The Thanksgiving bombshell
To many people's chagrin, the controversial former US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, has been named as chairman of an independent investigation into the 11 September attacks. Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington
While Washington DC looked deserted as most Americans were off celebrating Thanksgiving with their families, US President George W Bush took nearly everybody by surprise by naming former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, as chairman of an independent investigation commission into the 11 September attacks.
An initial comment by one observer was that Kissinger has been "recalled from his political grave". The 79-year-old veteran diplomat has been a heavyweight in international politics over the past few decades, despite his controversial record and demands by international human rights groups to try him as a "war criminal".
On the one hand, Kissinger won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 when his efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the war in Vietnam opened the door for rapprochement with China. While serving as secretary of state under the late US President Richard Nixon, he initiated a dialogue with the former Soviet Union, and played a crucial role in reaching a cease-fire agreement between Egypt and Israel after the October 1973 war.
On the other hand, he allegedly ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to plot a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia in the late 1960s, vehemently backed the war against Vietnam, supported dictators who suppressed their opponents in Latin America and masterminded a bloody coup to overthrow Chile's elected socialist president, Salvador Allende, in 1973.
President Bush had originally opposed the formation of an independent commission to investigate the failure of intelligence bodies to foil the 11 September attacks. He said that a new commission could conflict with the work of congressional intelligence committees that have already started their own investigation into the attacks, and were expected to produce their findings soon. But the US president has finally given in to pressure by families of the victims, who have turned into a strong and influential lobby since 11 September.
Most analysts agreed that by naming Kissinger as head of the 10-member commission, that is due to submit its findings in 18 months, Bush would not face an embarrassing report while at the peak of an election campaign to win a second presidential term in 2004. As a politician who served for many years as a secretary of state and a national security adviser, and who built up his reputation on close coordination with intelligence bodies such as the CIA, most observers believed that it was unlikely that Kissinger would produce a report that is critical of the present administration, where he has many old friends.
Bush's administration has come under fire several times in the recent past, when reports were leaked that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the CIA had prior knowledge of the attacks in New York and Washington, but did not act swiftly enough due to lack of coordination and a failure to take the matter seriously. As part of Bush's effort to assure that the commission would not be harsh in criticising his administration, the White House insisted that the president would appoint the head of the commission and four of its members. The Democratic Party, which immediately named former Senator George Mitchell, as deputy chairman will appoint the rest. The members will have the right to summon any official they want to testify with a majority of six votes, and are also supposed to look into all evidence related to the 11 September attacks, including possible involvement by foreign governments and organisations.
Thus, many questions and suspicions were raised as soon as Kissinger's appointment became public. Would Kissinger summon President Bush, or even former President Bill Clinton, for questioning? Will his private consultancy firm, Kissinger Associates, known for its ties to several foreign governments, influence his ability to look into possible involvement of other countries? And will his record of depending mainly on secret work and covert action allow the required level of transparency and provide the public with a comprehensive report on how these attacks took place?
But in statements on Sunday, the skilled diplomat appeared unshaken by all these accusations. Kissinger simply said that all those who are raising these suspicions "will apologise to me after we finish our work". He also refused to make any comment on who would, or would not, be summoned at this stage, saying that he would wait until all members of the commission were named. "These are not decisions that I will take on my own," he said.
Those who criticised the choice of Kissinger on grounds of his links with foreign governments were referring specifically to Saudi Arabia. Amid a hysteric anti-Saudi campaign on nearly all major American television channels and newspapers over the past week due to allegations that Saudi money funded the terrorists who carried out the 11 September attacks, Kissinger had no choice but to totally deny that his firm had any links with Saudi Arabia. After his appointment, he told reporters at the White House that he would not be restricted by any foreign policy considerations, including any role that Saudi Arabia might have played.
In an editorial on Friday, The New York Times alluded to such foreign links, saying, "Unfortunately, his [Kissinger's] affinity for power and the commercial interests he has cultivated since leaving government may make him less than the staunchly independent figure that is needed for this critical post. Indeed it is tempting to wonder if the choice of Mr Kissinger is not a clever manoeuvre by the White House to contain an investigation it long opposed." The editorial said Kissinger, "must start severing all ties to Kissinger Associates, the lucrative consulting business he has built up. As a consultant, Mr Kissinger offered not just his foreign policy expertise, but his famously easy access to the powerful and well connected."
