The 9/11 Commission Report with Related Documents. Abridged with an Introduction by Ernest R.
May, The Bedford Series in History and Culture (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007)
Jennifer Hammock
Ernest May argues that political partisanship threatened to destroy the commission
even before it began. What was the source of this partisanship?
Events and controversies surrounding the time frame of the establishment of the 9/11
commission made the success of the commission very unlikely- much less expected.
Political partisanship was a huge threat to the commission. The source of this partisanship
dated back to the 1900’s and early 2000’s. During this time Republicans and Democrats
were at battle between numerous topics, such as; moral beliefs throughout the 60’s and
70’s, topics surrounding the Vietnam War, Nixon’s forced resignation, Clinton’s presidency,
and the main topic being the War in Iraq. Bipartisanship seemed impossible during this
time and era but the 9/11 commission overcame their political differences and conquered it
through unanimity. (pg. 2)
When was the investigation finally commissioned? What problems were presented by
the White House? What were the reasons, according to May, that the commission was
able to successfully complete the report?
The investigation was finally commissioned in November of 2002. The commission ran into
four main problems with the administration. The first problem involved the President’s
Daily Brief, also known as the PDB, which is only to be seen by a few select high officials and
The President himself. The Commission was not allowed into these files because it held
within it the most top secret information. The media got in on this news and broadcasted
The 9/11 Commission Report with Related Documents. Abridged with an Introduction by Ernest R.
May, The Bedford Series in History and Culture (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007)
it. With the majority of the media backing up the commission and after a long tiresome
battle and debate between the commission and the White House, the White House agreed
to allow 2 members of the Commission (One democrat and One Republican) view a full run
of the PDB. (pg. 11)
The second problem between the Commission and Administration evolved when the
Commission asked for an extension on its reporting deadline of May 2004. The
Administration was originally unsympathetic to the Commission’s request, but with the plea
of the families, commission, and the fact that more information could be provided to all of
America if this extension was provided, the White House gave in. The White House
extended the deadline date for the report until July 26th, sixty days after the initial deadline
date.
The third problem presented itself when Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor,
declined a public appearance following up her closed-door testimony to the Commission.
The Commission argued that Rice had made many appearances on other talk shows, in
response Rice gave into the Commission’s request. She made a public appearance giving her
testimony of the events on 9/11.
The fourth and final main problem that the Commission had with the White House was the
testimony of President George W. Bush and Vice President Cheney. Bush and Cheney were
very reluctant to meet with the Commission for a private interview. Needless to say, after
Clinton and Gore met with the Commission and gave them three hours of individual
The 9/11 Commission Report with Related Documents. Abridged with an Introduction by Ernest R.
May, The Bedford Series in History and Culture (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007)
interview time, the Administration gave in once again to the Commission and Bush agreed
to the interview. (pg 12)
May describes three shortcomings of the report. Which shortcoming, in your view, was
the most problematic and (more importantly) why do you think so?
I think that the most problematic shortcoming of the 9/11 commission would have to be
“Why Do They Hate Us So?” (pg.22). We are a target of al Qaeda for a reason. Although
that reason may be distorted, or not even make since to us, it is a reason. The Commission
tells us that were a target because of what America was, not anything it did. The
Commission agreed not to say anything more than that because there was not much more
that they could agree on without further debate. Though we can find truth in the
explanation given by the commission, there is more in depth a reason, and this reason is
behind what killed thousands of people in America and gave the final spark to the war
against terrorism. I think that this topic deserves a lot more attention and explanation in the
9/11 Commission report. (pg. 22)
Based on your reading of the section titled “We have some planes,” describe why the
nineteen terrorists were so successful in their attack. Where did they fail? What, in
your view, were the critical problems in improvising homeland defense on that tragic
day (again, please justify your answer)?
The nineteen terrorists involved in the attacks were overall successful because they
strategized and caught America off guard. They were very covert about their operation and
The 9/11 Commission Report with Related Documents. Abridged with an Introduction by Ernest R.
May, The Bedford Series in History and Culture (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007)
they were good at staying in disguise until each attack occurred. Each terrorist was
successful in passing through the security checkpoints at every airport even though they
brought weapons such as knives and box cutters and irritants such as mace and pepper
spray. Sadly to say three out of the four attacks were successful. They did fail to carry out
their attack on either the White House or the Capital. The terrorists were not prepared for
the unarmed men and women on United 93 to retaliate against them and fight for the
control of the plane.
FAA and NORAD are two dependent sources of the Homeland defense. Before 9/11
occurred it was not to be taken too seriously if a plane would slightly deviate from its course
or lose contact with an FAA controller, however on 9/11, it should have been. NORAD’s job
is to protect and defend the airspace of North America; before 9/11 they never recognized
the threat of terrorists taking over commercial airlines and using them as missiles to bomb
the US (pg. 47). Homeland defense was caught off guard as well as the rest of America. It
is usually right before the storm that the weather gets calm, and 9/11 is a perfect
demonstration of how our enemy strikes us just when we are not looking.