On
March 25, Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
appeared on a public radio program in Berkeley, California. She shared
her thoughts on the September 11 bombings, including her belief that
some U.S. agencies had prior knowledge that attacks were planned. McKinney
pointed out that individuals and corporations with close ties to the
Bush administration have profited in the wake of September 11.
Not
until April 10 did some version of her remarks appear in the Washington
Times, the ultra-right, Moonie-Republican newspaper that is a favorite
at the White House. A media storm erupted.
"The
American people know the facts, and they dismiss such ludicrous, baseless
views," said Bush spokesman Scott McLellan. "The fact that
she questions the president's legitimacy shows a partisan mind-set beyond
all reason."
The
Atlanta Constitution described McKinney as “a volcano,” and asked, “What
will she say next?”
The
following is Rep. McKinney’s statement on the matter, released April
12.
The
need for an investigation of the events surrounding September 11 is
as obvious as is the need for an investigation of the Enron debacle.
Certainly, if the American people deserve answers about what went wrong
with Enron and why (and we do), then we deserve to know what went wrong
on September 11 and why.
Are
we squandering our goodwill around the world with what many believe
to be incoherent, warmongering policies that alienate our friends and
antagonize our allies? How much of a role does our reliance on imported
oil play in the military policies being put forward by the Bush Administration?
And what role does the close relationship between the Bush Administration
and the oil and defense industries play, if any, in the policies that
are currently being pursued by this Administration?
We
deserve to know what went wrong on September 11 and why. After all,
we hold thorough public inquiries into rail disasters, plane crashes,
and even natural disasters in order to 
understand
what happened and to prevent them from happening again or minimizing
the tragic
effects when they do. Why then does the Administration remain steadfast
in its opposition
to an investigation into the biggest terrorism attack upon our nation?
News
reports from Der Spiegel to the London Observer, from the Los Angeles
Times to MSNBC to CNN, indicate that many different warnings were received
by the Administration. In addition, it has even been reported that the
United States government broke bin Laden's secure communications before
September 11. Sadly, the United States government is being sued today
by survivors of the Embassy bombings because, from court reports, it
appears clear that the US had received prior warnings, but did little
to secure and protect the staff at our embassies.
Did
the same thing happen to us again?
I
am not aware of any evidence showing that President Bush or members
of his administration have personally profited from the attacks of 9-11.
A complete investigation might reveal that to be the case. For example,
it is known that President Bush's father, through the Carlyle Group
had -- at the time of the attacks -- joint business interests with the
bin Laden construction company and many defense industry holdings, the
stocks of which, have soared since September 11.
On
the other hand, what is undeniable is that corporations close to the
Administration, have directly benefited from the increased defense spending
arising from the aftermath of September 11. The Carlyle Group, DynCorp,
and Halliburton certainly stand out as companies close to this Administration.
Secretary Rumsfeld maintained in a hearing before Congress that we can
afford the new spending, even though the request for more defense spending
is the highest increase in twenty years and the Pentagon has lost $2.3
trillion.
All
the American people are being asked to make sacrifices. Our young men
and women in the military are being asked to risk their lives in our
War Against Terrorism while our President's first act was to sign an
executive order denying them high deployment overtime pay. The American
people are being asked to make sacrifices by bearing massive budget
cuts in the social welfare of our country, in the areas of health care,
social security, and civil liberties for our enhanced military and security
needs arising from the events of September 11; it is imperative that
they know fully why we make the sacrifices. If the Secretary of Defense
tells us that his new military objectives must be to occupy foreign
capital cities and overthrow regimes, then the American people must
know why. It should be easy for this Administration to explain fully
to the American people in a thorough and methodical way why we are being
asked to make these sacrifices and if, indeed, these sacrifices will
make us more secure. If the Administration cannot articulate these answers
to the American people, then the Congress must.
This
is not a time for closed-door meetings and this is not a time for secrecy.
America's credibility, both with the world and with her own people,
rests upon securing credible answers to these questions. The world is
teetering on the brink of conflicts while the Administration's policies
are vague, wavering and unclear. Major financial conflicts of interest
involving the President, the Attorney General, the Vice President and
others in the Administration have been and continue to be exposed.
This
is a time for leadership and judgment that is not compromised in any
fashion. This is a time for transparency and a thorough investigation.
