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To: T L Comiskey who wrote (51966)	5/23/2002 11:59:25 AM
From: Jim Willie CB	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 65232

that is my picture, age 2 days, 27 minutes, prenatal / jw

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (51966)	5/23/2002 2:32:12 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Independent Inquiry The Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial 05/23/02 Why, given the resources the United States had available, with its clear military superiority and assumed intelligence-gathering abilities, was it possible for the events of Sept. 11 to occur? That question may not be immediately paramount to our national survival, but it is the question to which posterity - and the sacrificed lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people - eventually will demand an answer. That's why Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, the liberal South Dakota Democrat, and George Will, the syndicated columnist by whom conservative thought often is measured, find themselves standing with their like-minded fellows on rare common ground: They submit that there must be an official inquiry into the events that led to that day's mass terrorist murders; it must be exhaustive and scrupulously above partisan recriminations. It must reach as far back as necessary, and it must point to ways to better protect the nation from similar attacks. It would be best if such an endeavor were carried out by Congress, but given the unceasing maneuvering within those walls for partisan advantage, it is hard to imagine assembling a panel that would uniformly rise to the task. That partisanship already is evident. Many Democrats have shown themselves too eager to blame President George W. Bush for lacking the prescience to divine al-Qaida's intent. Equal numbers of Republicans, meanwhile, seem more interested in protecting the administration from any criticism, no matter its apparent merit, than determining the facts of the matter. But it is just those facts that, insofar as is possible, must be ascertained, and laid on the record before they fade from memory. And in the imperfect realm of governance, the most promising approach to making such determinations appears to lie in the authority of an independent commission. Such bodies were formed to determine how the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was so successfully carried out, and to try to ferret out the details surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. We find it frankly disconcerting that the Bush administration is expending so much energy in trying to thwart such an examination. The arguments of its supporters - among them that such an airing of national vulnerabilities would "make Osama bin Laden's job easier," in the words of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay - have an empty ring. Our enemies have demonstrated abundantly that they knew our weaknesses far better than we did. No, the enormity of the crime perpetrated against our country, and its resultant impact on all our lives, demand the most formal, thorough and dignified examination that this nation can muster. That means an independent commission of individuals whose motives are beyond reproach must be empowered to conduct the inquiry. It would best be done sooner than later. © 2002 The Plain Dealer. cleveland.com