Three more US soldiers have died in Iraq. For what?
MEANWHILE...On Wednesday, Secretary of Stone Calm 'Em
Powell lost his cool when Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
referred to the _resident's lost year in the Alabama
National Guard as well as to VICE _resident Cheney's
disgusting remark that he had better things to do than
to service during the Vietnam war. "Don't go there,"
Powell blurted out. "Don't go there," he threatened
(or pleaded?). Sherrod Brown's name will be scrawled on
the John O'Neill Wall of Heroes. Yesterday, another
Vietnam veteran made certain that the _resident was
"stonewalling" on his pre-9/11 incompetence. This
morning, in Wisconsin, Wesley Clark (D-NATO) said to
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mekong Delta): "Sir, permission to
board, the Army's here." This afternoon in the White
House "released" the "full record" of the _resident's
"service," and guess what? There is still a gaping
hole in it...It is over, politically, the sham is
finished, the Emperor has no uniform...
Bob Kerry, New Jersey Star Ledger: "What we got was a
summary that had been modified substantially with many
things taken out," said Kerrey. "I have not seen
everything I need. The summary was confusing and
limited, and does not inform anyone reading it what
was going on in the White House from February 1998 to
September 11 (2001)."
Repudiate the 9/11 Cover-Up and the Iraq War Lies,
Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021404A.shtml
White House Papers No Help, Says Member of 9/11 Panel
By Robert Cohen
The Star-Ledger
Friday 13 February 2004
WASHINGTON -- A Democratic member of the national commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks said yesterday that restricted access to White House intelligence documents will make it difficult for the panel to give a full accounting of the tragedy.
In comments contradicting Commission Chairman Thomas Kean, Bob Kerrey, a former senator from Nebraska, said a summary of the classified presidential daily briefing papers made available this week to the bipartisan panel is inadequate.
"What we got was a summary that had been modified
substantially with many things taken out," said
Kerrey. "I have not seen everything I need. The
summary was confusing and limited, and does not inform
anyone reading it what was going on in the White House
from February 1998 to September 11 (2001)."
The summary was put together by three of the
panel's members and its executive director, who were
allowed to review the classified documents and report
back to the other members. The commission on Tuesday
voted to accept their summary, which had been edited
by the White House.
With Kerrey and two other Democratic members
dissenting, the commission also voted against issuing
a subpoena to obtain access to the original White
House documents for all 10 commissioners.
Kerrey said it is central to the inquiry to know
exactly what Presidents Clinton and Bush and their top
policy-makers were told about a possible terrorist
attack on U.S. soil, and "what the primary national
security people were doing to prepare themselves."
He said the White House promised to provide this
information and "broke its word to give our reviewers
wide latitude" in taking notes and making complete
information available to all 10 commissioners.
"Those who read the full reports are better
prepared to give a full accounting than those of us
who did not have complete access," said Kerrey, a
former Senate Intelligence Committee member. "I wasn't
able to bring my knowledge and experience to evaluate
the presidential briefing papers."
Kean, the former Republican governor of New
Jersey, said this week he is confident the panel has
obtained all the information it needs from the
documents relating to the al Qaeda threat and the
events of Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked
four airliners and killed nearly 3,000 people.
"A majority of the commission felt our review
team saw every document, that nothing was hidden and
the summary report gave us enough to do our work and
issue a report with integrity," said Kean.
One of the other dissenters, former Democratic
Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer, said there was new
information in the summary report but he, too,
complained the material was insufficient.
"It seems inconsistent to me for the White House
to say we were not warned prior to 9/11, but you can't
see all the documents that might help you understand
this," said Roemer. "If they want to make the claim,
let us see the documents so that we may or may not
validate that."
Neither Kerrey nor Roemer would discuss the
contents of the documents.
The commission continues to struggle with other
issues, including a request to Congress to extend its
deadline for completing its work from May 27 until
July 27.
The panel also is still trying to work out
arrangements to take testimony from Bush and Vice
President Dick Cheney, as well as former Clinton and
Vice President Al Gore. Kean has said for months that
the panel will want to hear from them, as well as key
Cabinet and intelligence officials from both
administrations, preferably in public hearings.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to
say yesterday whether Bush would testify. He said it
is an issue that "we will continue to discuss with the
commission in a spirit of cooperation."
Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday about
testifying, Bush said "perhaps."