The Run Around

The 9/11 panel, the one President Bush was shamed into appointing, is considered one of the few dignified, non-partisan commissions in Washington. The report it issued before disbanding was a best seller, and widely praised for its accuracy, attention to detail and literary acumen. The members have received praise from all political corners and have continued to press for security changes.

Today's Washington Post has a real scoop that should have been printed, oh say, 2 years ago. Untimely as it is, the story is an important one.

Commissioners of the 9/11 panel apparently believed that the Pentagon was knowingly deceiving Congress, the panel and the American people in order to cover up its own bumbling inactions and non-responses to the the hijacked planes. In fact, staff members almost refered the case to the Justice Department:

"We to this day don't know why NORAD [the North American Aerospace Command] told us what they told us," said Thomas H. Kean, the former New Jersey Republican governor who led the commission. "It was just so far from the truth. . . . It's one of those loose ends that never got tied."

Now, imagine what would happen with this information if we actually had a Congress that held the Administration accountable. We'd have a hearing chaired by Henry Waxman in less time than it takes to approve a Halliburton no-bid contract, that's what.