by James Glaser
January 20, 2004

Maybe last year or for sure the year before that I would have been shocked that George Bush is trying to scam us with the investigation into the terrorist attack of 9/11, but now nothing this President does surprises me. You see the Independent Commission investigating the attack was set up to finish by May 27th of this year with a 60 grace period for any loose ends. After getting the run around from the White House on access to Presidential briefings for months, the commission feels it needs more time to do a thorough and accurate report.

According to Newsday, President Bush and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) have decided to oppose granting more time. If the report comes in later, it might make George look bad, too close to the election.

Public hearings in the next few months will include members of the Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld, CIA Director George Tenet, and the current and former FBI directors. The commission also would like closed door sessions with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. They will also hear from the same team that was under Bill Clinton.

One of the major reasons that the commission wants more time is because they had to fight so long with President Bush and the City of New York to get access to documents. They are asking for a couple more months now because of Bush's delaying tactics put them behind schedule. The commission is rushing to finish interviews with about 200 remaining witnesses and they have to examine about 2 million pages of documents.

Now for anybody that watches what has been going on with President Bush or really any of the past several Presidents; this should be of no surprise. Two of the senior officials that were appointed to the Independent Commission to Investigate the Terrorist Attack on the United States, were so closely involved in the events they are investigating, that they have to be interviewed as part of the inquiry.

Philip Zelikow an advisor to Condoleeza Rice and the commission's executive director has withdrawn himself from those parts of the investigation directly connected with the transition from the Clinton administration to that of President Bush. He is taking himself off the commission for this part of the investigation because he is the person being investigated. Zelikow was also appointed to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board in October 2001.

Now once again in writing about George Bush and his administration, I must tell you I am not making this up. Time after time we learn about out and out lies or distortions of the truth that plague Bush's term in office. In an article written by Shaun Waterman, for United Press International he writes that Jamie S. Gorelick is the other member of the investigating board that must also be questioned as he was a senior official under Attorney General Janet Reno in the Clinton administration. Now remember, this commission is called, "Independent." That would make you think that the members were above board and would have no close ties to those people they were investigating.

The family members of those killed in the attack are pretty upset about all of this. Lori Van Auken, the widow of Kenneth, said about the commission's director Zelikow, "Did he interview himself about his own role in the failures that left us defenseless?" She went on to say, "This is bizarre."

Waterman writes about the news of these two officials having to testify to themselves this way. "The news is a particularly sharp blow to the commission's credibility because Gorelick and Zelikow are the two officials to whom the White House has granted the greatest access to the most secret and sensitive security documents of all the Presidential briefings"

Last year officials acknowledged that one such briefing in August of 2001, more than a month prior to the attacks, warned that al-Qaida was determined to strike the United States. Some reports suggested that hijacking-and even the use of airplanes as missiles-was mentioned as the mode of assault.

These briefing papers are the ones that the commission had to fight the White House to see. George Bush would not let the whole commission see these papers, but he did pick the only two men that had a real conflict of interest and gave them access.

President Bush let two board members see the Briefings he received before the attack of 9/11. These are the only two men on the commission that have anything to lose, as the commission findings could make them look bad.

Remember we are talking about the deaths of 3000 people here and nobody wants it said that these deaths happened because they screwed up. That is why we were supposed to have an independent group doing the investigation. Now we find out that those in charge of the investigation might have played a role in fact that our country was not prepared for a terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001.

The families of those killed in the attack are upset that the report is going to be rushed and they are upset that board members are investigating themselves. You know what? I am too, but I am not a bit surprised.