What the 9-11 Commission Report does not explain is why, on the morning of September 11, 2001, President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and other top officials were essentially missing in action.
By Gail Sheehy
July 22, 2004
Who’s our quarterback in case of a future terrorist attack? Who’s in charge? That was the core question members of the 9-11 commission put to every government official they interviewed. The reason that youre hearing such a tone of urgency in our voices is because the answer to the question was almost uniform, said commissioner Jamie Gorelick at the press conference following todays release of the 600 page final 9-11 Commission Report. The person in charge, she said the commissioners had been told over and over again, would be the president.
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Among them: Who financed the attacks? Were terrorist cells in the U.S. involved?
By Terry McDermott
Times Staff Writer
July 26, 2004
With countless police, intelligence and journalistic examinations and two special congressional inquiries, the Sept. 11 attacks have been among the most investigated criminal acts in history.
The release last week of the final report of the independent 9/11 commission offered the nation a comprehensive overview of the origin and execution of the attacks. What the nation does not have are answers to all the outstanding questions, some of them fundamental:
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July 23, 2004 – 3:38AM
[snip]
Critics were emphatic in debunking the report. Kyle Hence, co-founder of 9/11 Citizens Watch, criticised a “catalogue of compromises, flawed premises, conflicts of interest, unanswered questions, neglected areas of inquiry and ignored whistleblowers” in
the report.
“The report being released today by this so-called independent commission cannot possibly be deemed definitive or authoritative as an account for the events of September 11th – not by any stretch of the imagination,” Hence told a Washington press conference, adding that the group intended to issue its own analysis detailing its view of how the 9/11 attacks were carried out.
[snip]
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By Sibel Edmonds
July 23, 2004
The countdown is finally over, and a five hundred sixty seven-page Commission report is out. According to the Commission Chairman, they have seen every single document and have interviewed every single relevant witness and authority.
According to all Commission members, this report should be considered a resounding success, since it encompasses all information relevant to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and very little, almost none, has been redacted, classified, or glossed over. Yet we have heard no one screaming “classification”, “sensitive diplomatic relations”, “highly sensitive foreign business relations”, or “national security implications.” This is highly puzzling and curious.
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For immediate release: July 23, 2004
For More Information Contact:
John Judge, Co-founder
Ph: 202-583-5347; Cell: 202-277-1992
Kyle Hence, Co-founder
Cell: 401-935-7715
Citizens critique of flawed 9/11 Commission process available online
Copies of “A CITIZENS’ CRITIQUE: THE 9/11 COMMISSION PROCESS”, a report
issued by 9/11 CitizensWatch, are currently available online at:
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=2
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For immediate release:
July 20, 2004 For More Information Contact:
John Judge, Co-founder
Ph: 202-583-5347; Cell: 202-277-1992
Kyle Hence, Co-founder
Cell: 401-935-7715
Citizens group releases critique of flawed 9/11 Commission process:
Will final report resolve questions?
WASHINGTON, DC, 9/11 CitizensWatch, a public group that has monitored the national 9/11 Commission and demanded transparency, accountability, and a thorough investigation, will release a critique of the process used by the National Commission on Terrorist Acts Upon the United States (“9/11 Commission”) just hours before the Commission’s release of its own final report. “We have discovered conflicts of interest, contradictions in testimony and a conformity of witnesses presented at the 9/11 Commission’s hearings,” said co-founder John Judge, “as well as flawed premises that will likely lead to incorrect conclusions about the events surrounding September 11, 2001 and unsound recommendations for our future security.”
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By DEVLIN BARRETT
The Associated Press — 07/20/04 19:18 EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) – Some Sept. 11 families say they fear the independent commission’s final report Thursday will leave crucial questions unanswered, including how the attacks were financed and what hindered the emergency response.
The families of those killed have had a varied and at times contentious relationship with the panel appointed to investigate the attacks. Family members have pressured agencies to give the commission better access to government secrets, while at the same time challenging members to get tougher with witnesses.
A major goal of the families is that the identity of who paid for the 2001 attacks be determined and publicized. Many fault the commission for putting a price tag on the terror operation, around $500,000, but not publicly identifying or questioning who paid the bill to kill nearly 3,000 people.
“I’ve been to every hearing, and there hasn’t been any mention of how those people got that money,” said William Doyle, whose son Joseph died in the World Trade Center.
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By MIKE KELLY– RECORD COLUMNIST — Sunday, July 18, 2004
CRIME is a sad fact of life – no news there, right? But try to imagine how ordinary people might react if an important government official called a special press conference every month or so to warn us that we might be murdered.
Imagine New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg doing this. Or Governor McGreevey. Or a police chief, a prosecutor, a fire warden.
This special warning would contain no specifics – no times, dates, or places. There would be no advice to avoid a particular neighborhood or to maintain a watchful eye for a gang of thugs who dressed in distinctive ways. There would be no composite sketches of possible killers, no descriptions of possible weapons, not even hints on how the killers operate.
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By Justin Rood, CQ Staff — July 16, 2004 – 8:20 p.m.
The FBI might allow the Justice Department inspector general to release unclassified versions of two reports detailing his investigations into the bureau’s translation program, the IG wrote Thursday in a letter to two senators.
Previously, the FBI had taken the unusual step of classifying both reports in their entirety – effectively ruling out the possibility that the IG could ever release redacted versions to the public.
But in a letter dated July 15, Justice IG Glenn A. Fine told Sens. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., both on the Judiciary Committee, that the FBI was now working with his office to produce unclassified versions of the reports.
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Walter V. Robinson and Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 9/20/2001
WASHINGTON – Despite recurrent warnings from official watchdog agencies and presidential commissions that airport security lapses could have catastrophic consequences, government efforts to remedy the problems have been frustrated repeatedly by cost-conscious airlines.
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