9/11 Panel Suspected Deception by Pentagon
Allegations Brought to Inspectors General
Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon's initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public rather than a reflection of the fog of events on that day, according to sources involved in the debate.
Suspicion of wrongdoing ran so deep that the 10-member commission, in a secret meeting at the end of its tenure in summer 2004, debated referring the matter to the Justice Department for criminal investigation, according to several commission sources. Staff members and some commissioners thought that e-mails and other evidence provided enough probable cause to believe that military and aviation officials violated the law by making false statements to Congress and to the commission, hoping to hide the bungled response to the hijackings, these sources said.
"We to this day don't know why NORAD [the North American Aerospace Command] told us what they told us," said Thomas H. Kean, the former New Jersey Republican governor who led the commission. "It was just so far from the truth. . . . It's one of those loose ends that never got tied."
I have a possible idea as to why:
If YOU were in charge of defending your country and you failed to stop the worst attack on American soil since the Civil War could you give testimony that started with,”We didn't know where the planes were.” followed by “We only had 4 fighter jets available.” and ended in what would sound like you trying to pass the blame off on the FAA, several airlines, and the Navy?
Under those circumstances I might get a little creative with the truth too.
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