February 7, 2007 at 07:40:43

Why We Need a New 9/11 Commission

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By Andrew Mills (about the author) Page 3 of 3 page(s)

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9. Failure to discuss the different versions of the passenger lists for the hijacked airliners. No mention was made in the report of the fact that differing passenger lists emerged in the first few weeks after the attacks, including the fact that most lists failed to show anyone with a Middle Eastern name. In addition, the report surprisingly fails to provide: (1) the names of the passengers on each flight; or even (2) the number of passengers on board each airplane.

Examples of Questions the Commission Should have Pursued but Didn't

1. Why were people in the South Tower told by the New York/New Jersey Port Authority staff to remain at their desks and not evacuate the building immediately after the North Tower was hit? Many lives would have been saved if an excavation order had been given immediately after Tower One had been hit.

2. According to a New York Times article of September 12, 2001, within hours of the attacks FBI agents were at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University seeking information, and the next day authorities had identified accomplices in several cities who had been involved in planning the attacks the day before. Biographies had been prepared of each of the identified members of the hijacking teams, including their recent movements. How was all this information produced and gathered together on such a short notice? It seems almost impossible without prior knowledge, and if they had such prior knowledge, why didn't they act on it and arrest or detain the hijackers?

3. How was the FBI able to find Mohammed Atta's car at Logan airport so quickly? If the FBI received a tip, how is that possible when the photo of Atta was not shown until days after the attacks?

4. How is it that a videographer just happened to have his video camera focused at just the right place on the North Tower when Flight 11 flew into it? This deserves some detailed inquiry.

5. The Administration claimed that its only objective immediately after 9/11 was to hunt down Osama bin Laden and destroy al Qaeda. But reliable reports indicate that within hours or a day after the tragedy, President Bush and his aides were focusing much more on using 9/11 as an excuse to attack Iraq. The idea of attacking Afghanistan didn't appear to be their main priority. Why would that have been?

6. Only a military aircraft, not a civilian plane flown by al Qaeda, would have given off the 'friendly' signal needed to disable the Pentagon's anti-aircraft missile batteries as it approached the building. Why did the Commission not investigate this?

* * *

The wrong-headed and undemocratic policies pursued by the present Administration have their roots in the 9/11 attacks. In a national poll conducted by the Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University in August 2006, 36 percent of respondents said it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that federal officials either participated in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or took no action to stop them "because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East." A poll conducted by Zogby International in May 2006 indicates that 42% of American residents believe there has been a cover up and 45% think "Congress or an International Tribunal should re-investigate the attacks, including whether any US government officials consciously allowed or helped facilitate their success."

Given the results of these polls, it's no surprise that the propaganda specialists in the State Department have started to churn out attack websites targeting 9/11 skepticism. Nor that the normal channels of media have followed suit (Time, New York Times, etc.). Even some on the 'left' have come up with attack articles. Alternet recently published an attack piece by the Progressive's Matthew Rothschild. The line seems to be that no matter what alternative theories about 9/11 are proposed, the official story about 9/11 should not be questioned. It is sacrosanct.

The American people have the right to a new truly independent commission to investigate the full story of 9/11 including the many still unanswered questions about the attacks, which should lead to a clear sense of who and what agencies were responsible for the failures. No one in the government has been reprimanded, let alone fired, as a result of the enormous failures that allowed the 9/11 attacks to occur. Those having responsibility for the failures must be held accountable.

Dennis Kucinich is now the Chair of the new Subcommittee on Domestic Policy under the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Prior to the 2006 elections in a piece for Truthdig, Dennis Kucinich stated the following:

"I will not prejudice with any criticism or charges any oversight hearings of any committee I may chair in the next Congress. However, I do know that the American people still have unanswered questions about 9/11, WMDs, the abandonment of international law and the Geneva Conventions, the war in Iraq, the White House Iraq Group, the Rendon propaganda machine, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, the Pat Tillman case, Iraq war casualties, the missing $10.8 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds, the human and economic toll of the war, rendition, wiretapping, domestic spying, and plans for an attack on Iran"

Now is the time to press Dennis Kucinich to take the lead in his new subcommittee to start the re-investigation process. You can call his office at (202) 225-5871, fax him at (202) 225-5745, or write him at 2445 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515.

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Andrew Mills is a groundwater hydrologist employed in an engineering consulting company. He and his wife have six children and 18 grandchildren. He was active in the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 1960's, and spent 9 years in India as a (more...)

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