Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. First printing [stated]. Presumed first printing. Hardcover. [10]. 370, [4] pages. Illustrations. 9/11 Commission timeline. Index. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks", including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The commission was also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks. Chaired by former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, the commission consisted of five Democrats and five Republicans. The commission was created by legislation,enacted into law by President George W. Bush. The commission's final report was based on interviews and testimony. Its primary conclusion was that the failures of the U.S. CIA and FBI permitted the terrorist attacks to occur and that had these agencies acted more wisely, the attacks could potentially have been prevented. Thomas Howard Kean (born April 21, 1935) is an American statesman and academic administrator who served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the New Jersey General Assembly and was chair of the 9/11 Commission from 2002 to 2004. Lee Herbert Hamilton (born April 20, 1931) is an American politician. He is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. A Democrat, Hamilton represented the 9th congressional district of Indiana from 1965 to 1999. He has served most notably as the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission. In the words of the commission’s co-chairmen, this is the compelling inside story of how the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States—more commonly known as the 9/11 Commission—managed to succeed against all odds in producing a report that made clear what went wrong and why. The mandate of the 9/11 Commission was daunting and all-encompassing. In its investigation of the events leading up to and including September 11, 2001, the commission had to examine U.S. diplomacy, military policy, intelligence agencies, law enforcement, border and aviation security, and congressional oversight, as well as the immediate response to the terrorist attacks, while also investigating the lethal enemy al Qaeda. The creation of the 9/11 Commission was blocked for months by the Bush administration, and after its inception in December 2002 the commission spent months mired in a series of controversies—the resignation of its first chairman, Henry Kissinger, and vice-chairman, George Mitchell; an inadequate budget; an extraordinarily polarized atmosphere leading up to the 2004 presidential election; the conflicting demands of various interest groups; the distrust of the victims’ families; difficulties in obtaining access to highly classified documents and to al Qaeda detainees; and a media eager to record stumbles and gaffes. The obstacles were great, and the expectations for a blue-ribbon panel are never high—yet somehow the 9/11 Commission overcame everything that might have thwarted it and succeeded beyond anyone’s greatest expectation, holding a series of hearings that riveted the nation, producing a unanimous and widely heralded report that became a national best seller, and issuing recommendations that led to the most significant reform of America’s national security agencies in decades. The 9/11 Commission report slaked the national thirst for accountability. Here for the first time is the story of how the commission came together to produce its landmark document. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: 9/11 Commission, al Qaeda, John Ashcroft, Mohammed Atta, Ben-Veniste, bin Laden, Richard Clarke, Alberto Gonzales, Homeland Security, Chris Kojm, Condoleezza Rice, Detainees, Conspiracy
ISBN: 9780307263773
[Book #70389]
Price: $45.00