[Peace-discuss] Zelikow: maybe not admin's man

[C. G. Estabrook]

  Philip Zelikow: Both criticized and defended over work on 9-11 Commission
  Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the
  Federation of American Scientists (2-11-08)

"Senior investigators on the 9/11 Commission believed their work was being 
manipulated by the executive director to minimize criticism of the Bush 
Administration," according to a new book on the Commission.

"Investigative staffers at the Commission believe [executive director] Philip 
Zelikow repeatedly sought to minimize the administration's intelligence failures 
in the months leading up to 9/11, which had the effect of helping to ensure 
President Bush's re-election in 2004," no less.

That is the sensational thesis of "The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 
9/11 Investigation" by New York Times reporter Philip Shenon.

The claim was immediately disputed by the former Commissioners and by former staff.

"The author is mistaken in his criticism of the role of Executive Director 
Philip Zelikow. The proper standard for judgment is the quality of the report, 
and there is no basis for the allegations of bias he asserts," according to a 
February 8 statement issued jointly by the Commissioners (except White House 
counsel Fred Fielding).

Michael Hurley, a Commission staff member who led the team on counterterrorism 
policy, concurred in an email message to Secrecy News.

"The Shenon book depicts Philip Zelikow as a manager who bullied the 9/11 
Commission staff. He didn't bully the staff. Zelikow assembled a stellar group 
of independent-minded professionals, many of whom had substantial and 
distinguished careers in their fields. They were not the sort who could be 
bullied or manipulated," said Mr. Hurley, a former CIA operations officer who 
served in Afghanistan after September 11.

"No piece of evidence, no matter how damning to Bush, Rice, or Richard Clarke 
got left on the cutting room floor," he added.

Mr. Shenon's engaging book provides new details on the efforts of former 
national security adviser Sandy Berger to destroy documents at the National 
Archive; the discovery of a highly classified Memorandum of Notification 
authorizing the killing of Osama bin Laden that was signed by President Clinton 
on December 24, 1998 then modified a few months later for reasons that remain 
obscure; John Ashcroft's attempt to embarrass Commissioner Jamie Gorelick, which 
had the unintended effect of unifying the Commission; and lots of interesting, 
gossipy details about the internal dynamics of the Commission, some of which, as 
noted, have been disputed.

Last week, Mr. Shenon posted his extensive email exchanges with Mr. Zelikow on 
the book's web site (www.thecommissionbook.com). Mr. Zelikow also released 
almost the identical material, in slightly different format and with a bit of 
material not included by Mr. Shenon (such as a memo sent to Walter Pincus of the 
Washington Post regarding a paper by Paul Pillar). The Zelikow release is here.

In either version, Zelikow's detailed messages, which are neither defensive nor 
vindictive, tend to deflate the more breathless allegations of his critics, and 
add a dimension of understanding to the Commission report and its public reception.

"One of the most neglected observations in the report was in our section 
comparing the Millenium period (end 1999) with the 'summer of threat' in 2001," 
Mr. Zelikow wrote to Mr. Shenon on September 20, 2007 in a passage that was not 
included in the book.

"We made the point there that the main driver in all the attention in the 
earlier period was the massive publicity surrounding the Ressam arrest. [Ahmed 
Ressam was convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on 
New Year's Eve 1999.] We contrasted that with the muffling secrecy of Summer 2001."

"Imagine what might have happened if the Moussaoui arrest had gotten the kind of 
publicity and extended coverage that accompanied the Ressam arrest. We had 
evidence from [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] that, had he known of the Moussaoui 
arrest, he might have cancelled the operation," Mr. Zelikow wrote.

http://hnn.us/roundup/14.html#47331