April 9, 2004 - Yahoo Message Boards: An RPCV member of "Families of September 11" comments on Condoleeza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: April 2004 Peace Corps Headlines: April 9, 2004 - Yahoo Message Boards: An RPCV member of "Families of September 11" comments on Condoleeza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-242-91.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.242.91) on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 1:16 pm: Edit Post

An RPCV member of "Families of September 11" comments on Condoleeza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission

An RPCV member of Families of September 11 comments on Condoleeza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission

An RPCV member of "Families of September 11" comments on Condoleeza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission

Statement of RPCV on Hearing Testimony of Condoleeza Rice before 9/11 Commission

by Colin Gallagher

I'm a member of Families of Sept. 11 and lost a relative (James Romito, Chief NYPA-PD) in Tower 1 during the 9/11 attacks.

I watched all of Condoleeza Rice's testimony and felt she answered some of the questions well, others not at all, and yet others, she evaded. In general her demeanor was (rather than helpful) defensive if not combative, and inconsistent with the behavior required of a public official before a Committee tasked by Congress to find ways to prevent attacks on America.

Some of the failures lie, too, with the Commissioners, who did not press hard enough regarding, for example, how to prevent the kinds of circumstances which resulted in subversion of security directives under the responsibility of the Secretary of Defense. Interactions and relationships specific to national security directives which had direct bearing on how and when fighter planes were launched were not even mentioned in the questions raised by the Commissioners.

There are many questions which remain to be answered, to help reduce the risk of 9/11 type attacks in the future. Given this unavoidable fact, it is beyond my comprehension why the President and Vice President of the United States of America have agreed to testify privately before the 9/11 Commission -- but have REFUSED TO TESTIFY UNDER OATH (even if the testimony were to occur under conditions of secrecy).

This leads us inevitably to one of two conclusions:

1) The Administration doesn't want the issue of terrorism to be seriously addressed, or

2) The Administration has something to hide - or is concerned more about the election than about preventing terrorist attacks upon the United States.

Ask yourselves the hard questions:

Is America truly safer than it was just pre-9/11?

Was our relationship with Saudi Arabia really worth shuttling the U.S.-residing members of the Saudi bin Laden family out of the United States on a government jet - one day after 9/11?

What's more important for America -- control of Iraq's resources, or strategic alliances with its population?


Regards,

C. Gallagher
Member - Families of Sept. 11
Member - Voices of Sept. 11
Board Representative - SEIU Local 817
Board Representative - NorCal Peace Corps Association



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Story Source: Yahoo Message Boards

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; 911; Terrorism; COS - El Salvador

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