The Ten Commandments Condemn "Lying" but Fortunately They are Silent on "Concealing Information"

A Moral Man, like George W. Bush, wouldn't lie, right? Unlike President Clinton, who quibbled over the definition of "is," a Moral Man, like George W. Bush, can be counted upon to be honest and forthcoming, can be trusted, right?



What if there was an investigation, completed last summer by the CIA, that named the individuals responsible and pinpointed major national security lapses that led to our nation being asleep at the switch on 9/11? Wouldn't that be a helpful bit of information that all Americans ought to have when deciding who should be president? And a Moral Man would want to ensure that Americans have the information they need to make a reasoned decision, right?



As it happens, there is just such a report. But under pressure from George W. Bush it was been withheld until after the election.

"It is infuriating that a report which shows that high-level people were not doing their jobs in a satisfactory manner before 9/11 is being suppressed," an intelligence official who has read the report said, adding that "the report is potentially very embarrassing for the administration, because it makes it look like they weren't interested in terrorism before 9/11, or in holding people in the government responsible afterward. What all the other reports on 9/11 did not do is point the finger at individuals, and give the how and what of their responsibility. This report does that."



According to the intelligence official, release of the report, which represents an exhaustive 17-month investigation by an 11-member team within the agency, has been "stalled" by Porter J. Goss, the former Republican House member (and chairman of the Intelligence Committee) who recently was appointed CIA chief by President Bush. The official stressed that the report was more blunt and more specific than the report produced by the 9/11 Commission.



By law, the only legitimate reason the CIA director has for holding back such a report is national security. Yet Porter Goss has not invoked national security as an explanation for not delivering the report to Congress. "It surely does not involve issues of national security," said the intelligence official. "The agency directorate is basically sitting on the report until after the election," the official continued. "No previous director of CIA has ever tried to stop the inspector general from releasing a report to the Congress, in this case a report requested by Congress."

And remember, one in five voters said they chose George W. Bush because of his strength on "moral issues."



Los Angeles Times - The 9/11 Secret in the CIA's Back Pocket