Bush Investigations Legacy

As I read the results of the investigation of the FAA’s false accounts given to the 9-11 Commission, I thought how telling of the Bush team that hangs their hat on September 11th.

It did say that FAA executives learned of the mistake but didn't take steps to correct it because they thought someone else was doing it. None of the executives were named, and one retired.

Poor investigating and record keeping contributed to the inaccuracies.

This reflects the Bush legacy, poor initial leadership later not held accountable. The Bush administration repeatedly has shown its inability to conduct a competent investigation. In lieu of a credible investigation this group likes to throw in a few hero stories, sometimes resorting to fiction.

The FAA had claimed - on both its public Web site and in response to the commission - that it told the Pentagon at 9:24 a.m. that it suspected Flight 77 was hijacked.

"In fact, no such notification was made," the inspector general report said. It said the mistake was due to an FAA's executive's inattention to detail when preparing a summary of events shortly after the attacks.

The FAA had also claimed that an Air Force liaison joined its teleconference and established contact with the North American Aerospace Command immediately after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the twin towers at 8:46 a.m.

"In fact, the liaison did not join the phone-bridge until after the third hijacked aircraft (American Flight 77) struck the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m.," the report said.

This brings to mind President Bush asking FEMA head Michael Brown about hospital patients the day Katrina struck. Many suffered in hellish conditions in dead facilities for up to 5 days. The hospital with the largest number of patient deaths warranted not one mention in the White House’s Lessons Learned Report. Did it have anything to do with The Carlyle Group’s purchase of the company, LifeCare just weeks before Katrina punched the Gulf Coast? That question might get answered in the 4th or 5th inquiry into the same issue. That’s how long it took Pat Tillman’s case.