523156.shtml

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However, The White House insisted that they be able to appoint the commission's chair, leading some to question the commission's independence. The initial person appointed to head the commission, Henry Kissinger, has been accused by many of having been involved in past government coverups in South America (specifically, the overthrow of the Allende government in Chile).

Related Topics:
Henry Kissinger - South America - Allende - Chile

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Even after Kissinger resigned, the White House was often cited as having attempted to block the release of information to the commission http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/27/bush.911/ and for refusing to give interviews without tight conditions attached (leading to threats to subpoena http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031026-114805-2613r.htm). They have further been accused of attempting to derail the commission by giving it one of the smallest independent commission funding levels in recent history ($3 million http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,437267,00.html), and by giving the commission a very short deadline. The White House insists that they have given the commission "unprecedented cooperation".

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While President Bush and Vice President Cheney did ultimately agree to testify, they did so only under several conditions:

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• They would be allowed to testify jointly;
• They would not be required to take an oath before testifying;
• The testimony would not be recorded electronically or transcribed, and that the only record would be notes taken by one of the commission staffers;
• These notes would not be made public.

The commission agreed to these conditions, and the President and Vice President gave their testimony on April 29.

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Investigation Lacked Adequate Funds

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". . .Whereas the investigation of the Challenger disaster received $50 million, Bush promised only $3 million for the investigation of the much more deadly and complex disaster of 9/11. He then initially resisted when the commission asked for an additional $8 million."

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from David Ray Griffin's The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions. p.284

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Claims the commission was used for partisan purposes

Some conservatives believe that the Democratic Party used the commission for partisan advantage during the 2004 election campaign. Rather than focusing equally on all factors, critics predicted that Congressional Democrats would ignore any policy errors made by Bill Clinton while emphasizing the mistakes of President Bush.http://www.thekcrachannel.com/helenthomas/2626584/detail.html

Related Topics:
Bill Clinton - President Bush

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In contrast many opponents of the Bush administration believe that the commission was set up to perform a superficial examination of the background of the attacks, thereby meeting public demands for an investigation while still preventing any substantive examination. Also they argue that Republicans on the commission and in Congress ignored mistakes of the Bush admistration while exaggerating those made by former President Clinton.

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Four books that critique the official Commission are "Crossing the Rubicon" by Michael Ruppert, http://www.fromthewilderness.com "The Terror Timeline: Year by Year, Day by Day, Minute by Minute" by Paul Thompson, http://www.cooperativeresearch.org "The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions, A Critique of the Kean-Zelikow Report" by David Ray Griffin, http://www.interlinkbooks.com/Books_/911CommRep.html and "Cover Up: What the Government is Still Hiding About the War on Terror" by Peter Lance. http://www.peterlance.com All describe severe conflicts of interest that the Commissioners had and point out problems in the official narrative that suggest the attacks were allowed to happen in order to achieve long-sought policy changes (the Iraq war and "Homeland Security").

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Claims the commission ignored information regarding Able Danger

The reputation and credibility of the commission has recently been damaged by evidence of a lack of thoroughness or possibly a coverup. In August 2005, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer claimed he had informed 9/11 Commission Executive Director Dr. Philip D. Zelikow about a highly classified data-mining project called Able Danger that had identified two of the three terrorist cells responsible for 9/11. Shaffer said Dr. Zelikow was initially very interested and gave Shaffer his card to contact him again. However, Shaffer claims when he contacted Dr. Zelikow, he was no longer interested in information about Able Danger. http://www.gsnmagazine.com/sep_05/shaffer_interview.html The commission later issued a response saying they found Shaffer "not sufficiently reliable" and the information was "lacking historical significance" and did not warrant further investigation. http://www.9-11pdp.org/press/2005-08-12_pr.pdf Subsequently, four additional "credible witnesses" have come forward to support Shaffer's account of Able Danger.http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5249709,00.html Former Senator Slade Gorton, R-Wash., a member of the Commission, said, "Bluntly, it just didn't happen and that's the conclusion of all 10 of us." A search for documents on Able Danger has not been very productive leading Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) to speculate that a coverup may have occurred. http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050908-112911-4218r The Pentagon investigated the matter and has not been able to find any documentary evidence confirming the allegations.http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/journal/10_37/national_news/37074-1.html Pentagon spokesman Army Maj. Paul Swiergosz said, "We've interviewed 80 people involved with Able Danger, combed through hundreds of thousands of documents and millions of e-mails and have still found no documentation of Mohamed Atta." But Weldon claims that the Pentagon ordered the destruction of a large volume of documents related to Able Danger.http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/12657867.htm

Related Topics:
Anthony Shaffer - Philip D. Zelikow - Able Danger - Slade Gorton - Curt Weldon

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