THE COMMISSION: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation
Philip Shenon
Twelve Books
Current Events
Hardcover: 9780446580755
Paperback: 9780446699518

• Author Talk –– March 21, 2008

We all know how frustrating dealing with government bureaucracy can be. The miles of red tape. The cynicism. The paranoia.

Philip Shenon, a Washington, DC-based reporter for The New York Times, provides all this and more as he recreates the chronology of The 9/11 Commission Report.

In the months following the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a frightened nation demanded answers. Who was to blame for the failure to anticipate such a monumental deed? And the search for a process to investigate and report on these issues was slowly, haltingly underway.

Such a massive project brings to mind the “too many cooks…” adage. The Commission --- co-chaired by Thomas Kean, the ex-governor of New Jersey, and Lee Hamilton, a former Congressman from Indiana, and with Philip Zelikow installed as executive director --- seemed almost doomed to failure from the start. Shortages of the most elementary infrastructure, such as office space, phones and faxes, even message pads, set the tone for what was to come.

Zelikow, a brilliant if egotistical and Machiavellian historian, demanded total fealty and his brusque manner rubbed many the wrong way, not the least of whom were the families of those killed in the attacks. Any member of his staff who dared question his orders was subject to immediate dismissal. His relationships (and hoped-for relationships) with those in the Bush administration were deemed an impediment to honest criticism, but despite these seeming conflicts of interest, nothing was done to remove him from his post, even as he superseded his authority with his draconian decisions.

The problems the Commission faced came from within --- Kean, Hamilton and the other commissioners were concerned that Zelikow was too interested in insinuating himself into the story, rather than objectively serving the cause --- and without, as administration officials constantly thwarted attempts to obtain classified material that might shed light on the catastrophe, seeking to protect Bush (and each other) as he pursued a second term by refusing to provide testimony or materials that would aid in the investigation.

Shenon offers his narrative in an almost-straightforward chronology, with a few flashbacks along the way, marking every pothole on the road to the truth, as everyone in power --- the CIA, the FBI, Vice President Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, etc. --- tried to cover their posteriors, with dismaying results.

The report, published at the end of the 19-month process, was ultimately unsatisfying for many. It received praise for “reading like a novel,” as opposed to previous mind-numbing reports. But no one was found to be “personally responsible,” although government agencies such as the FBI took lumps.

THE COMMISSION ends Godfather-like: with Zelikow being appointed as State Department counselor by Rice, who had been named Secretary of State in the new Bush administration: “Zelikow told his new colleagues…that it was the sort of job he always wanted.”

It is somewhat disappointing, yet completely understandable, that there is an amazing dearth of citations in Shenon’s worthwhile but depressing book. “I don’t like anonymous sources either,” he writes in the “notes” section. “But in any sort of reporting on the inner workings of the government, especially when it involves intelligence agencies and classified information, there is almost always a need to depend on sources who cannot be identified.”

While this very well may be true, the inclusion of such sources inevitably will raise questions of accuracy and credibility in an already-paranoid world.

    --- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan

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