9-11 Commission Warns U.S. Still Vulnerable 10 Years After Attacks

Seven members of the 9/11 commission accused lawmakers Wednesday of leaving the U.S. vulnerable to attacks by failing to implement the recommendation the commission made in 2004.

“We are safer but we are not as secure yet as we can or should be,” Chairman Thomas Kean told the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) in Washington, D.C.

The commission’s original report contained 41 recommendations to improve US security. Due to insufficient progress, however, the committee issued a new report Wednesday detailing nine commission recommendations that remain unfulfilled and are causing a gap in the country’s security. 

Among those failures was the stubbornness of Congress.

“Reformation of congress was a frustrating thing to ask but we still asked for it,” Commissioner Fred F. Fielding stated. “However, they did not make the bicameral committee we requested and instead are maintaining the status quo.”

One lawmaker, however, responded by accusing the administration of dragging its feet on cracking down on so-called “lone-wolf” terrorists operating inside the U.S.

“I am troubled that the White House has not named a lead federal agency to coordinate disparate efforts to combat homegrown terrorism,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. “I urge the Administration to establish a unified front against this important and evolving threat.”

Commission Vice Chairman Lee H. Hamilton related that the nation’s detection system falls short in critical ways. While the US has improved its security check on those who arrive in the country, there is still an ineffective system that monitors who leaves the country or remains in the country with expired visas. Hamilton revealed that this is exactly how two 9-11 attackers were able to escape capture. 

Another failure of the commission that all panelists agreed upon was their inability to place full control of the entire intelligence community in the hands of the Director of National Intelligence.

Overall, panelists revealed that there are still many communication issues within the government, ambiguity with how to deal with detainees, under developed cyber security and ineffective research and testing performed by Transportation Security on explosive-detection equipment.

“The commission laid out recommendations in a functioning reality,” Hamilton deplored, “and I have no idea why it has not been done.”

While the report seems very grim, panelists did agree that the US is extensively safer than it was 10 years ago.

“We have definitely seen progress but we can’t pat ourselves on the back too strongly,” Hamilton warned. “We haven’t solved the problem and this is great criticism of the US government.”

McCain And Lieberman Propose Legislation For Indefinite Detention

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Legislation to hold “high value detainees” for a indefinite amount of time was introduced Thursday by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

“This legislation seeks to ensure that the mistakes made during the apprehension of the Christmas Day bomber, such as reading him his Miranda warning, will never happen again and put Americans’ security at risk,” said McCain, referencing the attempted bombing aboard a commercial aircraft by a young Nigerian man last December.

The introduction of the bill has sparked controversy among numerous human rights organizations, with many claiming that the legislation undermines the constitution.

“Our criminal justice system has proved repeatedly that it is capable of obtaining reliable intelligence from terrorism suspects, while that has not always been the case when we throw detainees into secret detentions and discard all the rules,” said Christopher Anders, the American Civil Liberties Union's Senior Legislative Counsel. “The Constitution is not optional despite the efforts of these senators to render it so.”

If enacted, the bill would ask the president to create a interagency task force to examine the suspect and decide within 48 hours if they are ‘unprivileged.' If the suspect is found to be ‘unprivileged,’ they would be held regardless of whether or not criminal charges are filed.

The task force would meet with the Secretary of Defense, Attorney General and the directors of the FBI and CIA to make final determinations as to the detainees' status.

“Under these circumstances, actionable intelligence must be our highest priority and criminal prosecution must be secondary,” according to a statement released by McCain.

House GOP’er Wants To Keep Gitmo Open

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, decried the Obama administration’s plan to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, describing the decision as reckless.

“[President Barack Obama] hadn’t even had time to review the situation and classified information,” Hoekstra said during a press conference Friday. “He fired before he aimed.”

Hoekstra reiterated his opposition to moving the facility’s detainees into U.S. prisons, especially those in the Congressman’s state.

“Some of my colleagues have said this would be an economic stimulus package for Michigan. It is a really bad idea. I don’t care how cold it gets in the upper peninsula during the Winter.”

The Ranking Member also warned against trying Guantanamo detainees in the U.S. court system, arguing that it would be absurd to expect U.S. soldiers to imitate police by collecting evidence to charge combatants with.

Uyghur Gitmo Detainees Described As "Peaceful Men"

A group of 17 Uyghur men are being held at Guantanamo Bay for no reason according to the defense attorney for six of the men.

Uyghurs (Wee-gurs) are a group of Turkic people who live in the areas of Central Asia that is commonly known as East Turkestan. The men were picked up during the Afghan war by bounty hunters and handed over to the U.S. They believe they have been portrayed as dangerous terrorists, however, they have been working to change their image to that of peaceful, innocent men. They have been held at Guantanamo for 6 years.

“What the American public needs to understand about the Uyghurs at Guantanamo is that they have been exonerated by the military,” said Susan Baker Manning, a lawyer for six of the men, at a press conference Tuesday in Washington, D.C., “They were exonerated by the Bush administration and they have been exonerated by the courts. The courts have found that there is no evidence of a link to terrorism. The courts have found that there is no evidence that they are dangerous in any way, shape or form. We cannot in good faith and we cannot Constitutionally continue to imprison these innocent men at Guantanamo," Manning said.

According to Manning, a military translator confused the word “protest” in Uyghur for “fight.” She said the mistranslation may be the reason the men have been held at Guantanamo.

Manning added that she believes the administration is dedicated to the release of these men and it has to happen as soon as possible. There is currently a Supreme Court petition pending for a review of the men’s cases.

No Terrorists In My Backyard...Except Maybe In Michigan

By Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News Service

Senators Mitch McConnell (center) and James Inohofe (left)

Zacarias Moussaoui, a convicted conspirator in the September 11 attacks, was jailed in the suburban Alexandria, Virginia, during his trial beginning in 2002. The effect that he had on the city was immense, as busy thoroughfares were shut down when he traveled back and forth from the jail to the court, and the entire jail was placed on lock down anytime he left his cell.

The fear of many members of Congress is that this dilemma will be replicated in cities throughout America because of the imminent closure of Guantanamo Bay.

On January 22, 2009 Barack Obama signed an executive order that would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay in one year. This means that all detainees need to be relocated, and this process must occur quickly.

Senate Republicans are firmly opposed to the closure, and are gaining support from Democrats.

“We (the Republicans) feel united in wanting to do something to make sure we keep that (Guantanamo Bay) resource down there since there is no alternative,” said Senator James Inohofe (R-Okla.) today at the Senate Republicans weekly press conference.

The alternatives, according to Inohofe, would be to place detainees in two prisons Afghanistan, Bagram and Kandahar. But those prisons only accept Afghan citizens and refuse to take in terrorists from other nations, such as Yemen and Pakistan.

“Guantanamo Bay is the perfect place for terrorists,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who continued to say, “It has worked very, very well. No one has escaped from Guantanamo Bay since September 11, 2001.”

McConnell was pleased with the recent Democratic support for keeping Guantanamo Bay open, “They (the Democrats) are coming in the right direction.”

However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) did not believe that the closure of Guantanamo Bay was necessary because he, along with Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) and both Presidents Bush and Obama, believe that “Guantanamo makes us less safe.”

“The Senate overwhelmingly, does not want terrorists to be released in the United States,” said Reid vehemently.

Reid refused to divulge anymore information about the possibility of detainees being relocated to United States’s prisons, only saying “We (the Senate) do not want them around.”

However, Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) refused to state that Michigan would not accept Guantanamo Bay detainees, “If the governor and local government accept them then that ought to be considered.”

The acceptance of detainees would require the construction of a large, maximum-security prison that would help create jobs and stimulate the economy, which is the main reason why Levin believed that states would agree to accept detainees. But he reiterated that the local governments must make the decision.