9/11 Commission

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks", including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The commission was also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

See also: 9/11 Commission Report

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
Seal of the 9/11 Commission
Agency overview
FormedNovember 27, 2002 (2002-11-27)
DissolvedAugust 21, 2004 (2004-08-21)
JurisdictionU.S. government
Agency executives
Key document
  • Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003
Website9-11commission.gov (archived)

Chaired by former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, the commission consisted of five Democrats and five Republicans. The commission was created by Congressional legislation, with the bill signed into law by President George W. Bush.

The commission's final report was lengthy and based on extensive interviews and testimony. Its primary conclusion was that the failures of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) permitted the terrorist attacks to occur and that if these agencies acted more wisely and more aggressively, the attacks could potentially have been prevented.

After the publication of its final report, the commission closed on August 21, 2004. The commission's website was shut down, but has been archived.[1]

History

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States was established on November 27, 2002, by President George W. Bush and the United States Congress, with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger initially appointed to head the commission.[2] However, Kissinger resigned only weeks after being appointed, to avoid conflicts of interest.[3] Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell was originally appointed as the vice chairman, but he stepped down on December 10, 2002, not wanting to sever ties to his law firm.[4] On December 15, 2002, Bush appointed former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean to head the commission.[5]

The members of The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States

By the spring of 2003, the commission was off to a slow start, needing additional funding to help it meet its target day for the final report, of May 27, 2004.[6] In late March, the Bush administration agreed to provide an additional $9 million for the commission, though this was $2 million short of what the commission requested.[7] The first hearings were held from March 31 to April 1, 2003, in New York City.[8]

Members
Chairman Thomas Kean

The members of the commission's staff included:

Officials called to testify

Then government officials who were called to testify before the commission included:

Past government officials who were called to testify before the commission included:

President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, former President Bill Clinton, and former Vice President Al Gore all gave private testimony. President Bush and Vice President Cheney insisted on testifying together and not under oath, while Clinton and Gore met with the panel separately. As National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice claimed that she was not required to testify under oath because the position of National Security Advisor is an advisory role, independent of authority over a bureaucracy and does not require confirmation by the Senate. Legal scholars disagree on the legitimacy of her claim. Eventually, Condoleezza Rice testified publicly and under oath.[16]

Report
The cover of the final 9/11 report.
Main article: 9/11 Commission Report

The commission issued its final report on July 22, 2004. After releasing the report, Commission Chair Thomas Kean declared that both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were "not well served" by the FBI and CIA.[17] The commission interviewed over 1,200 people in 10 countries and reviewed over two and a half million pages of documents, including some closely guarded classified national security documents. Before it was released by the commission, the final public report was screened for any potentially classified information and edited as necessary.

Additionally, the commission has released several supplemental reports on the terrorists' financing, travel, and other matters.

Criticism
Main article: Criticism of the 9/11 Commission

The commission was criticized for alleged conflicts of interest on the part of commissioners and staff (e.g., Philip D. Zelikow, 9/11 Commission Executive Director/Chair in 1995 co-authored a book with Condoleezza Rice[18]).[19] Further, the commission's report has been the subject of criticism by both commissioners themselves and by others.[20][21]

Work of commissioners after the commission ceased its functions

Months after the commission had officially issued its report and ceased its functions, Chairman Kean and other commissioners toured the country to draw attention to the recommendations of the commission for reducing the terror risk, claiming that some of their recommendations were being ignored. Co-chairs Kean and Hamilton wrote a book about the constraints they faced as commissioners titled Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission.

The book was released on August 15, 2006 and chronicles the work of Kean (Commission Chairman) and Hamilton (Commission Vice-Chairman) of the 9/11 Commission. In the book, Kean and Hamilton charge that the 9/11 Commission was "set up to fail," and write that the commission was so frustrated with repeated misstatements by officials from The Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration during the investigation that it considered a separate investigation into possible obstruction of justice by Pentagon and FAA officials.[22]

NORAD testimony

John Farmer, Jr., senior counsel to the Commission stated that the Commission "discovered that...what government and military officials had told Congress, the Commission, the media, and the public about who knew what when — was almost entirely, and inexplicably, untrue." Farmer continues: "At some level of the government, at some point in time … there was a decision not to tell the truth about what happened...The (NORAD) tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public."[23] Thomas Kean, the head of the 9/11 Commission, concurred: "We to this day don’t know why NORAD told us what they told us, it was just so far from the truth."[24]

References
  1. "Home". National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. September 20, 2004. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  2. "Investigating Sept. 11". NewsHour. PBS. November 27, 2002. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  3. "Kissinger resigns as head of 9/11 commission". CNN.com. Cable News Network. December 13, 2002. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved August 7, 2006.
  4. "Mitchell quits 9/11 probe". CNN. December 10, 2002. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  5. "Bush taps ex-New Jersey governor for 9/11 panel". CNN. December 16, 2002. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  6. Burger, Timothy J. (March 26, 2003). "Commission Funding Woes". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  7. "Probe Wins Boost in Aid". New York Daily News. March 30, 2003. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  8. Chen, David W. (April 1, 2003). "Beyond Numbers, 9/11 Panel Hears Families' Anguish". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  9. ""The White House Has Played Cover-Up"–Former 9/11 Commission Member Max Cleland Blasts Bush". Democracy Now!. March 23, 2004. Archived from the original on July 16, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  10. Philip Shenon (February 5, 2008). The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation. Grand Central Publishing. pp. 345–. ISBN 978-0-446-51131-5.
  11. Tony Blankley (2009). American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century. Simon and Schuster. pp. 109–. ISBN 978-1-59698-061-7.
  12. James R. Holbein (January 1, 2005). The 9/11 Commission: proceedings and analysis. Oceana Publications. p. xxv. ISBN 978-0-379-21528-1.
  13. Jehl, Douglas (August 9, 2005). "Four in 9/11 Plot Are Called Tied to Qaeda in '00". The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  14. "9/11 commission finishes Bush, Cheney session". April 29, 2004. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
  15. Kill the Messenger. SBS Australia, 2007. Documentary.
  16. Burger, Timothy J. (December 20, 2003). "Condi and the 9/11 Commission". Time. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
  17. Shovelan, John (July 23, 2004). "9/11 Commission finds 'deep institutional failings'". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on February 21, 2006. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
  18. Zelikow, Philip D.; Rice, Condoleezza (1995). Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674353244.
  19. Hope Yen (February 3, 2008). "Ties between White House, Sept 11 Chief". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  20. "9/11: Truth, Lies and Conspiracy Interview: Lee Hamilton". CBC News, Canada. August 21, 2006. Archived from the original on June 23, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
  21. Eggen, Dan (August 2, 2006). "9/11 Panel Suspected Deception by Pentagon". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  22. Yen, Hope (August 4, 2006). "Book: Sept. 11 Panel Doubted Officials". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
  23. Levins, Harry (September 6, 2009). "The Ground Truth". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on December 17, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  24. Farmer, John (2009). The Ground Truth: The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11. Riverhead Books. ISBN 1-59448-894-0.

Further reading
  • Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission, by Thomas H Kean and Lee H. Hamilton (Random House, August 2006) ISBN 0-307-26377-0
  • The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, by Philip Shenon (the Twelve - Jan. 2008), ISBN 978-0-446-58075-5
  • The Next Ten Years of Post-9/11 Security Efforts, Q&A with 9/11 Commissioner Slade Gorton (July 2011)
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