9/11 Families: "Zelikow should remove himself" from Commission

posted by ewing2001 on Saturday October 04, @05:12AM

Families: 9/11 probe director has conflict of interest

Update: Sept. 11 Panel Defends Director's Impartiality(WP 10/14)

Update: Is the 9/11 commission too soft? (Salon 10/10)
9/11 Citizen Watch- Newsletter Pt.2

UPI Homeland and National Security Editor Washington Times

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The families of some of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 suicide hijackings are calling for the staff director of the commission set up to investigate the attacks to be removed from a big part of the inquiry.

They say he has a conflict of interest in investigating the National Security Council.

"We believe staff director (Philip) Zelikow should remove himself from any and all portions of the investigation addressing the NSC," the Family Steering Committee wrote in a letter sent to the commission Friday.

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The families say that Zelikow, who was a part of the Bush transition team, drafted a memo for national security advisor Condoleezza Rice on reorganizing the NSC. Finding out why that body failed to anticipate or defend against the attacks is a major part of the commission's mandate.

"Really, if he's looking at the NSC, he's investigating himself," said Lorie Van Auken, one of the authors of the letter, who lost her husband Kenneth in the World Trade Center.

Zelikow did not return calls Friday evening.

Is the 9/11 commission too soft?

Salon -October 10

By Eric Boehlert

Family members of those who died on Sept. 11 are beginning to worry about the gentle treatment the outside commission is giving the White House. Oct. 10, 2003 | Late last month, the heads of the independent commission created by Congress to investigate the 9/11 terrorist attacks gave the White House two weeks, until Oct. 6, to turn over all the remaining documents requested by the commission. The deadline has come and gone, with no apparent penalty.

And now, some increasingly impatient family members of 9/11 victims are becoming critical of the commission, known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, and what they see as its gentle treatment of the White House. They're also raising concerns about potential conflict of interest with the commission's chief investigator. The Bush administration has still not delivered all the papers requested, including highly sensitive intelligence briefings that could shed light on what President Bush knew about an al-Qaida threat prior to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Facing a daunting May 2004 cutoff date for its final, sprawling report, the commission late last month made a public plea for the documents, some of which were first requested six months ago. "We are approaching a crunch point," said Lee Hamilton, former Democratic Indiana congressman and vice chairman of the commission.

But according to family advocates, when the Oct. 6 deadline came and went earlier this week, the consequences were negligible. They said they were told that negotiations with the White House have simply been extended in the hope that the administration will make the classified documents, or at least descriptions of them, available. "It sends a terrible message," says Bill Harvey, whose new bride was killed on Sept. 11. "Why aren't they exercising their subpoena power? If they want the document, go get it."

Commission spokesman Al Felzenberg says "there has been movement" in the negotiations, and notes that the White House has not, as some feared, invoked executive privilege to shield any information. Commissioners are drafting a statement regarding the status of the documents and will likely release it this week.

Felzenberg stresses that most of the documents have been received, including many highly sensitive papers, and that the still-missing request represents just "half or 1 percent" of those targeted. He also notes that due to the sensitivity of the request, how the documents are handled is of utmost concern. "They're not something you Xerox. We're going to resolve this in a way that makes all parties comfortable. That's the nature of negotiations," says Felzenberg. "At some point there will be resolution."

The commission won't confirm, but it's assumed one of the still-missing documents is the crucial Aug. 6, 2001, daily presidential briefing that Bush received while vacationing in Crawford, Texas, which, according to published accounts, warned of Osama bin Laden's intention to hijack planes in the United States. The White House has since said the warnings were vague in nature.

For 9/11 family advocates who were instrumental last year in lobbying -- over White House objections -- for the creation of the commission, the missed deadline is just the latest example of what they say is the task force's laid-back approach toward unearthing crucial answers about Sept. 11 and how the attack on America could occur. They point to lackluster public hearings where nobody has testified under oath, subpoena power that's gone unused, and worrisome public comments from Hamilton, who recently stressed that document negotiations with the White House "have been carried on in a very congenial atmosphere."

"They want to run it in a polite, friendly fashion," complains Kristen Breitweiser, who lost her husband on Sept. 11. "Our confidence level is waning. There seems to be no sense of urgency."

There's a growing concern that the committee sees its job as putting the events of 9/11 in historical perspective and offering up some general policy suggestions, as opposed to getting to the bottom of a crime of mass murder.

Separately, family members are raising conflict-of-interest concerns about the commission's staff director, Philip Zelikow, the man at the center of the White House document negotiations. Although they were aware last winter when he was appointed that Zelikow had coauthored a book in the 1990s with Bush's current national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, family members only recently discovered that Zelikow also worked on Bush's 2000 transition team and was instrumental in dramatically reshaping and downsizing the National Security Council for the new administration. Today, some of the documents the commission and Zelikow are seeking come from the NSC: specifically, minutes from the spring and summer of 2001 when the CIA and other intelligence agencies were warning that an attack by al-Qaida could well be imminent.

"It's very unsettling," says Breitweiser. "If something in those documents has to do with how the NSC was set up -- that it failed to heed warnings about al-Qaida or was not communicating well with intelligence because of its insular structure -- and Philip Zelikow was responsible for the NSC's structure, how doggedly would he pursue the documents?"

Adds Lori Van Auken, who also lost her husband on 9/11, "If Zelikow set up the NSC and it was deficient, that's his baby." The advocates, part of the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Independent Commission, wrote to the commission late last week urging Zelikow to either remove himself from any portions of the investigation addressing the NSC, or resign.

The commission is in the process of responding to the Steering Committee's letter, and will address the recusal issue. "They have great faith and confidence in Philip," says commission spokesman Felzenberg. He also insists Zelikow has not spoken with White House political advisor Karl Rove during the negotiations for documents. Along with serving on Bush's transition team, Zelikow also served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 2001 to 2003. And, according to U.S. News & World Report, Zelikow contributed ideas to 2002's National Security Strategy, a White House document submitted to Congress outlining the new Bush Doctrine of preemptive strikes.

He's clearly an admirer of Bush. Following the attacks of 9/11, Zelikow, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, offered high praise for the president, telling CBS News, "This is a test, and because of this test, he's had to reach down and find other qualities in himself. And he's found them. He reaches down and finds some of the best elements in his character. He is being authentic and plainspoken."...

9/11 CitizensWatch- Newsletter Pt.2

Editorial October 10, 2003

An October 6th deadline given the White House to turn over key 9/11 documents has come and gone with no results.  The White House which has consistantly, according to Senator McCain, "slow-walked and stonewalled" the investigation of 9/11 is doing so again.  And the 9/11 Commission, despite the pressure of their own looming May deadline for a final report, has not issued a public statement regarding White House lack of cooperation. This only bolsters the argument that this commission has gone soft and the Administration may be covering up.  At their last press conference, the 9/11 Commission promised they would be informing the public about ANY failure by the White House to produce requested documents. Thus far, they have failed to do so.

Adding to doubt about the integrity of the process and commitment on part of this commission to aggressively pursue the truth about 9/11 are the allegations by family members regarding a very serious conflict of interest first covered by Shaun Waterman of UPI last week [http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20031003-081314-7139r.htm] and Eric Boehlert of Salon Magazine this week. [http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/10/10/commission]

Philip Zelikow, the Commission's Executive Director, has close ties to Condaleeza Rice, the President's National Security Advisor who lied to the American people in suggesting that the government or intelligence agencies were unaware of the general threat posed by "planes as weapons" at the May 18th press conference at the White House last year.  That the Government was aware of the threat posed by 'planes as weapons' was confirmed by Senator Shelby, former head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, when prompted by John Judge of 9/11 CitizensWatch at the Joint Inquiry Report release press conference last August.  Could this conflict of interest possibly be compromising the effort to find the truth and establishing accountability at the highest level of government?  Obviously, yes.  Concerns raised by the 9/11 families have also gone unaddressed by the Commission.  Certainly Dr. Zelikow's conflict of interest should be called out.  But more importantly where is the chorus of voices calling attention to the lies, subtle deceptions, spin and obstruction over 9/11 by the highest officials in our current scandal ridden Presidency?

Both the failure to play hardball with the administration over important documents showing what they knew prior to Al-Qeada attacks, and the allegations of conflict of interest for the Commission Director will only raise further doubts and skepticism about the official story and the government's seriousness in answering questions surrounding the attack.

Most of this skepticism, the case against the Administration, and complaints made against the media for their refusal to closely examine 9/11 deceptions, lies, anomalies, and inconsistancies is coming from overseas and independent media outlets. The Guardian in the UK has led the way in covering this taboo subject while in Germany the issue has been debated on lead cable news shows and reported on the front pages. Thankfully, closer to home, the Philadelphia Enquirer, has recently begun to grapple with this most important of issues while The Wall Street Journal has at least acknowledged the growing challenge to the official narrative; though couching it all in somewhat dismissive 'conspiracy theory' terms.  [See these stories below].

The crack in the obstructing wall of silence and denial is widening...and with growing pressure from family members, like Ellen Mariani and others like Michael Moore, Gore Vidal or Michael Meacher it is likely this wall will break and when it does this watchdog suggests that the whole Bush/Rove - Wilson/Plame affair will pale by comparison to '9/11gate'.  It is time to put claims of accountability and integrity to the test.  The Administration, and the Commission charged with seeking the truth must be held to task.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, the stakes could not be higher.

Kyle F. Hence
9/11 CitizensWatch

NEWSFLASH: Award-winning Greek producers are airing a feature about 9/11 'mysteries' on Monday, October 13th.  More details when it becomes available.

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1) A Challenge to Journalists Accepting Official Account of 9/11
        see article by Paul Donavan, The Guardian; October 5, 2003
2) WSJ: 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Get a Hearing in Germany
        see article by Ian Johnson, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; September 29, 2003
3) Bush 41 Official Admonishes WSJ and Defends Citizen Challenge Over 9/11
        Catherine Austin Fitts
4) Mainstream Paper in Philly Joins Fray Adding Questions of its Own
        see article by William Bunch - Philadelphia Inquirer
5) Michael Moore Raises Saudi Question to Open Up the Truth Behind 9/11
        see article in The Guardian; Monday October 6, 2003
6) German Poll: Evidence of Growing Doubts about the U.S. Story on 9/11
        Reuters, July 23, 2003
7) Gore Vidal's Delivers Challenging 'Counter-Narrative' for 9/11 Attacks
8) 9/11 Widow Refuses 'Hush' money; Sues Bush, Administration Officials
        see article by Joseph A. Slobodzian; Philadelphia Inquirer; Sep. 23, 2003