Before we all get too excited about Clarke's testimony...from the
Centre for Research on Globalisation
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO307B.htm
[short excerpt of lengthy but eye-opening article]
Commission members seem to have been carefully handpicked. Not only are the White House and the
National Security Council "represented" (unofficially of course), key government agencies including the CIA and Homeland Security also have their "seat" on the Commission.
Under these circumstances, it is impossible to conduct a meaningful investigation of any of the key political, military and intelligence actors. The latter have their own personal representatives, who report back and forth.
Several members of the Commission served in the Reagan and Bush Senior administrations. They have links to the Iran Contra officials of the Reagan administration. Needless to say, several of those Iran Contra officials now hold high
office in the current Bush administration.
While lower level officials will no doubt be investigated for "intelligence failures", the Commission will not investigate the lies underlying US foreign policy, including the support provided by successive administrations to the Islamic brigades since the presidency of Jimmy Carter, (not to mention the role of the CIA and of key Bush officials in this process including Colin Powell and Richard Armitage)
In other words, the Commission's hidden agenda is cover-up and "damage control". Its objective is not to inform but to distract public opinion, from the real issues. by churning out piles of irrelevant intelligence. To gain legitimacy and public support, it must conver the impression that it is committed to "going after" the Administration, and that government officials as well as politicians in high office "must be held accountable", etc.
More...including Keane's ties to Bin Laden...
Commission Chairman Thomas Kean
Conflicts of interest abound within the Commission. Yet what perhaps is most
disturbing are the links of both the Commission Chairman Thomas Kean as well
as the Legal Counsel Daniel Marcus to individuals closely linked to the bin
Laden family.
In a cruel irony, the $1 trillion lawsuit filed in August 2002 by the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks , lists two of Thomas Kean's ("former") business partners among the accused: Khalid Bin Mahfouz (Osama's brother in law, according to CIA sources), and Mohammed Hussein al Amoudi. Both individuals have been tagged in the lawsuit as the alleged "financiers" of Al
Qaeda.
"According to a 1998 Senate testimony of former CIA director James Woolsey, powerful financier Khalid bin Mahfouz' younger sister is married to Osama bin Laden,. (US Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Federal News Service, 3 Sept. 1998, See also Wayne Madsen, Questionable Ties, In These Times,12 Nov. 2001 )
Bin Mahfouz is suspected to have funneled millions of dollars to the Al Qaeda
network.(See Tom Flocco, Scoop.co.nz 28 Aug. 2002)
Now, "by sheer coincidence", former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, the man chosen by President Bush to lead the 9/11 commission also has business ties with bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi.
Thomas Kean is a director (and shareholder) of Amerada Hess Corporation , which is involved in the Hess-Delta joint venture with Delta Oil of Saudi Arabia (owned by the bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans)...
Now you would think that being a business partner of the brother in law and alleged financier of "Enemy No. 1" would also be considered a bona fide "conflict of interest", particularly when your mandate --as part of the 9/11 Commission's work-- is to investigate "Enemy No. 1". "(Michel Chossudovsky, New Chairman of 9/11 Commission had business ties with Osama's Brother in Law , Centre for Research on Globalization, December 2002 )
Commission Counsel David Marcus Daniel Marcus, the Legal Counsel of the Commission, was partner in Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, which counts among its clients Prince Mohammed al Faisal,
also identified as one of the top three alleged "financiers" of the 9/11 attacks listed in the 1 trillion dollar lawsuit:
An internal list of other law firms retained in the case, reviewed by NEWSWEEK , reads like a veritable "who's who" of the U.S. legal community. Among those firms and their Saudi clients are: Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (Prince
Mohammed al Faisal); Kellog, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans (Prince Turki al Faisal); Jones, Day (the Binladin Group); Ropes & Grey (Khaled bin Mahfouz); White & Case,(the Al-Rajhi Banking Group); King & Spalding (the Arab Bank and Youssef Nada); Akin Gump (Mohammed Hussein Al-Almoudi); and Fulbright & Jaworski (Nimir Petroleum.) ( See MNBC at
http://www.msnbc.com/news/901320.asp?0cv=CB30&cp1=1#BODY
Kissinger and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
We recall that Henry Kissinger resigned from the Chair of the 9/11 Commission, precisely because he was in "conflict of interest". His firm Kissinger Associates had dubious links to Saudi financiers. Former Senator George Mitchell
also resigned, for the same reasons, amid controversy. Ironically, they were
replaced by "similar individuals."
However, instead of demanding that Thomas Kean and David Marcus be removed from the Commission due to "conflict of interest", the organizations
representing the 9/11 victims' families pledged their support to the Commission's actitivities. (See also http://www.voicesofsept11.org/ ,)
Needless to say, Kissinger has his own personal Rep. on the Commission: John F. Lehman, a former Secretary of the Navy, who also happens to be a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. During the Nixon Administration, he served
as special counsel and senior staff member to Kissinger on the National Security Council.
The Council on Foreign Relations is well represented on the Commission: four
of its members (out of 8 Commissioners plus the Chair and the Vice Chair) are members of the CFR including Thomas Kean, Lee Hamilton, John F. Lehman and Jamie Gorelick.
It is worth mentioning, in this regard, the behind the scenes role of the CFR in the formulation of US foreign policy. And a central feature of US foreign policy was a program of covert support to the various "Islamic terrorist
organisations." In this regard, one of the CFR's most prominent figures Zbigniew
Brzezinski played a key role in creating the Islamic militant network as part of a covert CIA operation , launched during the Carter administration. With four CFR members on the Commission (out of a total of 8 Commissioners, plus the Chair and Vice Chair), it is unlikely that the Commission will shed light on
these issues.
Executive Director Philipp D. Zelikow
The media conveys the impression that this "Independent" Commission is at war
with the Bush administration. What it fails to mention is that its executive
director Philipp Zelikow is part of the president's intelligence team. Two
days before the beginning of the war on Afghanistan, Zellikow was appointed
(October 5, 2001) to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, chaired
by General (ret) Brent Scowcroft.
In other words the man responsible for the day to day operations of the 9/11 Commission, including the recruitment of staff and the coordination of research, is closely linked to Bush's inner cabinet. He has a close professional relationship with Condoleezza Rice, with whom he has collaborated for the last
10 years. He is co-author of a book written with Condoleezza Rice. .
In all likelihood, Zellikow reports back periodically through informal
personal channels (e.g.. to Condoleezza Rice and his colleagues on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board).
The CIA also has its "Seat" on the Commission
Another prominent member of this "Independent" Commission is Jamie S. Gorelick, who has a close working relationship with CIA Director George Tenet. She serves on the CIA's National Security Advisory Panel as well as on the President's Review of Intelligence. CIA Director George Tenet is one of the architects of the "war on terrorism". With Gorelick on the Commission, it is highly unlikely that the agency's undercover operations in support of international
terrorism will be revealed (see Michel Chossudovsky, Who is Osama bin Laden, !2
September 2001).