Unless there is a change of heart in the White House, the bipartisan
federal commission created to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks may well have to issue subpoenas in order to gain
access to key intelligence documents being withheld by the Bush
administration.
It is dismaying that the administration has stonewalled the commission
— and, in effect, the American people — on arguably the most traumatic
challenge the nation has faced since Pearl Harbor.
The commission's chairman, Thomas H. Kean, a Republican and a former
governor of New Jersey, was right to warn, "I will not stand for it."
Americans should hope that Mr. Kean and the members of his commission,
which was created by an act of Congress over the objections of the
White House, hold their ground.
At the heart of the struggle between the commission and administration
appear to be the detailed daily intelligence briefings provided
President Bush in the weeks leading up to the 9/11 tragedies.
It is true that such reports are sensitive and highly classified and
have rarely, if ever, been shared with Congress or outside agencies.
It is also the case that administrations of both parties have long
jealously guarded internal documents that advise presidents.
But Mr. Kean argues compellingly that this situation is different. He
points out that the commission represents neither Congress nor any
other branch of government, and is a unique body toward which
traditional defenses of presidential privilege should not apply.
Unfortunately, this administration has a deep aversion to openness.
That has been highlighted by the growing unhappiness of some
Republican senators over the misleading and selective information
given them about Iraq.
It was also evidenced by the need of the Kean commission to subpoena
dozens of boxes of documents that had been withheld by the Federal
Aviation Administration.
Not surprisingly, some commission members from both parties have
accused the White House and Mr. Bush's re-election campaign of
dragging their feet, so that the commission will not have the
information it needs to issue a complete report by its May 2004
deadline that might politically embarrass the President.
The White House and Republican supporters in Congress should bear in
mind that commission findings that are based on an incomplete record
would certainly give rise to conspiracy theories that would be far
more alarming than the truth is likely to be.
They should also recognize that Americans, and especially families of
9/11 victims, have a right to know the best analysis of how the
attacks happened, what their government knew and how it acted on its
knowledge.
Even by this administration's low standards, it would be reprehensible
to stymie the commission for purely political reasons.
"life is like a mushroom, they feed you ***** and keep you in the dark"
.
|
