From the April 2004 Idaho Observer:

“Independent” 9/11 investigation mired in partisan politics

Presidentially-appointed commission expected to prove preconceived notion

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The panel charged with investigating the events surrounding the Sept. 11 tragedy was originally expected to produce a report on its findings by May 26, 2004. However, high-profile obstructionism among key witnesses has frustrated the investigation and a report will not be released until August 26.

Instead of freely questioning witnesses and assembling facts into a plausible scenario, the commission has been mired in the process of determining who will or will not testify, and under what conditions testimony will be taken.

This is no surprise when the collusion between commission members and the Bush administration is considered. The commission's executive director Philip Zelikow worked on the Bush/Cheney transition team. He is also a longtime associate of national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, with whom he co-authored a book. He advised Rice on the structuring of the incoming National Security Council.

Commission Chairman Thomas Kean has business ties with the bin Mahfouz and Al Amoudi families of Saudia Arabia. Khalid bin Mahfouz's sister is married to Osama bin Laden and the bin Mahfouz family is suspected of funneling millions of dollars to al Qaeda (AKA “al CIAda”).

Kean is also co-chairman of the Homeland Security Project and helped draft the recommendations of the Century Foundation, which laid the groundwork for the Office of Homeland Security legislation. To give bi-partisan appearance, former Attorney General Janet Reno's right-hand-woman Jamie Gorelick is on the 9-11 whitewash commission.

To confuse matters, former national security consultant Richard Clarke released a book explaining Bush administration failure to recognize the imminent threat of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. The resulting controversy has drawn the focus towards internal conflicts within the Bush administration and away from the real questions.

The most pressing question raised by the commission so far is, “What circumstances could have prompted such a massive breach of airspace security to take place Sept. 11, 2001?” What is more significant are the questions the commission will never ask:

How did a 757 hit the Pentagon yet leave no 757 debris or passengers? Why did Flight 93 in Pennsylvania leave a six-mile debris trail when it was crashed into the ground by brave passengers? How was WTC Building 7 “pulled” with demolition charges on the afternoon of 9-11, while it was still on fire, as the owner Silverstein admitted, if the charges weren't previously set? Where was NORAD for an hour and 15 minutes while critical airspace was being invaded?

To date, no one has been relieved of his command or even censured for allowing the events of 9-11 to occur. The commission is progressing in the manner most likely to generate thousands of pages of testimony and a selective array of facts that will be assembled into a report mirroring the official story: Osama bin Laden masterminded the plan, which resulted in 19 Arab terrorists crashing commercial airliners into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.