Pushing back against Bush administration cover-ups and efforts to stone-wall, the Kean Commission is moving ahead slowly but doggedly. As CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston reported: "For the first time, the chairman of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is saying publicly that 9/11 could have and should have been prevented."

CBS quoted Bush appointee and Republican former governor of New Jersey Thomas Kean, "This is a very, very important part of history and we've got to tell it right." Kean added, "As you read the report, you're going to have a pretty clear idea what wasn't done and what should have been done."

According to CBS, "To find out who failed and why, the commission [is] threatening a subpoena to gain access to the president's top-secret daily briefs. Those documents may shed light on one of the most controversial assertions of the Bush administration – that there was never any thought given to the idea that terrorists might fly an airplane into a building."

This formulation confirms CBS is too deferential to the Bush Administration. Bush and other top Republicans followed White House political mastermind Karl Rove's advice to exploit the 9/11 disaster for partisan advantage, especially in the 2002 elections and in battles with Congressional Democrats. Rove told Republicans to attack Democrats as "soft on defense" and question their patriotism. Now Kean and others are demanding answers to important questions and drawing unflattering conclusions about the Bush Administration's failure to keep us safe.

Bush's choice for national security adviser Condoleeza Rice not only failed to do her job, she even failed to think about how to do her job. CBS quotes Rice from May 16, 2002: "I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile." She had 8 months to come up with a better cover story than that.

CBS quotes Kristen Breitweiser, a 9/11 widow from New Jersey who lobbied Congress and the president [sic] to establish the Kean Commission: "If you were to tell me that two years after the murder of my husband that we wouldn't have one question answered, I wouldn't believe it." Breitweiser wonders, "How is it possible we have a national security advisor coming out and saying we had no idea they could use planes as weapons when we had FBI records from 1991 stating that this is a possibility?"

Clearly either the FBI (under Attorney General John Ashcroft) refused to share this information with Rice, or else she ignored detailed warnings and is lying about it. Unless Rice is a liar, she really had no idea and that makes her the worst National Security Adviser in history. In any case, she should lose her job, along with all the others in the Bush Administration who caused this massive failure in intelligence, defense and national security.

CBS quotes Kean on the bottom line: "This was not something that had to happen," and "there are people that, if I was doing the job, would certainly not be in the position they were in at that time because they failed. They simply failed." CBS asked Kean if we should know if "people sitting in the decision-making spots on that critical day are still in those positions," Kean assured, "Yes, the answer is yes. And we will." We know Bush and Cheney are still in their positions. At least for now. CBS, Kean and Breitweiser quotes from: 9/11 Chair: Attack Was Preventable, Randall Pinkston, Dec. 17, 2003: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/17/eveningnews/main589137.shtml.

The Pentagon itself suffered attack. How can anyone have faith in the Bush Defense Department that failed to protect itself! We know there were detailed warnings which the Bush Administration ignored leading up to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bush and his inept national security team ignored incredibly detailed warnings, so calling those who question Bush's failures kooks or pointing to outlandish theories to tar sensible people won't work. Bush knew or should have known about the specific threats. He failed to do his most essential job. Bush failed to protect us, and 3,100 died on 9/11. From Republicans Still Can't Keep Us Safe:

"According to Time [Magazine], on 'July 5, 2001, Despite a quiet Fourth of July, the CIA warns Bush that imminent strikes are still possible. He asks Rice to find out what the agencies are doing about al-Qaeda. [Anti-terror expert Richard] Clarke holds meetings with CIA, FBI, Pentagon and State officials. He also tells key domestic agencies to be prepared for an attack.' They ignore[d] him.

This although Bush and top Bush officials were warned about possible hijacking terror attacks on 'July 10, 2001, Phoenix, Ariz., FBI agent Kenneth Williams sends headquarters a memo about Middle Eastern students at an Arizona flight school, theorizing al-Qaeda could be trying to infiltrate U.S. aviation [and CIA Director] Tenet brief[ed] Bush in Crawford, Texas, with an analytic report on al-Qaeda. It is based largely on old intelligence but raises hijackings as a possible threat,' on August 6, 2001.

As al Qaeda prepared for the massive attacks, Bush and his top officials didn't. Bush ignored the threats and took a long vacation. As Time reports, 'September 4, 2001, The Principals' Committee - Cheney, Rice and other top national-security officials - [finally held] its first terrorism meeting. They debate[d] Clarke's plan, decide[d] to implement it in a phased approach and send it to Bush.' Of course by then it was too late. The Bush Administration's tentative, impotent moves came months late and $millions short."

See: http://www.mikehersh.com/Republicans_Still_Can_t_Keep_Us_Safe.shtml.

Bush ignored warnings and went on a month-long vacation. No Patriot Act or Homeland Security Department can protect us unless we know what went wrong and why. http://www.mikehersh.com/We_Must_Know_the_Causes_of_911.shtml. The Bush administration silenced and suspended Air Force Lt. Colonel Steven Butler for writing a letter saying Bush knew about the Sept. 11 attacks beforehand. http://www.mikehersh.com/article_65.shtml. Why did Bush and Cheney try to limit 9/11 inquiry to secret congressional Intelligence Committee proceedings? What don't they want us to know? http://www.mikehersh.com/article_2.shtml.

Millions of Saudi dollars compromised the patriotism of top current and former Bush officials, including George W. Bush, George Herbert Walker Bush, James A. Baker III, and many others. These officials looked the other way - or worse - before and after the Saudi-sponsored terrorist attacks. Is this why the Bush White House is desperately trying to stone-wall investigations into September 11th? See: http://www.mikehersh.com/article_4.shtml and http://www.mikehersh.com/article_45.shtml. See Mike Hersh.com articles about 9/11 and the continuing Bush cover up (http://www.mikehersh.com/cat_index_9.shtml) for more details.

Lisa Thomas' Op-Ed "The Ellen Mariani Lawsuit" explains, "Ellen Mariani is suing the Bush-Cheney-Ashcroft gang, accusing them of having knowledge and warnings of 911 and of failing to warn or take steps to prevent the tragedy. The lawsuit, being handled by Philip J. Berg, former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, further alleges that the Bush crowd has been covering up the truth of 911."

Thomas writes: "At the heart of the complaint is the plaintiff's intention to 'hold Defendants accountable for allowing the '911' attacks against her nation to occur to profit personally and politically from an illegal war on international terror." She adds, "The full complaint, filed in Philadelphia on November 26 can be read at: http://nancho.net/911/mariani.html, or a copy of the 61-page Amended Complaint is available by e-mail by contacting Phil Berg at PJBLAW@aol.com. Mr. Berg states that while 3,000 copies of the press release announcing the complaint were sent out that only one was printed, that at Scoop, in New Zealand (http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0311/S00261.htm)." See:
http://www.thefence.com/pages/Pontifications/Pontification.asp?PontificationId=107.

On NPR's "Diane Rehm show," Democratic front runner Howard Dean explained, "The President is taking a great risk by suppressing the clear, the key information that needs to go to the Kean Commission." He never accused anyone of anything, just warned that clumsy cover-ups only lead to "conspiracy theories" - and worse.

Of course the pro-Bush media enforcers piled on Dean, lied about what he said - this to help Bush maintain the 9/11 cover-up. But Dean won't be silenced, and Bush's allies cannot twist his sensible warnings into crazed "conspiracy theory." Listen for yourself, about 41 minutes into the interview: http://www.wamu.org/ram/2003/r1031201.ram.

Bush failed utterly on 9/11. Asking questions and demanding answers is non-partisan and essential. As for Republican charges that questioning the Commander in Chief in time of war is treasonous, they just don't know their history. After the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, leading Republicans accused President Franklin Roosevelt of allowing if not orchestrating the attacks in order to take America into World War II. Republicans including Thomas Dewey - the governor of New York and the GOP nominee for President in 1948 - demanded to impeach FDR during the darkest days of WW II based on this "conspiracy theory."

Remember, World War II - unlike Bush's Iraqmire - was a formally declared war. Unlike W. Bush, FDR was actually legally elected! Even so, the Republicans did FDR and America a favor when they demanded and conducted in-depth investigations. The inquiry found no grounds to support the charges "FDR knew about Pearl Harbor." This cleared FDR and let the USA move on. We must do the same about 9/11.

In Think for Yourself - Brandon T. examines various 9/11 "conspiracy theories," urges you to consider his observations, and then tells you to think for yourself. http://www.mikehersh.com/Think_for_Yourself.shtml. That's the whole point. We must think for ourselves, learn the truth, and reject Bush's cover up. All good Americans want to know the truth about the failures that led to disaster on 9/11. Complaints that public knowledge would undermine national security fall flat. The terrorists already know how they outsmarted Bush's intelligence and national security appointees. The Bush administration knows. Only the public is kept in the dark. Why?