- The need for an investigation of the events surrounding
September 11 is as obvious as is the need for an investigation of the Enron
debacle. Certainly, if the American people deserve answers about what went
wrong with Enron and why (and we do), then we deserve to know what went
wrong on September 11 and why.
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- Are we squandering our goodwill around the world with
what many believe to be incoherent, warmongering policies that alienate
our friends and antagonize our allies? How much of a role does our reliance
on imported oil play in the military policies being put forward by the
Bush Administration? And what role does the close relationship between
the Bush Administration and the oil and defense industries play, if any,
in the policies that are currently being pursued by this Administration?
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- We deserve to know what went wrong on September 11 and
why. After all, we hold thorough public inquiries into rail disasters,
plane crashes, and even natural disasters in order to understand what happened
and to prevent them from happening again or minimizing the tragic effects
when they do. Why then does the Administration remain steadfast in its
opposition to an investigation into the biggest terrorism attack upon our
nation?
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- News reports from Der Spiegel to the London Observer,
from the Los Angeles Times to MSNBC to CNN, indicate that many different
warnings were received by the Administration. In addition, it has even
been reported that the United States government broke bin Laden's secure
communications before September 11. Sadly, the United States government
is being sued today by survivors of the Embassy bombings because, from
court reports, it appears clear that the US had received prior warnings,
but did little to secure and protect the staff at our embassies.
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- Did the same thing happen to us again?
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- I am not aware of any evidence showing that President
Bush or members of his administration have personally profited from the
attacks of 9-11. A complete investigation might reveal that to be the case.
For example, it is known that President Bush's father, through the Carlyle
Group had - at the time of the attacks - joint business interests with
the bin Laden construction company and many defense industry holdings,
the stocks of which, have soared since September 11.
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- On the other hand, what is undeniable is that corporations
close to the Administration, have directly benefited from the increased
defense spending arising from the aftermath of September 11. The Carlyle
Group, DynCorp, and Halliburton certainly stand out as companies close
to this Administration. Secretary Rumsfeld maintained in a hearing before
Congress that we can afford the new spending, even though the request for
more defense spending is the highest increase in twenty years and the Pentagon
has lost $2.3 trillion.
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- All the American people are being asked to make sacrifices.
Our young men and women in the military are being asked to risk their lives
in our War Against Terrorism while our President's first act was to sign
an executive order denying them high deployment overtime pay. The American
people are being asked to make sacrifices by bearing massive budget cuts
in the social welfare of our country, in the areas of health care, social
security, and civil liberties for our enhanced military and security needs
arising from the events of September 11; it is imperative that they know
fully why we make the sacrifices. If the Secretary of Defense tells us
that his new military objectives must be to occupy foreign capital cities
and overthrow regimes, then the American people must know why. It should
be easy for this Administration to explain fully to the American people
in a thorough and methodical way why we are being asked to make these sacrifices
and if, indeed, these sacrifices will make us more secure. If the Administration
cannot articulate these answers to the American people, then the Congress
must.
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- This is not a time for closed-door meetings and this
is not a time for se crecy. America's credibility, both with the world
and with her own people, rests upon securing credible answers to these
questions. The world is teetering on the brink of conflicts while the Administration's
policies are vague, wavering and unclear. Major financial conflicts of
interest involving the President, the Attorney General, the Vice President
and others in the Administration have been and continue to be exposed.
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- This is a time for leadership and judgment that is not
compromised in any fashion. This is a time for transparency and a thorough
investigation.
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