- The need for an investigation of the events surrounding
Sept. 11 is as obvious as 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 Sept. 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 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 being
pursued by this administration?
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- We deserve to know what went wrong on Sept. 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 Osama bin Laden's
secure communications before Sept. 11. Sadly, the United States government
is being sued today by survivors of the U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa
because, from court reports, it appears clear that the United States had
received 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 Sept. 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 family's construction company and many defense industry
holdings, the stocks of which have soared since Sept. 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 Sept. 11. The Carlyle Group,
DynCorp and Halliburton certainly stand out as companies close to this
administration.
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- Defense Secretary Donald 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 20 years.
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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.
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- 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 Sept. 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.
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- 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 secrecy.
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.
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- 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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- U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney is a Democrat representing
Georgia's 4th http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/opinion/0402/0415equal.html
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