- WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The commission
investigating the attacks of September 11, 2001 said Tuesday that the first
six months have been slow going largely because government agencies have
been slow to turn over documents.
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- "Extensive and prompt cooperation from the U.S.
government, the Congress, state and local agencies, and private firms is
essential," according to the interim report by the National Commission
on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
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- The panel is headed by Thomas H. Kean, former governor
of New Jersey. The vice chairman is Lee Hamilton, former chairman of the
House Intelligence and International Relations committees. The commission's
final report is due in May 2004.
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- The report named the Department of Defense, the Department
of Justice, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- formerly
the Immigration and Naturalization Service -- and the FBI as being slow
or unresponsive in turning over requested information.
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- "The problems that have arisen so far with the Department
of Defense are becoming particularly serious," according to the report.
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- "We have not received responses to requests relating
to NORAD [North American Aerospace Defense Command] and other DoD components,
including the JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] and the department's historical
office."
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- The commission said "records requested from DoJ
are overdue" and that it disagreed with the Justice Department's "insistence
on having agency representatives present during interviews of serving officials."
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- It said the former INS has "been slow in providing
briefings" and the FBI "got off to a slow start in responding
to the commission's requests," though it noted that the situation
has improved in both cases.
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- FBI Director Robert Mueller said thousands of documents
were provided at the beginning of the probe, and more agents have been
assigned to help comply with the panel's requests.
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- "Going back, I'll tell you we provided 49,000 documents
to them at the outset," he said Tuesday night on CNN's "Larry
King Live." "And we want to and have fully cooperated with them."
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- Mueller said the slow start might have been due to issues
that had to be resolved before some documents could be released, such as
the case against Zacarias Moussaoui, charged with collaborating with the
September 11 hijackers.
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- Meanwhile, the commission's report praised some sectors
of the government, including the White House, the CIA and the State Department.
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- "We can say that we have received and we are in
the process of receiving access to a wide range of sensitive documents
[from the executive office of the president] and that, to date, no requested
access has been denied," the commission said.
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- "The Central Intelligence Agency has been arranging
needed briefings and providing intelligence products, including essential
information that has been developed since 9/11," according to the
interim report.
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- http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/07/08/911.probe/
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