If indeed the Bush adminstration has nothing to hide about Black Tuesday, September 11,2001, then one must surely wonder why it is working overtime to create the impression that it does.

Pres. Bush initially opposed formation of the 9/11 commission, underfunded it, and maintains an "...unwillingness to allow witnesses to come forward and a reluctance to allow documents to be seen..." according to commission chairman Thomas Kean.

I've previously noted that the panel had to resort to subpoenas to get required documents from NORAD, the FAA, and even NYC. When the White House refused to let the panel see the presidential daily briefing materials, chairman Kean considered issuing subpoenas for those materials as well, but finally reached an agreement of sorts allowing selected panel members limited access to edited transcripts, and giving the White House power to redact their notes.

Subsequently, Max Clelland, the most outspoken panel member, was promoted off the commission, and former Sen. Bob Kerrey selected to take his place.

In a Feb. 3 interview the newly minted commission member Bob Kerrey, the former Senator from Nebraska, now the president of the New School University, said that Ms. Rice’s interview will not be held under oath, and the results of the interview are not to be made public.

But as the Bush administration fights to limit the scope and time allotted to the independent commission investigating a broad array of failures leading up to and during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Kerrey is emerging as a strong antagonist to their efforts to contain the political damage.

Mr. Kerrey, the commission’s unlikely new spitfire, told The Observer he would lobby the comission to request sworn, public testimony from Bush’s embittered national security advisor.

"I’m very much interested in following up on the statement Condoleezza Rice made at her famous press conference in ’02, that ‘I don’t think anybody could have predicted … that they would try to use an airplane as a missile,’" Mr. Kerrey said. "I don’t believe that."

The commissioners are divided on whether or not to press the point—and to use a subpoena if she refuses.

"We’re not there yet," said former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, the committee’s chairman.

But with the independent 9/11 commission spinning out of the White House’s control, the fight by Republicans against the panel’s request for an extension of its deadline may hurt the Bush administration more than it will help it, according to Mr. Kerrey.

"Given the administration’s current behavior, which is an unwillingness to allow witnesses to come forward and a reluctance to allow documents to be seen, other narratives will prevail, and the final report is apt to be a more negative story for them," he said.

Bob Kerrey Says 9/11 Group Meets With Condoleezza

Too bad we can't see it, with Condi under oath. Of course, she wouldn't lie...

Would she?

S