Currently reading
Hieroglyph: Stories and Blueprints for a Better Future
Ukraine: Zbig's Grand Chessboard & How the West Was Checkmated
The Girl on the Train: A Novel
Our Souls at Night: A novel
Above the Waterfall
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction
The Homicide Report: Understanding Murder in America
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
The Gods of Mars
There is much here that impeaches the 9/11 commission. Phillip Zelikow was a close associate and advisor to Condoleeza Rice. Who in their right mind could have believed that a dedicated partisan like Zelikow would not twist the work of the commission to protect his patrons? And so he did. Democratic co-chair Lee Hamilton was more Republican than some of the Republicans, unwilling to consider the possibility that his buddies, Cheney and Rummy, would ever tell a lie. Tom Kean was uninterested in challenging the White House, unwilling to ask for subpoenas, even after it became clear that the Bushies were stonewalling. Ashcroft is portrayed as a complete crank, praying theatrically in his office, unwilling to listen to reports about domestic terrorism concerns, creepy about keeping security people out of his home. It is particularly harsh about Condi, who did everything in her power to give the commission no useful information, covering the fact that she was probably the worst national security advisor in the nation’s history. It was she more than anyone else who kept terrorism on a low priority list, even demoting the head of the terrorism shop, Richard Clarke. The FBI managed to get extra cash from Congress but cynically used the money for other projects. It was a mess on several fronts. Clarke comes off relatively well. The FBI is shown to be a joke. Mueller single-handedly saved the Bureau by his persistent attention to the commission. In fact, it should have been completely reorganized. One relevant point made here was that the commission and staff may have been hesitant to criticize the Bureau out of intimidation, fearful that they might be subjected to official payback. Zelikow, after the commission made its report, took a job with Condi. And what does that say?