Progress Report: The Commission Strikes Back

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Center for American Progress - Progress Report

 

by David Sirota, Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and

Jonathan Baskin

 

 

August 4, 2004

9/11 The Commission Strikes Back

ABU GHRAIB The Blame Game

UNDER THE RADAR

 

9/11

The Commission Strikes Back

 

This week, President Bush claimed he was embracing the

bold institutional changes proposed by the 9/11

Commission by creating this national intelligence

director. In reality, he is resisting key elements of

the proposal, such as putting the new position in the

Cabinet (and thus ensuring the new director would stay

in the loop), giving the director the power to hire

and fire, or granting the director control of his

budget. The result? A weak figurehead without power to

effectively oversee the 15 agencies in the U.S.

intelligence community. Key 9/11 Commissioners joined

members of Congress yesterday to argue that the

proposed national intelligence director must have the

power to hire, fire, and control a budget. Period.

 

NO PICKING AND CHOOSING: Commissioners John Lehman, a

Republican, and Bob Kerrey, a Democrat, expressed

their disapproval to the House Government Reform

Committee yesterday. " The person that has the

responsibility needs the authority, " Kerrey told the

Committee. " Absent that, they're not going to be able

to get the job done. " Lehman was blunt: " Our

recommendations are not a Chinese menu. I would

strongly recommend that these be viewed as a whole,

that the powers needed to carry out these

recommendations be enacted as a whole package. " Former

Republican Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington, a member

of the Commission, agreed: #160;''No one is going to

listen to this individual'' #160;absent his or her

ability to hire and fire and control budgets.

 

BUDGET FUNDING: President Bush does not want the new

intelligence director to control his own budget.

Without the power of the purse, the job lacks the

necessary clout to be effective. Lehman flatly stated,

" Those powers must be given. " And senators yesterday

agreed. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, (D-WV), vice chairman of

the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned Bush's

decision, saying that " if the new director cannot

control the budgets of intelligence agencies, this new

position will be no more than window dressing. "

Republican lawmakers backed him up. Sen. Arlen Specter

(R-PA) said: " We ought to take the bull by the horns,

create this new national director . . . and really

provide some authority, including budget authority. "

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), a former chairman of the

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, agreed,

charging the new director must be " someone with total

control and accountability. That's the budget too. "

 

HIRED AND FIRED: President Bush's approach would not

allow the new director to have the power to hire and

fire. Lehman said yesterday, " He has to have hiring

and firing power, and not just budget coordination

authority but budget appropriations and programming

authority. " True, said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). " If

you don't have the authority to pick the people, isn't

a national director just a shell game and a shell

operation? " Sen. Henry Waxman (D-CA) heartily agreed:

" in this city, if you have a fancy title but you are

not in the chain of command and you don't control the

budget, you are a figurehead, and another figurehead

is not what the 9/11 Commission recommended and what

our nation needs. "

 

RUMSFELD THE ROADBLOCK: Much of the opposition to an

effective director of intelligence can be chalked up

to a turf war. Bush's decision to limit the proposed

intelligence chief's authority came after lobbying by

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has been

adamantly against the creation of a centralized

intelligence czar. In his testimony before the

Commission in March, Mr. Rumsfeld said then that an

intelligence czar would do the nation " a great

disservice " by creating reliance on a single,

centralized source of information. It would also

reallocate funds; currently, 80% of the estimated $40

billion spent on intelligence in the U.S. is under the

control of Rumsfeld's Department of Defense.

Democratic Commissioner Bob Kerrey didn't mince words,

saying since the Defense Department opposed the

proposal, " next time there's a dust-up and there's a

failure, don't call the director of Central

Intelligence up here. Kick the crap out of DOD because

they're the ones with the statutory authority over

budget. "

 

FIRST DO NO HARM: Creating a director of intelligence

while hamstringing his power would be

counterproductive to overall intelligence efforts. The

9/11 Commission Staff Director Philip D. Zelikow

#8211; who served on Bush's 2001 transition team for

the National Security Council #8211; #160;says there's

no room for compromise when it comes to national

intelligence: " Creating a national intelligence

director that just superimposes a chief above the

other chiefs without taking on the fundamental

management issues we identify, is a step that could be

worse than useless. " The Director of the Intelligence

Policy Center at the RAND Corporation agreed: #160; " If

it's set up correctly it has the potential to be a

good idea. Otherwise it will be more harmful if we had

not done it at all#8230;Because it will create another

layer of bureaucracy which will add to the already

complex structure that already oversees intelligence. "

 

EDITORIAL PAGE: The New York Times this week sided

with lawmakers and 9/11 Commissioners in chastising

President Bush's foot dragging. " At a time when

Americans need strong leadership and bold action,

President Bush offered tired nostrums and bureaucratic

half-measures#8230;He wanted to appear to be embracing

the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, but he

actually rejected the panel's most significant ideas,

and thus missed a chance to confront the twin burdens

he faces at this late point in his term: the need to

get intelligence reform moving whether he's re-elected

or not, and the equally urgent need to repair the

government's credibility on national security. "

 

LAWMAKER, HEAL THYSELF: While Congress is rightly

pressing the administration to implement the

Commission's recommendations, Republican lawmakers are

also reluctant to make any internal changes. The New

York Times reports, " The Senate leadership has yet to

identify members of a select working group who are

supposed to map a plan for streamlining Congressional

oversight. The Republican chairmen of the House and

Senate armed services committees - two panels that

might have to relinquish significant power - have not

offered their views. " Several lawmakers admonished

their colleagues not to let political considerations

play a part in internal restructuring: #160; " We have

to make sure we are driven more by 9-11 than by 11-2, "

said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). At least one

congressional Republican promises he'll fight for the

overhaul, however. Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) said, " I

will not vote for any rules of the House next year

that don't create this strong oversight. "

 

ABU GHRAIB

The Blame Game

 

The mainstream media #8211; after splashing their

front pages with salacious photos #8211; has largely

lost interest in the prison abuse scandal at Abu

Ghraib. The administration and high-ranking military

officials, however, have continued their efforts to

pin all the blame on " a few bad apples. " The strategy

continues with the military hearing of Pfc. Lynndie

England, famously depicted in many of the photos,

which began yesterday. Special Agents Paul Author and

Warren Worth's testimony mirror the administration's

talking points: " the abuse was the work of a small

group of prison guards. " But as top officials play the

blame game, official investigations into who was

responsible are still ongoing. Sen. Susan Collins

(R-ME) said " there are some serious unanswered

questions. "

 

SCHLESINGER REPORT MAY BLAME RUMSFELD: A commission

headed by former Defense Secretary and CIA director

James Schlesinger investigating the Abu Ghraib scandal

is expected to issue its final report in mid-August.

Newsweek reports, " the Schlesinger panel is leaning

toward the view that failure of command and control at

the Pentagon helped create the climate in which the

abuses occurred. " Among the Commission " there is

strong sentiment to assign some responsibility up the

line to senior civilian officials at the Pentagon,

including Rumsfeld. " Rumsfeld is expected to be

criticized " for failing to provide adequate numbers of

properly trained troops for detaining and

interrogating captives...not setting clear

interrogation rules and for neglecting to see that

guidelines were followed. " Prior to being tasked with

detaining prisoners in Abu Ghraib, the 372nd Military

Policy Company served as traffic cops.

 

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS SHOW RESPONSIBILITY GOES TO THE

TOP: Classified documents detailing the abuses

obtained by Rolling Stone Magazine make clear that

responsibility for the abuses " extends to several

high-ranking officers still serving in command

positions. " According to a secret report, Maj. Gen.

Geoffrey Miller #8211; now in charge of all military

prisons in Iraq #8211; recommended that military

police be " actively engaged in setting in conditions

for successful exploitation of the internees. " After

his plan was adopted, " guards began depriving

prisoners of sleep and food, subjecting them to

painful 'stress positions' and terrorizing them with

dogs. " A former Army intelligence officer said the

intent of Miller's order was clear: " It means treat

the detainees like sh*t until they will sell their

mother for a blanket, some food without bugs in it and

some sleep. " Miller told Col. Thomas Pappas that

military dogs " were effective in setting the

atmosphere for which, you know, you could get

information. " Read the full article for the all the

gory details.

 

THE ARMY'S 300-PAGE WHITEWASH: The most disgraceful

attempt to date to deflect blame was a 300-page

" investigation " released in July by the Army's

inspector general. Astoundingly, the report found no

" systemic " problems with the treatment of detainees by

the military. The inspector general reached that

conclusion " even though there were 94 documented cases

of prisoner abuse...even though only four prisons of

the 16 they visited had copies of the Geneva

Conventions...even though the military police were

improperly involved in interrogations; even though

young people plucked from civilian life were sent to

guard prisoners...with no training. " The so-called

investigation " did not dig into the abuse cases, but

merely listed them. " The report also " made no attempt

to find out who had authorized threatening prisoners

with dogs and sexually humiliating hooded men. " The

inspector general was satisfied with merely reviewing

the official Army field manual and noting those

techniques in the manual.#160;

 

WITHHOLDING RED CROSS REPORTS FROM SENATE

INVESTIGATORS: For months, the Pentagon refused to

share Red Cross reports documenting the conditions in

American military prisons. In July, they finally

agreed to show the reports " briefly to senators and a

few members of the Armed Services Committee staff

after the senators' personal aides were ushered out. "

The reports were then brought back to the Pentagon.

 

 

 

 

 

CIVIL LIBERTIES #8211; RACIAL PROFILING ALIVE & WELL:

Three separate episodes this week make clear that,

unfortunately, racial profiling is alive and well in

America. First, President Bush's campaign demanded to

know the race of a photo-journalist before allowing

her to get press credentials. Then, according to the

Boston Globe, a Boston College student leader who

wears a turban and full beard in accord with his Sikh

religion " was detained and interrogated for seven

hours Saturday night by Secret Service agents for

doing nothing more than taking photographs of the

campus. " Now AP reports, " Iraqis visiting on a civil

rights tour were barred from [Memphis] city hall after

the city council chairman said it was too dangerous to

let them in. " The seven Iraqi civic and community

leaders are in the midst of a three-week American

tour, sponsored by the State Department. The Iraqis

were scheduled to meet with a city council member,

" but Joe Brown, the council chair, said he feared the

group was dangerous. " #160; Brown said, " We don't know

exactly what's going on. Who knows about the

delegation, and has the FBI been informed? We must

secure and protect all the employees in that

building. " Brown told the group's host he would

" evacuate the building and bring in the bomb squads "

if the group entered.

 

MEDIA #8211; LAURA BUSH COMPLAINS ABOUT BIAS ON

O'REILLY: First Lady Laura Bush granted a rare

interview to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, and in an ironic

exchange, complained about media bias. As she confided

to O'Reilly, " I think that a lot of times the media

sensationalize or magnify things that really shouldn't

be#8230;I do think there's a big move away from actual

reporting, trying to report facts. It's in newspapers

and everything you read #8212; that a lot more is

opinion. " Of course, she did not mention that O'Reilly

has one of the longest track records of distorting the

facts and inserting opinion into news. For his part,

O'Reilly " suggested that journalists were out of sync

with most of the country. "

 

RELIGION #8211; BUSH HAS NO FAITH IN THE LAW: A new

article by the Progress Report's Judd Legum takes a

look at the gap between the Bush administration's

high-minded rhetoric on religious freedom and its

noncompliance with the International Religious Freedom

Act of 1998, meant to promote religious freedoms

around the world. In particular, the State Department

has disregarded " the recommendation of the U.S.

Commission on International Religious Freedom -- an

independent body created by the IRFA -- to list Saudi

Arabia as a country of 'particular concern for

religious freedom.'#8230;The State Department also

turned a blind eye to its own findings on Pakistan,

Eritrea and Turkmenistan and failed to list them as

countries of 'particular concern.' " Legum concludes:

" For all the White House's talk about religious

freedom and its open appeal to religious

constituencies in the election campaign, Bush's record

in this area is stunning for its lack of interest,

consistency and results. " #160;#160;#160;#160;

 

MEDIA #8211; KNIGHT RIDDER WINS ACCOLADES FOR WMD

COVERAGE: This month's American Journalism Review

documents the courageous reporting done by the

newspaper chain Knight Ridder in the run up to the

Iraq war. The chain's Washington bureau is racking up

accolades for its coverage of the Bush

administration's faulty use of intelligence, even as

more widely-respected outlets like the New York Times

have had to apologize for their own reporting. Knight

Ridder Washington reporters Warren Strobel and

Jonathan Landay were honored with the Raymond Clapper

Memorial Award from the Washington Press Club

Foundation in February, for a series of stories " that

explored the accuracy of Bush administration claims

about Iraq's weapons capabilities. " In American

Journalism Review, Strobel and Landay describe the

Bush administration's attempts to bully journalists:

" I think this administration may have a fairly

punitive policy when it comes to journalists who get

in their face. And if you talk to some White House

reporters, there is a fear of losing access. "

 

CONGRESS #8211; MOON'S RISING INFLUENCE: The Hill

reports The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, owner of a media

empire which includes The Washington Times, " is

undertaking an ambitious and diffuse campaign to

influence members of Congress, their top

foreign-policy staffs and United Nations ambassadors

with an ongoing series of seminars and junkets in New

York and Jerusalem and on Capitol Hill. " Moon, who

called himself " humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning

Lord and True Parent, " at a congressional reception

arranged by Sen. John Warner (R-VA) in June, is now

luring lawmakers to symposiums co-sponsored with

secular organizations, often under false auspices. " At

one conference, billed as a symposium between

congressional staffers and U.N. ambassadors, Hill

aides were somewhat surprised to be greeted at the New

Yorker hotel by a gaggle of non-English-speaking

Korean women. "

 

#160;Don't Miss

DAILY TALKING POINTS: Failures at Abu Ghraib Go All

The Way to the Top

 

FOREIGN POLICY: Writing for American Progress, Sara

Kupfer explores the nexus of terrorism and nuclear

proliferation by looking at America's fragile

relationship with Pakistan.

 

LABOR: American Progress Senior Fellow Maria

Echaveste's Orlando Sentinel op-ed exploring how

Bush's labor policy adversely affects Hispanics.

 

ENVIRO: Former President Clinton says Bush's new

forest initiative will damage America's wilderness.

 

TEIXEIRA: Public Opinion Watch

 

Contact The Progress Report.

 

 

 

 

#160;Daily Grill

 

In an interview with The Associated Press, Donald

Rumsfeld called Undersecretary Douglas Feith " without

question one of the most brilliant individuals in

government. "

 

#8211; AP, 8/3/04

 

VERSUS

 

Gen. Tommy Franks, the top U.S. commander in the Iraq

war, wrote in his autobiography " American Soldier "

that Feith was " getting a reputation around here as

the dumbest (expletive) guy on the planet. "

 

#8211; AP, 8/3/04

 

#160;Daily Outrage

Laura Bush complained about the news media being too

opinionated to Bill O'Reilly, the king of inserting

opinions into news segments.

 

#160;Archives

Progress Report

 

#160;Opportunity

The Center for American Progress is now accepting

intern applications for the fall semester.