Just some questions, Mr. Bush, The American people have a right to know

Sara DeHart (page 24)
May 20, 2002


There are a number of questions that must be addressed and answered by the Bush administration. They include but are not limited to the following:

1) According to the Washington Post: "Richard C. Clarke, the government's top counterterrorism official met with high-level leaders of the FAA, Coast Guard, FBI, Secret Service and Immigration and Naturalization Service on July 5, 2002. He told them that "Somethng really spectacularly is going to happen here, and it's going to happen soon." For six weeks last summer, at home and overseas, the U.S. government was at its highest possible state of readiness against imminent terrorist attack, but did not offer a special alert to the airlines for increased security. Further, the American public was told nothing. My question to Mr. Bush: were you "out of the loop" along with the American public?

2) Mr. Bush received a CIA briefing on August 6, 2001 while on a month-long August vacation in Crawford, Texas. Given the urgency of Mr. Clarke's warning on July 5 to key administration officials, it seems unlikely that that Mr. Bush was completely uninformed about the state of the union. He chose to vacation rather than deal with the serious business at hand. Would an executive order for tightened airline security have been in order? All key members of the Bush Administration stopped using commercial aircraft after Mr. Clarke's warning on July 5. The flying public and all aircraft personnel were putting their lives in the hands of the Bush administration. By contrast, Mr. Bush and Mr. Ashcroft vacationed and arrived at their destinations without fear that a hijacking would take place. It seems that our trust was misplaced.

3) On Sept 9, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld threatened a presidential veto when the Senate proposed to divert $600 million to counterterrorism from ballistic missile defense. My question to Mr. Rumsfeld: Given the serious warnings presented by Mr. Clarke on July 5, 2001, why did you not want our tax dollars to go to combat counter terrorism?

4) Finally, why has the Bush administration resisted any sort of investigation about the events leading up to and beyond September 11, 2001? Why is Mr. Cheney issuing threats to anyone who dares question what really happened?

We clearly need an investigation into the events prior to and immediately following September 11, 2001. We don't need a color chart for terror alerts, we need clear answers to direct questions along with documentation to verify the answers. The American public has a right to know. We had a right to know from the beginning, and surely now, 8 months after that tragic event, we have a right to know. Secrecy is a tool. This administration has chosen to use secrecy to maintain power and control. The American public must demand that this veil of silence and secrecy be shredded.

Sara S. DeHart, Concerned Citizen
Democracy Activist

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