Whitewashing 9-11; When everyone is to blame, No one is to blame

[Guest guest]

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/07/con04310.html

 

July 23, 2004

 

Whitewashing 9-11; " When everyone is to blame, No one

is to blame "

 

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

by Mike Whitney

 

It takes a lot of whitewash to cover over the murder

of 3,000 Americans, but that’s what you get when you

appoint a " hand-picked " panel to investigate a tragedy

like 9-11.

 

The great virtue of selecting each member on an

investigative team, (like the Bush Administration did)

is that the results are assured before the first bit

of evidence is examined. No embarrassing allegations

or blame, just a " shrug of the shoulders " and " let’s

move on. "

 

In Bush-world the " buck never stops, " it just keeps

circulating until the public loses interest.

 

This is the reality of the " 500 plus " page 9-11

report, that dismisses the incompetence (or treachery)

of the people at the top, as a " failure of

imagination. "

 

There was no failure of imagination. According to the

report the President received " at least 12 warnings

from the CIA that an attack was imminent. " Either,

Bush and his cronies were asleep at the switch or they

made damn sure the switch was in the right position

for their " Pearl Harbor-like event. " (Alluded to in

the Project for the New American Century.)

 

The extent of the " whitewash " was painfully apparent

last night on PBS’s Jim Lehrer News Hour. In a

Margaret Warner interview with Condoleeza Rice, Warner

-- who always asks the " tough " questions -- asked

Rice, " Do you think it was a failure of imagination? "

 

Rice, who has been at the center of the 9-11 storm

from the very onset, broke into a wide, Cheshire cat

smile, unable to contain her glee. She knew (along

with everyone else in the Bush Administration) that

the report put to rest any implication of

responsibility or, heaven forbid, culpability on the

part of those in charge. Instead, it drew the broadest

of conclusions, suggesting that even the " American

people shared the blame for 9-11 for underestimating

the terrorist threat. " (I’m not making this up.)

 

Both commissioners of the 9-11 team appeared on The

News Hour on Thursday, passing " o so softly " over the

details, instead, opting to stick to their " talking

points. " Those talking points could have been

predicted before they went " on air. "

 

Both Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton emphasized that " When

everyone is to blame…no one is to blame. " (Again, I am

not making this up.)

 

Republican hack, Hamilton went so far as to admit

that, " We decided early on that we weren’t going to

play the blame game. "

 

Say what?

 

The Administration convenes a panel to investigate the

greatest act of mass murder in the country’s history

and Hamilton doesn’t want to find out who is

responsible???

 

This is pure gold.

 

Kean’s admissions weren’t much better. He took the

approach that we were simply " caught napping " and so

" we should focus on the future, not the past. "

 

Astonishing....an investigation that " focuses on the

future. " This is a script worthy of Orwell.

 

At least now we know that the expressed intention of

the commission leaders was to " never lay a glove " on

Bush or his cronies.

 

They succeeded admirably.

 

As for the " Independent " Commission’s recommendations;

the greatest emphasis was put on the need for a

" National Intelligence Director, " who will have

authority over the many disparate intelligence

organizations and Congressional committees.

 

As Tom Kean said, " He should serve at the pleasure of

the President, " assuring that the position will be

filled by a political operative capable of maligning

the facts in the same way the Pentagon’s OSP (Office

of Special Plans) did prior to the war in Iraq.

 

I expect this position to be " fine-tuned " by the Bush

Administration to become the foundation of an American

Secret Police…the Bush KGB.

 

It’s only a matter of time.