Open Letter to Philip Zelikow and The Washington Post
By Nicholas Levis
911Truth.org
[email protected]NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2004 --
Philip Zelikow, a high-level national security adviser to both Bush
administrations, acknowledges that America faces a new infectious disease: lack
of faith in the U.S. government's 9/11 Commission report.
As executive director of the freshly-retired Kean Commission, Zelikow was a
principal author of the 567-page document, which purports to explain everything
that matters about September 11th, 2001.
Sales of the 9/11 report have far outpaced those of his earlier study in
statecraft, "Germany Unified and Europe Transformed." He co-wrote that book in
1999 with one of his closest associates from the original Bush White House,
Condoleeza Rice.
Despite blockbuster sales for the 9/11 report, Zelikow tells the Washington Post
he is alarmed by the concurrent spread of "conspiracy theories" about the
attacks, which he describes as pathogens:
"Our worry is when things become infectious, as happened with the (John F. Kennedy) assassination,"
Zelikow says. "Then this stuff can be deeply corrosive
to public understanding. You can get where the bacteria can sicken the larger
body." (1)
It's too late, Dr. Zelikow. The "bacteria" are winning, and your own work is to
blame.
Perhaps the disease would have slowed if you had showed the courage to step down
as executive director last March - when your resignation was demanded by the
same Sept. 11 families who had fought the White House for 14 months to gain a
9/11 Commission in the first place.
They saw a grave conflict of interest in your having participated in White House
briefings on al-Qaeda in 2000 and 2001. You did so on behalf of the incoming
Bush administration, along with Dr. Rice, Richard Clarke and Sandy Berger, all
of whom later testified to the Kean Commission.
"It is apparent that Dr. Zelikow should never have been permitted to be
Executive Staff Director of the Commission," the Family Steering Committee
wrote.
They asked you to resign, and to take your place on the other side of the table,
as a witness to be questioned in the investigation, in public and under oath.
(2)
Perhaps this might have helped to restore credibility to a Commission that was
badly damaged a few months earlier when its most outspoken member, Max Cleland,
resigned after condemning it as a whitewash. (3)
But you ignored the families and stayed on, undeterred. You continued to steer
the Commission and its agenda. You stayed on, as one of only two staff members
or commissioners with relatively unrestricted access to White House documents.
(The other was Jamie Gorelick, a former high official in the Clinton
administration and close associate of George Tenet. Small world.)
A few weeks later, we were treated to a star turn at the hearings by your
co-author, Dr. Rice, as one of the most important witnesses before the
Commission, even as you conducted behind the scenes.
And now you worry that people won't buy what you have to say about 9/11.
Guess what? They don't.
A representative poll of eight hundred New York state residents by Zogby
International found less than 40 percent of them say they believe the 9/11
Commission report answered all of the important questions about Sept. 11. (4)
Sixty-six percent of New York City residents are therefore calling on the state
attorney general to open a new criminal investigation, one based on the 383
questions of the Family Steering Committee, most of which the 9/11 Commission
report simply ignores.
The same poll found that 41 percent of state residents believe high officials
knew about 9/11 in advance, and "consciously" allowed the attacks to proceed.
That view is shared by one-half of New York City residents - the very people who
would have the most reason to be well-informed about Sept. 11.
But 41 percent of the good people in upsate New York, a microcosm of Middle
America, also believe there was foreknowledge, as do 30 percent of the state's
registered Republicans.
What would the same poll questions reveal, if they were posed to residents of
the entire United States? Or to a sampling of the world population?
Isn't this big news? Half the people in the city where the attacks occurred
don't believe what their government has told them. Why wasn't it in the papers,
alongside the Bush-Kerry polling numbers? Shouldn't the papers be examining the
unanswered questions that make people think this way?
What have the papers given us instead?
Zelikow's worry about the spread of heretical ideas is apparently shared by the
Washington Post, which published his comments yesterday in a pop-psychology
piece by Carol Morello, analyzing the souls who have fallen prey to "conspiracy
theories" about 9/11.
Morello's first step is to define what "conspiracy theorists" think in the
narrowest possible way. She focuses on a single notion - that the crash of a
Boeing 767 does not explain the pattern of damage at the Pentagon. Her article
pretends that this is the central hypothesis for all who question the official
story of 9/11, which is untrue.
Before the Pentagon anomaly first arose as an issue among American researchers
(in Nov. 2001), a broad case for doubting the government's claims had already
been built, based in ample evidence of foreknowledge on the part of high U.S.
officials, contradictions in investigators' statements about the alleged
hijackers, and many other indications of complicity in the attacks by elements
other than the Bin Ladin networks.
This constantly growing body of evidence caused Sept. 11 families and advocates
for disclosure to lobby for an independent investigation, and ultimately became
the basis for a vibrant "9/11 truth movement." (5)
But Morello's presumption - that uncertainty about what happened at the Pentagon
is the sole issue of concern - allows her to ignore all that.
All that matters now is what makes these conspiracy theorists tick, and whether
they can be cured.
As Philadelphia Daily News reporter Will Bunch pointed out, Morello is merely
knocking down her own strawman. In a college debate, she would lose the point.
(6)
If we must psychologize rather than argue, as Morello does, then I daresay she
is in avoidance. Taking on the facts of 9/11 with an open mind would perhaps
force her, in Zelikow's words, "to repudiate much of
life identity," which
relies on rejecting ideas that her society characterizes as outlandish, as
"conspiracy theory."
But what is "conspiracy theory"? Morello rounds up the usual suspects among
experts who treat disbelief in official stories as a pathology.
Michael Barkun, author of "A Culture of Conspiracy" and much-cited in these
matters, wisely informs us that "conspiracy theories are one way to make sense
of what happened and regain a sense of control. Of course, they're usually
wrong, but they're psychologically reassuring."
"Usually wrong"? Why does Prof. Barkun hedge his bets?
We need to unpack our terms. "Conspiracy theory" describes the official 9/11
report as well as it does the alternative views. The events of Sept. 11
obviously were not the product of a single perpetrator, but of a criminal
conspiracy.
Criminal conspiracy is treated in countless volumes of what prosecutors call
conspiracy law or racketeering statutes. Another word for it is organized crime.
Any attempt to explain a criminal conspiracy constitutes a theory. Prosecutors
devise theories based on initial clues, and then try to see which of them best
fit the evidence. Convictions often follow.
Morello, and Zelikow, are not concerned about "conspiracy theories" per se. They
are applying the term selectively, to include only hypotheses in which elements
of the U.S. government were themselves involved in the attacks for political and
financial gain.
If Cheney says Saddam Hussein backed the 9/11 attacks, as the vice-president did
on many occasions despite his recent protestations to the contrary, this is not
called a conspiracy theory, although it obviously involves a theoretical
conspiracy. Yet this is the most important 9/11 conspiracy theory to date,
because it was used to justify the invasion of Iraq.
If Zelikow tells us that 19 men agreed to hijack four planes and fly them into
buildings and succeeded (although those identified as the ringleaders had been
under observation by U.S. and allied agencies for years beforehand) this is not
labeled conspiracy theory, although it describes a conspiracy.
The only theories branded as "conspiracies," and thus subject to ridicule and
dismissal without examination, are those that suspect wrongdoing from a
government that did its best to hide and destroy evidence, and then sent out a
top adviser to both Bush administrations, Zelikow, to investigate what happened.
In the case of the Pentagon, the government has suppressed videotapes of the
attack taken from a nearby hotel, a gas station, highway surveillance cameras,
and the Pentagon's own cameras. At a press conference following the Kean
Commission hearings of Dec. 8, 2003, the chair and co-chair promised that this
evidence would be released, to help dispel speculation.
That evidence has not been released, and Zelikow suggests to the Post that there
is no need:
"Asked if there were unreleased photographs of the attack that would convince
the doubters, Zelikow, of the 9/11 commission, said, 'No.'"
Is it any wonder that people don't believe Dr. Zelikow? First the government
suppresses evidence. Then its chief investigator of 9/11 justifies this by
saying it would be pointless to release the evidence, and shifts the blame to
the "conspiracy theorists" who are pathologically incapable of believing the
truth.
The New Yorkers who are unsatisfied with the 9/11 Commission report are not
supposed to get answers; they are remanded to the nearest therapist.
For three years, the Washington Post has joined America's other major press
organs in ignoring the unanswered questions that cause so many people to reject
the official conspiracy theory of the 9/11 attacks.
You would think the Zogby poll results, which were at least mentioned on
washingtonpost.com if not in the newspaper itself, would finally move the Post
to file some real stories.
This isn't the place to go into everything the Post has not reported about Sept.
11 - one might start by reading the book mentioned in Morello's article, "The
New Pearl Harbor" by David Ray Griffin - but I submit that DC journalists would
normally want to explore the following question:
What about the reports that the Pakistani secret service ISI wired $100,000 to
Mohamed Atta? The ISI is often credited as the creator of the Taliban, and its
operatives have been linked to the Bin Ladin networks. ISI is also linked to
CIA, as historically close allies.
The ISI director, Mahmud Ahmed, was on a two-week visit to Washington and met
for breakfast at the Capitol on Sept. 11 with the heads of the congressional
intelligence committees, Bob Graham and Porter Goss. (7)
After 9/11, Graham and Goss oversaw the 858-page report of the congressional
joint inquiry into 9/11, in which the term ISI never occurs, at least not in the
75 percent of the report remaining after "redactions."
In all of the Post's coverage of Goss's recent confirmation hearings as director
of the CIA, wasn't the ISI breakfast worth an article?
The 9/11 Commission report fails to mention reports of a Pakistani connection,
not even to explain them away, but at least it offers this gem:
"To date, the U.S. government has not been able to determine the origin of the
money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question is of little practical
significance... Similarly, we have seen no evidence that any foreign government
- or foreign government official - supplied any funding." (p. 172)
So who financed the attacks is of little significance. Now we know the first
rule of the Kean Commission: Don't follow the money!
Does the Washington Post agree?
The Kean Commission "discussed the theories," Zelikow tells the Post. "When we
wrote the report, we were also careful not to answer all the theories. It's like
playing Whack-A-Mole. You're never going to whack them all."
Now we know the second rule of the Kean Commission: Don't test theories. Just
whack them, if you can, and otherwise do your best to ignore them.
We shall conclude with two more of the moles that Zelikow and the Commission
refused to whack. Is the Washington Post willing to take a swing?
First: The owner of World Trade Center Building 7, Larry Silverstein,
interviewed for a PBS documentary of 2002 ("America Rebuilds"), seems to reveal
that this building's little-reported collapse on the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001
was the result of a decision to intentionally demolish the building. Isn't this
worthy of a follow-up call to Mr. Silverstein's offices? Is it possible to wire
a 47-story skyscraper for a controlled demolition within a few hours? If not,
what does this imply?
Second: The 9/11 Commission report revised the older NORAD and FAA timelines of
air defense response on Sept. 11. For more than two years, these two agencies
presented a series of conflicting chronologies to explain the failure of
standard operating procedure, under which the errant flights of Sept. 11 should
have been intercepted by jet fighters as a routine matter of reconnaissance.
Last June, the Kean Commission issued a staff statement that radically
contradicted all accounts upheld until then by either NORAD or FAA, establishing
an entirely new timeline. This is now Chapter 1 of the 9/11 Commission report.
It exonerates everyone of blame for the failures of 9/11, in keeping with the
dictum of Kean's vice-chairman, Lee Hamilton: "We’re not interested in trying to
assess blame, we do not consider that part of the commission’s responsibility."
Given the complexity of this issue, it may be asking too much of the Washington
Post to figure out if the new timeline holds water - it most assuredly does not.
(8) But if the Commission's version is right, then officials at NORAD and the
FAA were issuing false accounts for more than two years. Isn't that, at least,
an issue?
Are none of our taxpayer-financed public officials going to be held accountable
for what they say and do? Can the official story of 9/11 be changed every few
months without consequences?
Sen. Mark Dayton of Minnesota doesn't think so. At hearings on the 9/11
Commission report, Dayton said NORAD officials "lied to the American people,
they lied to Congress and they lied to your 9/11 commission to create a false
impression of competence, communication and protection of the American people."
(9)
This, at least, made the Minneapolis Tribune. But where is the follow-up? Isn't
the reality that either NORAD or the 9/11 Commission (or both) must be lying
about what happened on Sept. 11 worthy of the newspaper that was once synonymous
with investigative reporting?
References
(1) Re: "Conspiracy Theories Flourish on the Internet," Carol Morello,
Washington Post, Oct. 7, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13059-2004Oct6?language=printer
(2) "Statement of the Family Steering Committee for The 9/11 Independent
Commission," March 20, 2004. See
http://www.911independentcommission.org/mar202004.html
(3) On the history of the Commission and its conflicts of interest, see my
earlier article "The Rice/Zelikow Connection," May 15, 2004 at
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20040527201054793
(4) "Poll: 50% of NYC Says U.S. Govt Knew," press release. See
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20040830120349841
(5) "Putting on our tin-foil thiking cap," William Bunch,
http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/extra/archives/001002.html
(6) As portals to the kingdom of 9/11 research and truth movement sites, the
author recommends 911Truth.org, the New York activist site ny911truth.org, and
his own collection at http://summeroftruth.org
(7) Timeline of reports on allegations that ISI Director Mahmood Ahmed ordered a
$100,000 wire transfer to Mohamed Atta in the weeks prior to Sept. 11.
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/essay.jsp?article=mahmoodahmed
(8) "Analyzing the 9/11 Report, Chapter 1" by Michael Kane
http://www.williambowles.info/911/911_analysis_1.html.
For a series of links that makes clear how the official timelines of air defense
response have changed over time, see "The Emperor's New Timelines" at
http://summeroftruth.org/#timelines
An article is in the works.
(9) "Senator Dayton: NORAD lied about 9/11," following up on Minneapolis
Star-Tribune, July 31, 2004
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20040731213239607
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