Perhaps there is sensitver information that must remain classified, or
hender investigation techniques.
\

Perhaps there is sensitver information that must remain classified, or
hender investigation techniques.

Josh
http://conservativeissues.com

"Tom Jefferson" <tomj@democracy.org> wrote in message
news:3fa8bb4c$0$91674$a32e20b9@news.nntpservers.com...

Sez Dubya.

---------------------------------------------------------

Stonewalling the Sept. 11 probe

Published November 4, 2003

President Bush had strong words when he signed legislation creating a
federal commission to investigate the terrorist attacks on Washington and
New York.

"We must uncover every detail and learn every lesson of September the

11th,"

he said last year, speaking as family members of victims looked on. The
commission, he said, "should carefully examine all the evidence and follow
all the facts, wherever they lead."

Now, uncomfortably enough for the president, the fact-finding trail has

led

to the White House. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the
United States is asking intelligence agencies to produce top-secret memos
known as the President's Daily Brief. So far, the White House has refused.

The requested documents include an Aug. 6, 2001, presidential briefing

that

focused on Osama Bin Laden's intent to strike the U.S. and raised the
possibility his followers might hijack U.S. airliners. Last year, the
administration acknowledged that the briefing had taken place. But it has
refused to share the documents with previous investigations, including a
House and Senate intelligence inquiry last year.

This is not the only roadblock faced by the commission, whose creation
initially was opposed by the White House. The administration has

steadfastly

required agency "minders" to be on hand during interviews. The CIA and
Pentagon have yet to produce key policy documents.

The commission reached a troubling milestone last month when, for the

first

time, it resorted to issuing a subpoena for documents. It did so after
discovering the Federal Aviation Administration had withheld tapes,
statements, interview reports and self-assessments relating to the

agency's

tracking of the hijacked airliners. The documents filled dozens of boxes.

While the commission's findings will no doubt become the subject of
political debate, the commission is not, as some contend, engaged in a
partisan game. It is doing its job. Congress and the president gave the
commission a broad mandate on par with ad hoc investigations of the attack
on Pearl Harbor and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The bipartisan, 10-member commission was charged with providing the

American

people a definitive account of events leading up to and on Sept. 11. It is
headed by a Bush appointee, Thomas H. Kean, the president of Drew

University

and former Republican governor of New Jersey.

Former Republican Gov. Jim Thompson of Illinois, appointed to the

commission

by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, supports the panel's demand for the
documents.

"The documents we're asking for have never been given by any president to
anybody for any reason. So it's unprecedented," Thompson told the Tribune.
"At the same time, we think the request is justified. Enough questions

have

been raised about what happened on 9-11, why it happened and how we can
prevent it in the future, that we need this information."

The commission and its staff have been thoroughly vetted and have received
clearances for top secret information. They know it's a crime to divulge
classified information and have no power to order information

declassified.

Not all information available to the commission will, or should be, made
public.

The commission must be allowed to "follow all the facts, wherever they
lead." Those were the president's words. He must make good on them.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0311040331nov04,1,3345605.sto

ry?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed

--
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http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx