Customer Reviews

Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission

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Two years ago, "The 9-11 Commission Report" was released and discussed the events leading up to and following the 9-11 attacks. This new book by the co-chairs of the 9-11 Commission is the story of their struggle to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and White House resistance (in the guise of White House counsel Alberto Gonzales). This account is a political one, not a fact-finding story of the actual attacks. Republican Thomas Kean and Democrat Lee Hamilton paint a damning picture of resistance at every corner and their use of PR to overcome many (but not all) of the obstacles. For those interested in the workings of Washington politics, this is an excellent read.

I found this book fascinating. There are rarely Washington insiders with the narrative talent and an appreciation for process, and in this case, we have a book that provides both. The careful negotiations, resistance and calculations by federal agencies, the push and pull of partisan politics and the unique friendly-adversarial role of the 911 families provide for absorbing reading. If nothing else, the use of careful diplomacy by the authors in knowing when to wheedle and when to subpoena is a lesson unto itself. The delicacy of diplomacy and the ham-handedness of security considerations provide a rare insight into the difficulties of maneuvering inside the beltway, and the differences amongst and amidst the commission itself are more than simple sniping -- they are in many ways a laboratory for American political struggles. Recommended for policy wonks and aspiring diplomats, and for those, like me, who'd rather get the inside scoop on the White House than Hollywood.

In all honesty, the book is a little dull, especially when compared with The Looming Tower, just published. There isn't a whole lot more revealed about the 9/11 coverup than what is in the official report. However, one very striking detail is highlighted and ought to be taken seriously by the lemmings who live below the 49th parallel and above the Mexican Border: Alberto Gonzales is the man who stood between the 9/11 Commission and what the Bush administration did, failed to do, and then covered up.
The US version of the Spanish Inquisitor is the architectural genius behind the current administration's efforts to dismantle the separation of powers encoded in the US Constitution, behind the US refusal to be held to the Geneva Convention in the detainment and treatment of prisoners, the chief interrogator in the gulag of secret prisons in Eastern European and Western Asian countries used by the CIA to torture Al-Qayeda suspects, and the one who has changed the make-up of the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department from a wing that essentially hired on merit attorneys with a proven track record enforcing civil rights, to politically appointing attorneys who worked in the private sector defending or attacking civil rights and affirmative action standards. In other words, kangaroo courts.
Through the course of Kean and Hamilton's book, you are confronted with repeated efforts by Gonzales to stonewall the 911 Commission from completeing its publicly stated and Congressionally mandated mission. Gonzales acts on "behalf of his client." Excuse me?!?! Kean and Hamilton stop short of accusing Gonzales of obstruction, but it's quite clear that every effort is being made to ensure that the "client" never testifies or is interviewed on his own. Meanwhile, scores of Muslims are tortured and interrogated whether or not they had any active role in any Islamist organization.
Kean and Hamilton allow the reader to draw their own conclusions, but it is clear that Kean is disgusted with the subterfuge of the W administration, appalled at the way the US Constitution is consistently undermined, infuriated that this government will not acknowledge how it has failed its citizenry, and determined to be part of that movement within his party to reclaim the integrity of Linclon's party.
Good luck, Tom. You have an uphill battle against an entrenched mentality that harkens back to McCarthy and even to 1930's Germany. For the rest of us, what this book portends is the awakening of an electorate to their own self-deception at the hands of those who would cry wolf. The wolf in fact is already here. You all elected him President. Twice.

Kean and Hamilton's invaluable leadership skills in the 9/11 Commission come through naturally, quite clearly, and throughout "Without Precedent." The effort easily could have foundered through political squabbling - either among commission members themselves, or with information sources that had various reasons to without cooperation. Fortunately, Kean and Hamilton learned from prior commissions (eg. those investigating Pearl Harbor and President Kennedy's assassination) and emphasized bi-partisanship in staffing selections, seating, public interviews, and formulating the final report - and thereby provided an excellent product.

The idea of forming an independent commission to look into 9/11 was first voiced 10/01, but it took over a year before it was created. Part of the reason was a joint House/Senate Intelligence Committee investigation that had already started - however, it lacked the time etc. to go into sufficient detail, and was hampered by White House refusal to submit various documents or personnel for review.

Similarly, the White House opposed the creation of the commission - "would distract from waging the ongoing war on terrorism." Fortunately, pressure from the 9/11 families got the idea enacted. Then the real struggles began.

Security clearances took about two months despite many of the members having already served in high positions, and then there was the funding issue. Congress had provided only $3 million - Kean requested a staff determination of a more realistic amount ($14 million), and with Senators Lieberman and McCain (and the 9/11 families) was able to get it approved. (The Challenger Space Shuttle Commission used about $40 million; Republicans, however, were leery of the whole idea of a commission.

The next problem was over-coming resistance to allowing commission members to see the House/Senate inquiry conclusions, then several battles with the White House, FAA, and NORAD for access to materials. Thanks to Kean and Hamilton's patience, however, almost all these barriers were overcome.

Then it was on to NYC. Earlier, the Bloomberg administration had indicated that its cooperation would be limited, at best - despite having not even been involved. Again, however, the 9/11 Commission, building upon the credibility it had established in the prior months, overcame the resistance.

Finally, it was time for the commission report. Kean and Hamilton decided to word it in a manner that garnered unanimous support from the commissioners - thus, ensuring credibility. This too was accomplished.

If only all government was this effective!

We have established a whole industry in this country of refusing to believe anything the government says about Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy conspiracy, UFO's, and it was inevitable that the same would be applied to the 9/11 commission report. In fact, it was predictable that whatever they found, whatever they published it was going to be immediately considered a whitewash, cover-up, fraud. The scream louder people in the media, the books written by 'independent investigators,' the movies that will be produced will all point to some unknown direction. They will all be different directions than the official report, and different directions than each other.

This book is not about what happened on 9/11, instead it is on how the 9/11 commission worked. It's a story of how our government works. The commission was put together with both democrats and republicans (the Bush administration had the power to only put republicans on the commission but didn't). The next election was approaching. Government agencies were seeking to cover their own blame. The media was eager to report on stumbles and mistakes. On the whole, they seem to have done pretty good.

It isn't pretty, but this is the way our government works. It's an excellent and most interesting book.

To best judge the 911 commission it is logical to look at the commissioners themselves. As chief executive Philip Zelikow was the chief architect of the report. Zelikow is a personal friend of Condoleeza Rice one of the chief witnesses called to testify. He is also a rabid neo con who worked under Bush at the National Security council.

The families of victims wanted him removed. One of the commissioners Max Cleland resigned calling the commission a 'scam' and a 'disgrace.' Only Zelikow and Jamie Gorelick were allowed to see all the documents and then had to get clearance to even consider them within the confines of the 'investigation.' There is no mention of WTC7 ; a 47 story building that came down without being struck by a plane.

The vast majority of the questions given by the victims families were never answered. Important witnesses were never called. Only those who could support the 'official conspiracy theory' were ever called to testify and many of those did so not under oath. The commission was only given 15 million dollars; a measly sum.

All in all the report is a useless document that serves only to perpetuate the myths that surround the event, myths a large portion of the American people no longer believe.

untill Kean was involved the ABC 9/11 show. The absolute lies involved in the film and Keans explaination of them is an insult to any intelligent people left in America. Blame Clinton? I never voted for him but try googling executive order 12947 or CNN july 30 1996 bill waters down terrorist bill. Or August 22 1998 Clinton freezes bin laden assets. ABC is backpeddling like crazy but Kean who was intrusted by the people of The United States of America to give the truth about 9/11 thru the 9/11 commission, gives us this. Have you no shame, sir?

Millions of words have been written about the personal devastation of the attacks on our country on 9-11-01. We've been inudated with pictures, books, accounts of suffering, and the coverup by the Pentagon. It's been almost five years, and we all remember where we were and what we were doing on that terrible day, as we did when John Kennedy was killed. Now, with the publication of this 20-month investigation by Congress, we learn of the inaccurate information, confidentiality claims, and repeated misstatements by the pentagon and FAA.

Personally, I am familiar with the name of Lee Hamilton as he has been instrumental in airing the facts on other tragedies. None were quite as devastating as this tragic day in September. I was at the hospital waiting for a test on my liver, and could not believe that America (the land of the brave) would have a suicide bomber. After my test, when I learned that I was not going to die so soon, I was made cognizant of that fact that it was not just one, but three flights of passengers who lost their lives on the day mine was given back to me. It was a scary aspect of this whole terrorist business.

The new movie is mostly about two rescuers who get trapped in the rubble and have to work hard to survive, but it gives a quick montage of people around the world, including the Arabs, watching t.v. reports in stunned disbelief. It is impossible to understand another's sorrow, but this indepth official report can help us to understand what happened on that fatal day, and why they happened in three different places simultaneously. It was well planned. Thank God, the fourth plane did not work out.

A panel of five Republicans and five Democrats were assigned to work out this report. We all know that the two parties are not exactly compatible and will automatically have opposing opinions on any subject. They were directed to investigate government missteps, but were thwarted from the presidency on down. They wrote: "We did not get all the information we needed to put on the public record." That's typical of the government's need to hide relavent facts from the public -- always has and always will. They were given access to government documents and worked from there to make it understandable for the general populace. We're not all geniuses but most can smell a coverup of a large porportion. After all, we don't want the same group to know what we know, as they will (and have) try again and again. They obviously have no respect for life, even their own, and use ploys to die in their places. Such is the way of a barbaric society.

This finding shows no collaborative relationship between Hussein and al-Quida, so let the man go. They will deal with him their own way. This trial has been a farce and he lost all his respectability and humanity by having to hide in a bunker underground and then be treated as he was in the courtroom. He was the leader of a country. How would we feel if our president was treated thusly!

The New York firefighters were indeed heroes, but so were the victims who were brave enough to fight back. Their rancor has caused a setback on the amount of evidence and public accessibilty to all the facts. We never will know the full story because some had to made such an issue. My town even bought and took a brand new, special fire truck and presented it to Mayor Guilani, a bad mistake. He just wanted the attention and adulation to cover up his messy divorce. Some people in politics will always take advantage to make show a false image of themselves. Mr. Hamilton and Thomas Kean did a remarkable job of correlating the mass of information they were given. It could have taken another year or so if they had been able to obtain more relevant reasons why it happened in the first place. We will always wonder.

A fine example of propaganda designed to pacify the duped american population and deflect the real hardcore questions regarding the lies behind what really happened on 9-11 and who was really behind it.
Too many people are waking up and not buying the "official" nonsense story hence books like this one meant to superficially deflect questions and critiscism that the "commission" whitewashed or ommitted.
Nice try guys but it's not working.