Bush Team holds back 11,000 Pages from 9/11 Panel

"The Bush administration's handling of the bipartisan commission investigating the 9/11 tragedy grows worse � and more oddly self-destructive � with each passing day. Following its earlier attempts to withhold documents from the panel and then to deny its members vital testimony, we now learn that President Bush's staff has been withholding thousands of pages of Clinton administration papers as well.

Bill Clinton authorized the release of nearly 11,000 pages of files on his administration's antiterrorism efforts for use by the commission. But aides to Mr. Clinton said the White House, which now has control of the papers, vetoed the transfer of over three-quarters of them. The White House held the documents for more than six weeks, apparently without notifying the commission, and might have kept them indefinitely if Bruce Lindsey, the general counsel of Mr. Clinton's presidential foundation, had not publicly complained this week. Yesterday the commission said the White House had agreed to allow its lawyers to review the withheld documents, but without guaranteeing any would be released."
This latest distressing episode followed the White House's pattern of resisting the commission in private and then, once the dispute becomes public, reluctantly giving up the minimum amount of ground. Earlier in the week, Mr. Bush finally agreed to allow Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, to testify under oath � but only after extracting a commitment that the commission would not seek any further public testimony from any White House official. After months of foot-dragging, Mr. Bush also grudgingly agreed to let the panel question him and Vice President Dick Cheney privately. Last year the Pentagon, the Justice Department and other agencies stonewalled the commission's requests for documents until its chairman, Thomas Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, complained publicly.

Explaining the latest act of obstruction, Scott McClellan, the president's spokesman, said on Thursday that some documents were duplicative, unrelated or "highly sensitive." The White House, he said, had given the commission "all the information they need." Mr. Bush's staff should not be making that judgment. The commission's 10 members can be trusted with sensitive material.



NY Times

Why the stonewall? The Clinton files would surely support the Bush Team's assertions that they received no plans or anti-terror directives from the out going Clinton team, right?

See what I don't understand is what is there to hide if the government isn't responsible for 9/11? I mean 11,000 pages? Come on. That's alot information to hide. If in fact the Bush Administration is telling the truth then shouldn't that information that Clinton released be available to the public? If it were just 2 or 3 pages then I could understand.

makes you wonder what they're hiding by holding back that much info..... just who are they protecting?

We need some sort of check for suppressing all these papers from comming out. I belive that alot of the times that they say papers can't be released due to "National Security", it is just a way for them to control the news, not them ensuring the security of our nation. There should be some indipendant party that can verify if all these papers that are being suppressed are actually for reasons of "National Security" and not just for political gain.

But then everyone is ignoring the possibility that they don't want to release them because the papers would compormise some agent's identity, and could let some terrorists know that we're looking at them, too, not just Al Queda.

Originally posted by junglejake
But then everyone is ignoring the possibility that they don't want to release them because the papers would compormise some agent's identity, and could let some terrorists know that we're looking at them, too, not just Al Queda.

You would think though that all terrorist out there would know by now that the Bush Administration is looking at them and not just Al Queda. So I don't think they're surpressing that information. Once again IMO that's alot of pages.

my thought is...


SO WHAT !!! At this point I don't care anymore....

I hate all of the he knew this, they knew that, they did or didn't do this.

It happned, it was a tragedy, let it go ! Was our government behind it, I don't know, sometimes I don't care either.

Are they going to do it again, I don't know, if so, bring it on, maybe this time it will take me off of this darn planet... arghhhh

I know that my statements probably should be in the Rant forum, but I do have something to add to this thread...


CNN is reporting something that is opposite of what this thread is stating...

I know, I know, CNN is a bunch of liars, I'm only passing along the information..

Bush welcomes 'sharing information' with 9/11 panel

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (CNN) -- President Bush on Monday said he looks forward to "sharing information" with the independent commission investigating the September 11, 2001, attacks and stressed that his administration had no indication hijackers would seize and deliberately crash four commercial jets that day

www.cnn.com...

"Let me very very clear on this. Had we had the information to stop the attack, I would have stopped the attack." Bush said.

So why the two different stories.. ?

I'm pretty sure a hefty portion of those documents make the democrats look a whole lot better in this situation than the rebulicans do, and that's why it's being witheld. This administration is playing so much dirty pool it makes me want to puke all over my new crystal ball.

Originally posted by misscleo
I'm pretty sure a hefty portion of those documents make the democrats look a whole lot better in this situation than the rebulicans do, and that's why it's being witheld. This administration is playing so much dirty pool it makes me want to puke all over my new crystal ball.

That's why I hate politics! Why does there have to be democrats and republicans? Why can't everyone be on a common ground when it comes to decision making? I sure wish it were different in politics. It would make so much easier and better.

Originally posted by mrmulder

Originally posted by misscleo
.

That's why I hate politics!

Why does there have to be democrats and republicans? Why can't everyone be on a common ground when it comes to decision making? I sure wish it were different in politics. It would make so much easier and better.

we're getting there, it's called NEW WORLD ORDER