Folks,
Last Thursday 11/13 on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, National Commission on
Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States member and former US Senator
Max Cleland said:
"The 9-11 Commission DEAL with the White House on 9-11 documents is a
SHAM, IT'S DISGUSTING, AMERICA IS BEING CHEATED."
This refers to the deal by which two of the commissioners get to see
only portions of the Presidential Daily Briefs (PDBs). These
documents cannot leave the White House. The two commissioners take
notes. Then the notes must be reviewed by White House counsel before
being released to two other commissioners who then can only talk about
them with the remaining six commissioners. And ultimately none of
this might even be released to the American public because the White
House will review and perhaps "redact" (censor) the final report due
out on May 27th next year. See details in the NY Times story below.
The victims families have vigorously objected. See the Associated
Press story at:
http://www.freep.com/news/nw/panel14_20031114.htm or their statement
below
Dr. Zelikow, the Commission's Director is in compromised position due
to his close ties with National Security Advisor, Condaleeza Rice with
whom he co-authored a book last year and even more importantly, he was
a member of the transition team that established the make-up of the
current National Security Counsel. This is without doubt the worst
conflict of interest to emerge since Kissinger was appointed Chair of
the Commission in December of last year. The Commission has NOT put
anyone testifying under oath!
YOU CAN:
Sign the petition for full disclosure of white house documents to the
whole commission (9600 signed so far):
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/679493111?ts=1068918507
Contact: Al Felzenberg, Communications Director, National Commission
on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States Office: 202-401-1725 .
Cell: 202-236-4878 . Fax: 202-296-5545 afelzenberg@9-11commission.gov
or the Commissioners: info@9-11Commission.gov
If you live near New Jersey, come to the 5th meeting of the Commission
this Wednesday 11/19 at Drew University in Madison, NJ, starting at
9:30AM. Details and map at:
http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing5.htm
The US cannot move forward until we know what really happened on 9/11,
when all security systems failed when, for the first time in history,
4 simultaneous hijackings occurred.
=============================================================== The
New York Times: Deal on 9/11 Briefings Lets White House Edit Papers by
PHILIP SHENON, November 14, 2003
Deal on 9/11 Briefings Lets White House Edit Papers
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13: The commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror
attacks said on Thursday that its deal with the White House for access
to highly classified Oval Office intelligence reports would let the
White House edit the documents before they were released to the
commission's representatives.
The agreement, announced on Wednesday, has led to the first public
split on the commission. Two Democrats on the 10-member panel say that
the commission should have demanded full access to the intelligence
summaries, known as the President's Daily Brief, and that the White
House should not be allowed to determine what is relevant to the
investigation.
An umbrella group of victims' families joined the criticism, saying
the terms of the accord should be public.
While spokesmen for panel refused again to provide the terms, citing
the sensitivity of the talks with the White House, its executive
director acknowledged that the White House would be able to remove
information from the reports unrelated to Al Qaeda and to the attacks
on Sept. 11, 2001.
"An entire P.D.B. will have articles about China, South Africa,
Venezuela," the executive director, Philip D. Zelikow, said in an
interview. "The notion that the commission should want to read P.D.B.
articles that have nothing to do with Al Qaeda would be a novel
suggestion. The commission has not asked to see the country's most
sensitive intelligence information on China or North Korea."
A Democrat on the panel who has criticized the accord, former
Representative Timothy J. Roemer of Indiana, said in an interview that
he believed that the panel had agreed to terms that would let the
White House edit the reports to remove the contexts in which the
intelligence was presented and to hide any "smoking guns."
"The President's Daily Brief can run 9 to 12 pages long," Mr. Roemer
said. "But under this agreement, the commission will be allowed to see
only specific articles or paragraphs within the P.D.B.'s. Our members
may see only two or three paragraphs out of a nine-page report."
He said the commission should have insisted on access to the full
reports, because "you need the context of how the P.D.B. was presented
to the president in order to determine whether or not there were
smoking guns."
The other Democratic critic on the panel, former Senator Max Cleland
of Georgia, has described the agreement as unconscionable.
Administration officials have acknowledged that they are concerned
that intelligence reports received by Mr. Bush in the weeks before
9/11 might be construed to suggest that the White House failed to
respond to evidence suggesting that Al Qaeda was planning a
catastrophic attack. The White House acknowledged last year in
response to news reports that a copy of the Daily Brief in August 2001
noted that Al Qaeda might use hijacked planes in an attack.
Commission officials have said that under the agreement the panel will
be able to designate four members to read the reports. They will be
allowed to take notes on the documents, and the White House will be
allowed to review and edit the notes to remove especially sensitive
information.
In its statement, the victims' family group, the Family Steering
Committee, said the agreement would "prevent a full uncovering of the
truth and is unacceptable." The group is led by many advocates who
were most responsible for pressuring Congress to create the commission
last year over the initial objections of the White House.
"As it now stands, a limited number of commissioners will have
restricted access to a limited number of P.D.B. documents," the group
said. "The commission should issue a statement to the American public
fully explaining why this agreement was chosen in lieu of issuing
subpoenas to the C.I.A. and executive branch."
The group said, "All 10 commissioners should have full, unfettered and
unrestricted access to all evidence, including but not limited to all
Presidential Daily Briefings."
A spokesman for the group, Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband, Ronald,
was killed at the World Trade Center, said the families were alarmed
that the terms of the accord were kept secret.
`'I think this entire deal needs to be explained to the public," Ms.
Breitweiser said. "This is an independent commission that is supposed
to be transparent, that is supposed to be open."
============================================================== The
Family Steering Committee's Statement Regarding Access to Presidential
Daily Briefings
November 13, 2003
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Against the United
States, commonly known as the 9/11 Independent Commission, released a
statement to the press regarding the culmination of recent
negotiations with the White House. These negotiations involved the
9/11 Independent Commission's document requests for access to certain
Presidential Daily Briefings that may relate to the 9/11 attacks.
In response to the Commission's Press Release, which provides
insufficient details to evaluate the circumstances and effects of the
compromise, the Family Steering Committee holds the following
positions:
1. All ten Commissioners should have full, unfettered, and
unrestricted access to all evidence - including but not limited to all
Presidential Daily Briefings and all working notes related to those
Presidential Daily Briefings, that may be related to the attacks on
9/11.
2. The full, official, and final written Agreement that was reached
between the Commission and the White House should be released to the
American public in its entirety. The American public should be fully
informed as to all legal restrictions and limitations placed within
this Agreement upon the 9/11 Independent Commission and their
collective ability to access all information needed for their
investigation. Furthermore, the mechanism by which this Agreement was
reached should be fully released to the public. For example, who was
involved in these negotiations? Were the terms of this agreement
presented to all Commissioners and was a subsequent vote taken?
3. The Commission should issue a Statement to the American public
fully explaining why this Agreement was chosen in lieu of issuing
subpoenas to the CIA and Executive Branch to access these certain
Presidential Daily Briefings.
4. The Family Steering Committee is committed to ensuring that the
Independent Commission executes their mission statement in a full and
unrestricted manner. The mission statement of the 9-11 Commission is
as follows:
"The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States,
an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional
legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late
2002, is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the
circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,
including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks.
The Commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to
guard against future attacks."
As it now stands a limited number of Commissioners will have
restricted access to a limited number of PDB documents. This will
prevent a full uncovering of the truth and is unacceptable.
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Evan Ravitz 303 440 6838 evan@vote.org
Vote for the National Initiative! www.vote.org
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