Who's who on the 9/11 "Independent" Commission

By Michel Chossudovsky
Online Journal Contributing Writer

July 21, 2003—Several citizens' organizations as well as the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks have expressed hope that the 9/11 Commission will ultimately reveal the truth.

The commission itself has produced a brief interim report (8 July 2003), where it hints to the lack of cooperation by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and other agencies of government.

The impression is conveyed that the commission is committed to obliging the various agencies to fully comply with its requests. A media campaign seems to have been launched, which presents the commission as a critical voice directed against the Bush administration. According to The New York Times (8 July 2003):


"the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks said today that its work was being hampered by the failure of executive branch agencies, especially the Pentagon and the Justice Department, to respond quickly to requests for documents and testimony."


Several alternative media have joined the bandwagon. George W. Bush is accused of obstructing the investigation and curtailing the commission's budget. Former Jersey governor Thomas Kean, the commission's chairman is presented as an honest and uncompromising individual, who is courageously confronting the US government:


"Without greater cooperation, Kean said, ''we cannot do the job we are supposed to do.'' The panel provided a report card on the 16 federal agencies covered by its inquiry, describing only the State Department as being fully cooperative, and the FBI as having improved its performance (Intervention Magazine).


The "Independent" Commission

The existence of an "independent" commission requires that its members are free of "conflict of interest." Namely that:


The commission is free of encroachments emanating from the executive or from the various agencies of government, under investigation

Commissioners as well as members of staff do not have personal (or other) ties to senior Bush officials or senior officers in key government agencies, which are being investigated by the commission;

Members of the commission have no links of any kind, business or otherwise, to the alleged perpetrators or "financiers" of 9/11, including the bin Laden family.


A review of the commission's membership suggests that these three conditions are not met In fact, the commission is marred by conflicts of interest. It operates in a cozy bi-partisan inter-agency environment, where the various crony factions within the administration, the US Congress, etc. are present.

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 convey 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.

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 [sic] 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 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.) (A Legal Counterattack, MSNBC)


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 Voices of September 11th)

Needless to say, Kissinger has his own personal representative 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 Condoleeza 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, 12 September 2001).

Cover-up and Damage Control

In other words, while there may be areas of dispute between the White House and the commission (as well as within the commission itself), the nature and composition of the commission foreclose from the outset, the possibility of a meaningful investigation of 9/11.

In all likelihood the commission will be involved in cover-up and damage control. It will mobilize its staff into reviewing piles of classified intelligence documents. It will focus on technical aspects of intelligence including "foreknowledge" and "intelligence failures," while ignoring the historical ties between successive administrations and "Islamic terrorism," including the role of the CIA in creating and sustaining Al Qaeda, from the onset of the Soviet-Afghan war.

In all likelihood it will focus the investigation on lower level officials.

Key political actors including those with dubious links to 9/11, will not be the object of a systematic investigation. The commission may (as occurred in the Iran-Contra investigation) identify one or more "fall guys," who will be blamed for these "intelligence failures."

These procedures, in the present context, tend to protect the political, intelligence and military actors, not to mention the intellectual architects of the "war on terrorism" in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). The PNAC "even foresaw the need for what they called a "Pearl Harbor-type event" to galvanize the American public into supporting their ambitious program" (Chris Floyd, The Moscow Times, 25 April 2003)

Moreover, the alleged links of the Saudi financiers to Al Qaeda are likely to serve the Bush clique. They uphold the idea that there is an "outside enemy," supported by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. This in turn serves to obscure the fact that the financial aid (from their Saudi business associates) to the Islamic militant network was from the very outset in 1979, part and parcel of the CIA's covert operation. In other words, the fact that the Saudi financiers are now being targeted in the lawsuit serves to protect the foreign policy architects of the "war on terrorism."

"Preparing for Future Terrorist Attacks"

The commission was given the mandate:


"to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks."


The thrust of this exercise is crystal clear: distort the history of 9/11, churn out phony intelligence which justifies Bush's preemptive "war on terrorism," expose the whistleblowers in the police and intelligence apparatus.

Careful Omission

Mountains of intelligence material have already been collected by the Joint Senate House Committee set up in May 2002 as well as by the commission. Through careful omission, the numerous press and intelligence reports in the public domain (mainstream media, alternative media, etc), which confirm that key members of the Bush administration were involved in acts of political complicity and camouflage, are more likely to be dismissed by the commission's research team.

The fact that Al Qaeda is a creation of the CIA, a so-called "intelligence asset" (confirmed by official reports and congressional transcripts), is not part of the commission's terms of reference. While "the elephant is sitting right on top of the stack of hay," the commission has been instructed "to look for pins rather than elephants." In other words, the commission is to churn out red herrings: a data bank of unconnected occurrences on "intelligence failures," FBI lapses, etc.

The 9/11 Commission

Below are excerpts from the "official bios" of the 9/11 commission members, which can be consulted at the 9/11 Commission's website ,

We have identified in each individual case, the nature of the conflict of interest, where applicable.

1. Chair and Vice Chair

Thomas H. Kean
Chair

"Thomas Kean, chair, is former governor of New Jersey (1982–1990) and, since 1990, the president of Drew University. . . . Kean is on the board of a number of organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund. He holds a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.A. from Columbia University Teachers College, as well as more than 25 honorary degrees and numerous awards from environmental and educational organizations"

Conflict of interest: Business ties with the "alleged financiers" of 9/11, according to the lawsuit launched by the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Khalid bin Mahfouz and M. Hussein Al Amoudi are identified in the families of the victims lawsuit.

Lee H. Hamilton
Vice Chair

"Lee Hamilton, vice chair, is president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Prior to becoming director of the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1999, Hamilton served for 34 years in Congress representing Indiana's Ninth District. During his tenure, he served as chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (now the Committee on International Relations), chaired the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East from the early 1970s until 1993, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran."

Hamilton has been connected to a number of key agencies. "He serves on an advisory board to the Association of the United States Army, the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council, the Secretary of Defense's National Security Study Group and the CIA Economic Intelligence Advisory Panel"

As member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, he was instrumental the indictment of Reagan National Security adviser John Pointdexter as well as Colonel Oliver North and Richard Secord.

On the other hand, his committee failed to investigate the roles of other Reagan officials. Pointdexter and North were the fall guys. Neither President Reagan nor Vice President Bush were investigated, nor Colin Powell and Richard Armitage,who are now part of the current Bush Junior Administration.

In other words, Lee H. Hamilton brings to the commission the "damage control" procedures followed during the Iran Contra investigation, which broadly served to uphold the practices of US foreign policy.

2. Senior Commission Staff (Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director and Legal Counsel)

Philip D. Zelikow
Executive Director

"Philip Zelikow is the executive director of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, better known as the "9/11 Commission." He is also the director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs and White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia. After serving in government with the Navy, the State Department, and the National Security Council, he taught at Harvard before assuming his present post in Virginia to direct the nation's largest research center on the American presidency. He was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and served as executive director of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former Presidents Carter and Ford, as well as the executive director of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age. Zelikow's books include The Kennedy Tapes (with Ernest May), Germany Unified and Europe Transformed (with Condoleeza Rice) . . . Zelikow has also been the director of the Aspen Strategy Group, a policy program of the Aspen Institute."

Philipp D. Zelikow, who holds the key executive position, responsible for the day to day activities of the 9/11 Commission, is a former member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, chaired by General (ret) Brent Scowcroft.

Zelikow was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on October 5th, 2001, one day before the beginning of the bombing of Afghanistan.

The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) has the mandate to "provide advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection, of analysis and estimates, of counterintelligence, and of other intelligence activities."

Zelikow also has a close personal relationship with National Security adviser Condoleeza Rice. He is co-author of a book written with Condoleezza Rice.

There are indications that Condoleeza Rice has withheld crucial information linking senior Bush Administration officials to the former head of Pakistan's military intelligence, General Mahmoud Ahmad. According to the FBI, in a September 2001 report, ISI Chief General Mahmoud allegedly played a role in transferring money to the 9/11 terrorists. On the withholding of information by Condoleeza Rice regarding the ISI Chief, see the transcripts of her May 16, 2002 press conference.

Conflict of Interest: The Executive director of the commission who overseas a staff of some forty people is a de facto White House appointee. He calls the shots on the direction of investigative research. He has close ties to the Presidency and close personal ties to National Security adviser Condoleeza Rice.