- WASHINGTON, DC - A
group of 25 former federal employees directly involved in the government's
counterintelligence and counterterrorism programs held a press conference
here this morning to lambaste both the 9-11 Commission and the Bush administration
for failing to hold government officials accountable for failures leading
up to 9-11.
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- The ex-employees, from the FBI, CIA, FAA, Customs, and
the Defense Intelligence Agency, had firsthand knowledge of their agencies'
activities in counterintelligence and counterterrorism. Bogdan Dzakovic,
a former special agent at the FAA, said he repeatedly sought to warn his
superiors of mismanagement and the dangers of terrorism, but to no avail.
He was a leader of a "Red Team" at FAA, engaged in preparing
for terrorist attacks.
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- But he said the security measures in his agency were
"little more than window dressing," and quoted one frustrated
colleague as saying, "The FAA is so screwed up I don't know where
to begin."
-
- Diane Kleiman, a former Customs agent at JFK who was
fired in 1999, scoffed at the idea that airport security has been improved.
Emphasis on checking passengers coming into the airport hides the real
problems in the back of the airport, she said, where literally anybody
can board a parked plane. She outlined a scenario, for instance, in which,
say, 10 terrorists could apply to be cargo handlers (a job with high turnover),
get hired and work, but then quit, retaining their passes, which give them
access to ramps and the unlocked aircraft.
-
- They then could enter the airports with backpacks full
of explosives, get on the planes, stash the bags in the cargo holds, and
leave. In this way, 10 planes with all their passengers could be blown
up.
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- Holding up a special government security-clearance pass,
she described how lax airport security remains. Her pass gave her entrance
to every nook and cranny of the airport, from ramps to runways to planes
to cargo-handling entrances. Such a pass is worth thousands of dollars
to any would-be terrorist. When she was fired, nobody took this valuable
passport from her. "The leadership and management at JFK are terrible,"
she said.
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- The 25 signed a letter to Congress -- organized by Sibel
Edmonds, the former FBI whistleblower who is blocked from telling what
she knows by a Justice Department gag order -- citing "intentional
actions or inaction by individuals responsible for our national security,
actions or inaction dictated by motives other than the security of the
people of the United States."
-
- The 9-11 Commission's final report, the letter added,
"deliberately ignores officials and civil servants who were, and still
are, clearly negligent and/or derelict in their duties to the nation. If
these individuals are protected, rather than held accountable, the mindset
that enabled 9-11 will persist, no matter how many layers of bureaucracy
are added, and no matter how much money is poured into the agencies.
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- Character counts. Personal integrity, courage, and professionalism
make the difference. Only a commission bent on holding no one responsible
and reaching unanimity could have missed that."
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