Posted on 05/18/2004 2:17:21 PM PDT by Brilliant
NEW YORK - The former police and fire chiefs who were lionized after the World Trade Center attack came under harsh criticism Tuesday from the Sept. 11 commission, with one member saying the departments' lack of cooperation was scandalous and "not worthy of the Boy Scouts."
Former fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen and former police chief Bernard Kerik shot back with infuriated responses to John Lehman's questions, the strongest of a series of pointed statements from the panel.
"I couldn't disagree with you more strongly," Von Essen replied. "I think it's outrageous that you make a statement like that." Outside the hearing, he called the questioning "despicable."
Families of Sept. 11 victims applauded the tough questioning and shook their heads sadly as the panel enumerated a litany of communication breakdowns between the fire and police departments. Some wept as they watched videotape of the buildings collapsing.
As Von Essen testified, Sally Regenhard — who lost her firefighter son — held up a piece of paper reading: "LIES."
The heated exchanges occurred at the start of a two-day hearing held 1 1/2 miles from ground zero. The 10-member bipartisan panel has been holding hearings over the last year, including high-profile meetings in Washington last month about intelligence failures, to examine what led to the attacks and determine ways to avoid future attacks. The panel will issue its final report July 26.
While the New York hearings were meant to examine problems in the city's emergency response system, officials also were asked about what they knew about terrorism threats in the months before the attacks.
The former director of the World Trade Center told the commission that he knew nothing of Osama bin Laden's terror network until the summer before the attacks, and was never privy to FBI intelligence that Islamic terrorists might hijack U.S. planes.
Alan Reiss said he first heard about bin Laden's al-Qaida network when ex-FBI agent John O'Neill was hired in the summer of 2001 as head of security at the trade center. O'Neill, who had hunted bin Laden for years, was one of the 2,749 people killed in the attack.
"I was aware of the plot against some of the other Port Authority tunnels and the U.N.," Reiss testified. "But we were never briefed" by the FBI.
Reiss also said he was more focused on fending off possible bioterrorism attacks such as anthrax, spending more than $100,000 to protect the building from such an assault.
"We felt this (anthrax) was the next coming wave," he said. "We had developed plans on how to isolate the air conditioning system and shut it down but never did we have a thought of what happened on 9-11."
Reiss bristled under questioning from commission member Bob Kerrey, who asked him if he is angry that "things might have been different had they (FBI) trusted you enough" to deliver important intelligence.
Reiss said he was not angry at the FBI, but rather at "19 people in an airplane," referring to the hijackers.
Kerrey said he shared Reiss' anger. "These 19 people ... defeated the INS, they defeated the Customs (Department), they defeated the FBI, they defeated the CIA," the former Nebraska senator said as family members of the victims chimed in with the loudest applause of the morning.
But Kerrey said he was more concerned that "we may not be delivering the key intelligence, the facts, the information" to the first responders.
Later, family members cheered when commission member Slade Gorton launched an aggressive line of questioning about the city's 911 emergency system to Kerik, Von Essen and Richard Sheirer, former Office of Emergency Management commissioner.
When the agency heads tried to defer to their successors, Gorton refused to let them. "I'm asking ... what was going on Sept. 11," Gorton said to applause from the families.
For some family members, it was a day for reflection rather than protest. Terry McGovern, whose mother died in the south tower, said she came away with an understanding of what happened that day.
"For me, it was reliving what my mother heard, what she saw, what her last moments were," McGovern said.
The hearing began with a commission report recounting how city officials were forced to make life-and-death decisions based on incomplete communications, leading to some of the deaths in the twin 110-story buildings.
The communication problems resulted in incidents such as the deaths of Port Authority workers told to wait for help on the 64th floor of one tower. Many of them died when the building collapsed.
Communications breakdowns also prevented announcements to evacuate from reaching civilians in one of the buildings. One survivor recounted calling 911 from the 44th floor of the south tower, only to be placed on hold twice.
That was not a surprise, since emergency operators had a "lack of awareness" about what was happening at the twin towers and were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of calls, said commission staffer Sam Casperson.
I'm still not calmed down and feel sick by the entire thing.
Dear freeper jmstein7 has made an easy-to-use format to send them a letter telling them what we think.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1138099/posts
I have never in my life been as angry as I am with this commission.
My husband had to take over salad chopping duties because I was shaking so hard...I really scared him when I started to wave the knife around and yelling louder than he's ever heard me yell.
does it rhyme with "Mustard Duck?"
CC
Mega Dittos ( a little Rush lingo there). It seems to be everyones' fault but Atta and comrades. I'm sick to death of this so-called Commission. They are intent on placing blame anywhere but where it belongs.
The terrorists did it. We didn't.
Think about how hard they work, and the lengths that they will go to try to defeat our President. We may be angry, but the truth is that they are absolutely terrified. Which would you rather be?
They know that a lame-duck Dubya is the scariest thing to a Liberal because he will do whatever the hell he wants to do with no consideration for reelection. When Bush is reelected, there will be no more delays on judges, there will be drilling in Alaska, and there will be a constitutional amendment against Gay Marriage. The Liberals know this so they have enlisted every branch of government to try to defeat Bush. Sucks to be them, because Bush sets the agenda, and the ship is turning into the wind.
I have a trademark on that, so you owe me bucks.
Im just now hearing of what happened today.....Im pissed beyond words....
The Commission refused to call any of the firefighters & police officers from the ranks to testify. Their excuse was they were only having those "in authority" testify. If they were truly interested in coming up with constructive suggestions on how future 9/11's could be prevented, and how those agency's response could be improved, they should be meeting with the line personnel.
Thanks, PD.
If I was closer tomorrow I'd go to NYC to the hearings myself.
This commission, this pack of worthless, has-been nincompoops with their 20/20 hindsight are now defaming and belittling people who actually tried to DO something on 9/11, and they are doing it all so they can so grandstand before the cameras and revel in the applause of a partisan audience. How utterly disgusting.
The first thing we need to learn, if we haven't already, is that when a jetliner slams into your skyscaper, get the hell out of there as soon as you can. Don't wait for Ted Kennedy or Jamie Gorelick to come to your rescue.
I cannnot believe the press paints these victims families into their reports as if ther reactions lend any validity to the task at hand. That is plain, asshat wrong.
But let us not fail to ask hard questions as to how this happened. One of my first reactions on that day was, "Damn. How did we let this happen."
NEVER AGAIN.
Im anxious to see Rudy tomorrow, I hope they televise it, cause he'll eat them for lunch!
Next time this country faces a crisis like 9/11, let's just sent the 9/11 families and the 9/11 committee in to handle things. The rest of us, Dubya, Rumsfield, et al, and the police, firemen, paramedics, doctors, nurses will all sit by and wait for their instructions as to what to do next.
Of course, the 9/11 families and 9/11 inquisition squad will, of course, notify all of us beforehand to let us know exactly what will be coming down, at what time and on what date and in what city.
Just in time to torpedo the Republican convention that will be held in NYC at the end of July. The 'pubs let the 'rats and their media buddies slam dunk them every time.
When I think that those firemen and policemen risked their lives to save the Jersey widow's husbands, and then spent months digging out the bodies, and the widows treat them this way, I could easily stroke out.
What must those firemen and policemen be thinking tonight?
What must the wives of the dead policemen and firemen be thinking tonight?
May those panel members rot in he!! for their actions.
These particular widows are hacks. And I know there are other families of 9-11 victims that these hack-hags don't speak for whatsoever.
It's pathetic isn't it? A disaster strikes, and we are so quick to asign blame, to focus on the systems problems, human deficiencies and process failures that were inevitable in an attack of this magnitude.
The 9-11 commission lost it's soul today. It willfully ignored how the FD and PD responded heroically. It willfully ignored the collective and individual acts of selflessness and sacrifice.
This might just work to garner support for Bush in the long run.
Prairie
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