Salon/Conason: The Widows Are Watching

[kskiska]

Four outspoken World Trade Center widows claim the 9/11 commission director's ties to the White House undermine the commission's credibility.

Kristen Breitweiser, Mindy Kleinberg, Lori Van Auken, Patty Casazza -- the four World Trade Center widows from New Jersey who led the fight for an independent investigation of 9/ 11 -- have given us an edifying lesson in grass-roots democracy. Without money, fame or credentials, they have achieved extraordinary influence over a crucial public policy issue. Yesterday they made the front page of the New York Times.

Yet the widows worry that their inspiring story may be destined for a cynical conclusion. The "Jersey girls" embody the streetwise skepticism of their home state. And they think they smell a rat.

Over the past two years, they and their supporters in several 9/11 family organizations have imposed their demands for truth on a reluctant White House again and again. They pushed President Bush to endorse, fund and extend the mandate of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States. They humiliated Henry Kissinger into stepping down as Bush's handpicked commission chairman because of his obvious conflicts of interest and record of mendacity. They have now embarrassed Bush himself into agreeing to submit to questioning by the commission, although he has insisted on bringing along Vice President Dick Cheney as his minder. And of course, they blasted away the excuses used by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to avoid testifying before the commission in public session and under oath.

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http://salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/04/02/widows/index.html