Debra Burlingame, who is tragically well-qualified to know, confirms that the 9-11 Commission has been a political shellgame from the beginning.
Among the activist leaders of 9/11 families' groups it is safe to say that Debra Burlingame - whose brother, Charles, was the pilot of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon - is not a uniformly popular figure.Ms Burlingame, a staunch Democrat, has become the first public 9/11 "dissident" - a vocal critic of the "blame game" being played over the al-Qaeda attacks - and an unlikely defender of George W Bush. For good measure, the outspoken former lawyer describes some of the bereaved 9/11 families as America's "rock stars of grief".
"I've practically been thrown out of meetings," she says. "They've gotten very angry with me. But I've decided it's very important that another voice is heard in the September 11 debate."
Most of all, Ms Burlingame is angry on behalf of those who made valiant, improvised efforts to avert the tragedy of September 11 and who are now, as part of a political agenda, "being told that their hard-fought but doomed efforts amounted to incompetence and poor judgment that cost lives". "The air-traffic controller in charge of my brother's flight did nothing wrong," she says. "He never went back to work and went into a deep depression.
"To me he's just as much a victim of 9/11 as my brother, as are other people like him.
"So to have a widow saying they could have done this, they should have done that is just unfair. And it is to place an intolerable burden of guilt on their shoulders."
Not all the bereaved relatives, she suggests, are so concerned with apportioning blame and "owning" the events of September 11. "I'm getting many many messages of support from relatives of 9/11 victims," she said. "Some of what I'm saying might be considered blasphemous by some, but people are telling me, 'Thanks for saying what you said.' "
According to Ms Burlingame, discussions over future memorials to victims have been constrained by demands from 9/11 activists for "politically correct" mourning. "The Ground Zero memorial will list all the names of those who died," says Ms Burlingame. "There was a suggestion made that the firefighters who died heroically doing their job should be acknowledged by stating their unit or engine. What was the response from the 9/11 groups? They said there can be 'no hierarchy of heroes'! Why can't we acknowledge what the firefighters did in trying to save lives? It's just nutty."
Attending the commission's sometimes rowdy hearings, which have been held in both Washington and New York, Ms Burlingame says it also became clear that the 9/11 Steering Committee, an umbrella organisation for the various relatives' groups, had a specific, partisan agenda.
The groups, she says, had been given valuable assistance and advice on lobbying by Left-wing organisations such as MoveOn.org, the wealthy website that backed Howard Dean, the former anti-war Democratic presidential runner. Its motive, she suggests, is political rather than humanitarian.
"The groups wanted to dictate how the commission was constituted, who the witnesses would be and what questions should be asked," she says. "They won't say it in public but I can tell you that in private, it is all about bashing Bush. They want to get Bush out of office and they are using 9/11 and the commission to try to ensure that happens.
Debra Burlingame in March 2004:
Whatever these 9/11 families may think of the president's foreign policy or the war in Iraq, I ask them to reconsider the language and tone of their statements. We should not tolerate or condone remarks such as those of the 9/11 relative who, so offended by the campaign ads, said that he "would vote for Saddam Hussein before I would vote for Bush." The insult was picked up and posted on Al-Jazeera's Web site. In view of the sacrifice our troops have made on our behalf, this insensitivity to them and their families suggests a level of self-indulgence and ingratitude that shocks the conscience.George W. Bush says that his presidency is inspired by an enduring obligation to those who lost their lives on that brutal September morning. The images of that day stand as an everlasting example of our country's darkest day and finest hour. They are a vivid reminder of the strength and resilience of our great country. They belong to us all--including this president. Let the candidates make their own choices. I trust the American people.
Debra Burlingame in June 2004:
I am no longer angry at the Bush administration, or at any Americans for that matter. I'd read the Joint Inquiry and wept. I now knew that Chic's murder was a long time in preparation. In 1998, while on a trip to Africa, I stood in front of the American Embassy in Kenya just two weeks after it was blown to pieces. Little did I know that the men who did it had my dear brother's fate in the works, even as I stood there. No, I am no longer angry at any Americans.After the hearings last week, I witnessed once again how the nation's media stake out a position, set it up in a box, the size and shape and color of which senior editors and producers have a bigger say in dictating than the reporters who are filling it, then rearrange the contents to conform with their version of the truth come what may. The hardworking commission staff presented a chilling tutorial about the history of al Qaeda and how it is currently constituted. We learned that Osama bin Laden remains intensely interested in nuclear weapons and "dirty bombs," that he has actively sought biological weapons material and shown an interest in the widely available industrial materials that are found in chemical weapons. We learned that Islamic jihadists rationalize the killing of Muslim children who are the collateral damage in their thirst for more blood and that they tell parents to be grateful that their children are martyrs in paradise. The media took this information--and there was more, far more--and stuffed it out of sight in the box called "Bush's Phony War in Iraq."
Some of the tenacious family members who started it all in that park in Washington were there last week. They are still angry, and who among us can say that they shouldn't be? But there is something wrong here. Upon hearing the voice of that duty officer asking a standard protocol question, "Is this real world or exercise?" with the kind of military-trained blankness crisis personnel are noted for, a few of them snorted with contempt. They mistook the calm demeanor of a professional with no use for prepositions for the clueless question of a fool. And that contempt, for all the people whom they feel contributed to a loss of life on the day their loved ones didn't come home, is what they carry around with them now. It mirrors what is happening, not just at the 9/11 Commission hearings, but in newsrooms across the country, this corrosive tendency to tear down our rescuers, our public servants, our heroes.
As the 9/11 Commission puts the finishing touches on its findings and recommendations due next month, I am steeling myself for the media's breathless rush to publish all the shocking revelations that show how incompetent we are as a nation. While I am skeptical of the commission's stated determination to keep politics out of its final report, I have no doubt whatsoever that with the presidential election just months away, those editors and producers who package the news will find it impossible not to do what they've done since Watergate changed the face of journalism: find a smoking gun, present it to the American people, and congratulate the effort as "what distinguishes us from our enemies." Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden and his murdering tribe will sit back with satisfaction as they watch the infidels tear themselves apart.
Yes, let's have a debate, but let's stop this self-battering, which is weakening us in the only place where al Qaeda can never penetrate, the core of who we are. Instead of pulling together at such a crucial time to prevent even more lethal attacks in the future, we are displaying a divisiveness that energizes our adversaries. They know us better than we know them. Their strategic kills in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and beyond are aimed at breaking our resolve to root them out at home and hunt them down abroad before they can do us more harm. We will not win every battle, but we will only prevail in the war on terror when we unite, not as Republicans and Democrats, but as Americans.
UPDATE: June 2005: Ground Zero has been Stolen
Posted by Alan at June 27, 2004 11:00 AM