The Hindu : International : 9/11 panel findings will surprise public, says Chairman

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Tuesday, Apr 06, 2004

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International

9/11 panel findings will surprise public, says Chairman

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, APRIL 5. The Chairman of the National Commission looking into the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, has said that some of the findings of the panel have surprised him and, therefore, will surprise the public as well.

Thomas Kean, the former Republican Governor of New Jersey, has also said that it is in the interests of all that the Commission's findings be released as quickly as possible, probably even as early as July. The Commission's time-frame was recently extended from May 27 to July 26 after noisy complaints that the Bush administration, was not forthcoming on the release of requested documents.

"Nobody has any interest in having the report sitting around Washington during the election period and pieces of it leaking out. Nobody has any interest in this coming out September or October, in the middle of the election," Mr. Kean said, going on to stress that it was in the interest of the White House, the Commission and "everybody's interest" to get the report out in July. Mr. Kean is also sure that when the report is out, it will draw attention both for its findings and the recommendations for preventive action. "I have been surprised by some of what we have found, and so, I think, (the public) will..."

According to the Chairman of the bi-partisan panel which has come to attract a lot of attention in recent days on account of the revelations in the public hearings, the final report will be in two parts: the report itself and the recommendations. Mr. Kean has said that the Commission has some very serious recommendations to make which will not only be of "great value" to the American people but also `hopefully' will make the country safer. Meanwhile, all attention is being focussed on the testimony on Thursday by the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, who is going public after weeks of resistance from the White House on the grounds of violation of the President's right to have a confidential conversation with his advisers. Commission members are hoping to clear the air on a number of discrepancies between what Dr. Rice has said in public and what the former counter-terrorism czar of the Clinton administration, Richard Clarke, had told the panel. Dr. Rice is expected to be quizzed on not only on September 11, 2001, but also her assessment of how to fix the problems.

The President, George W. Bush and the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, will appear before the Commission together as a part of the `deal' that has been worked out. This session is private, not under oath and unrecorded.

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