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| When U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney
raised questions By Roxanne Evans |
| When U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney raised
questions that the Bush administration might have known more about September 11 than they
were letting on, she was vilified. She was called a conspiracy theorist, a nut and worse.
The recent turn of events vindicated her and others who have asked similar questions. It now appears that the Bush administration had some information and access to additional information that might have foretold of the September 11 suicide attacks -- or at least yielded a warning. A 1999 federal report went so far as to predict possible suicide bombers striking the Pentagon. For reasons that only a Congressional or other top-level hearing can determine, information was known and in most cases shared but never acted on. The Bush administration said the information was too general. (They didn’t have Osama’s day planner so they blew it off?) Then, they said that they didn’t alert anyone about possible hijackings because of what it would do to the airlines. (The same airlines that were bailed out after September 11.) We also found out that the administration was planning an attack on Afghanistan before September 11; something else the American public and Congress didn’t know. What did Bush know and when and why didn’t Congress know anything? After September 11, it was considered unpatriotic for people to ask hard questions of the administration. Those asking questions were cowered and beaten back by charges of unpatriotism. Now, the administration is trying to characterize the questioning as partisan. They can’t be allowed to get away with that. They can’t be allowed to hide the truth any longer. Republicans and Democrats alike are asking for a full accounting. But more important, the American people have a right to have their questions answers and their fears quelled. ††† September 11 has been used to power up the war machine, to spend billions of dollars and to limit what many people believed to be previously guaranteed civil rights. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (who had been advised to fly private planes before September 11, according to news reports) has broadened his powers to a frightening degree. Monday was Memorial Day, the day set aside to honor our war dead. It is fitting to show respect for these men and women and their families to know that the wars they fight in -- including this war on terror -- are legitimate and just. Many people say America lost its innocence on September 11. If that is true, the administration needs to stop treating the American people like children. It needs to answer any and all questions about September 11 with openness and honesty. If they can’t do that, then something far more sacred that our innocence -- confidence in the highest office in the land -- might be lost. And that would be as tragic as September 11 itself. |
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