Security reform is made election issue by 9/11 Commission
By Andrew Buncombe in
Washington
news.independent.co.uk
24 July 2004
The panel that produced the 11 September report
vowed yesterday to ensure that the overhaul of
the intelligence services becomes an election year
issue even as they admitted it would not happen
soon enough to prevent another attack.
The 10 commissioners set about arguing their
case for the recommendations that they outlined
while acknowledging that they faced obstacles.
"I would call myself hopeful but not optimistic that
these changes will be enacted prior to another
terrorist attack on the United States, regrettable
though that may be," said Bob Kerrey, a former
Democratic senator from Nebraska. "I'm hopeful
that Congress will do something about it, but
unfortunately I think we've already forgotten how
vulnerable we were on 9-11 and how many
mistakes were made to produce that vulnerability."
Speaking to CNN, he added: "I'm just not optimistic
that it's going to happen any time soon, unless the
American people rise up and ask their
Congressmen, their Senators and their President,
'Look, we've got to get these changes in place
because if we don't, the country simply is not
going to be as safe as it needs to be'."
The commission's report listed a series of steps it
believed were vital to prevent a repeat of the
attacks on New York and Washington that killed
almost 3,000 people. Primary among those
recommendations was the creation of a new
intelligence centre and a senior level official to
oversee the disparate elements of the US
intelligence community and report directly to the
president.
President George Bush and Congress promised
on Thursday that the recommendations would be
taken seriously. Yesterday morning, Condeleezza
Rice, the National Security Adviser, said that she
agreed change was needed but stopped short of endorsing the creation of a
national intelligence directorship. "Any specific recommendation has to be looked at
for its up sides and its down sides," she said.
Few people appear to believe that the commission's detailed recommendations will
be carried out soon, with political observers pointing to the problems of "turf, politics
and money" that stand in the way. Some of the commission's proposals, for
instance, would require legislation from Congress at a time when it is deeply divided
along partisan lines.
Others would need widespread bureaucratic reorganisation that would likely take
power and influence from groups and individuals. Some recommendations included
in the 567-page report would require new money at a time of budget deficits.
The commissioners, who spent almost 20 months completing the investigation, also
appear to realise that, while their work was largely free of party politics, their
demands have been made at a time when both parties are contesting the upcoming
presidential election.
"We're in danger of just letting things slide," said the commission chairman Thomas
Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey. "We believe unless we
implement these recommendations, we're vulnerable to another attack."
The commission's report detailed a series of failings that had allowed the 19
hijackers take control of four passenger planes almost three years ago. But while it
said that President Bush and his predecessor, Bill Clinton, could and should have
done more to counter the threat, it did not criticise either in harsh terms. "We do not
believe they fully understood just how many people al-Qa'ida might kill and how soon
it might do it," the panel said.
For the Republicans in particular, this absence of criticism must have come as a
relief given that Mr Bush has made his role in the so-called war on terror a central
part of his reelection campaign.
Many of the relatives of those who died in the attack fought for this report. Their
next fight will be getting its recommendations put in place. "We're going to hold these
people's feet to the fire," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother, Charles, was the
pilot of the plane that struck the Pentagon.
But even yesterday there was an admission from those most able to enforce the
recommendations that nothing was likely to happen soon. Dennis Hastert, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, voiced doubt that lawmakers would have
time to consider an intelligence overhaul this year.
24 July 2004 |
