A lead writer of the 9/11
Commission Report spoke Tuesday of the “challenge” of writing the
thousand-page report.
In a lecture sponsored
by the UW Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy, Warren Bass, the
deputy editor of The Washington Post's Sunday opinion section, described why
the 9/11 Commission Report was unusual to write.
He added the 9/11
Commission Report was unlike most commissions because of the depth of the
event, the sheer suddenness and the amount of information to process.
Jo Ann Oravec, a
UW-Whitewater business professor, said although she did not read the report
cover-to-cover, she read most of it and found there were a lot of "holes."
"I would like to see
more research on what happened on 9/11, especially what happened with the
possible demolition of the World Trade Center's Building seven," Oravec said.
"I would want to see an actual picture of the plane hitting the Pentagon; we
don't have footage that is available. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I do
think there are many unanswered questions."
Bass said conspiracy
theorists are never going to be satisfied.
"There are these insane
9/11 conspiracy theories that Dick Cheney was behind the attacks. People who
believe in these theories have a weak grasp of how hurtful it is for the
families of those killed in the attacks," Bass said. "This is the last thing
people working through loss want to hear."
Oravec said it is silly
for families to not want these questions to be answered, adding some families
are still asking for more research.
Bass said if it weren't
for the families of those killed in the terrorist attacks, there would not have
been a commission.
"Even though the
families got on our nerves begging us to write the report, they are great
American heroes who showed extraordinary courage and valor," he said.
Bass added it was a
priority to create a report in "good clean English," accessible to every voting
American.
In a question-and-answer
session, a member of the audience asked why terrorists hate America.
"Bin Laden's ideology is
in some way seductive," Bass said. "He is highly imaginative."
Bass attributed bin
Laden's imagination to the high production value of his televised clips aired
in the U.S. after Sept. 11, and bin Laden's "ingenious" use of the Internet.
"Even though that
horrible Tuesday came out of nowhere for the public, it didn't come out of
nowhere for al-Qaida," Bass said. "It is too simple to argue Osama bin Laden's
hatred is blind. There was a political agenda behind it."
When asked if getting
rid of bin Laden would make a martyr out of him, Bass said it is too late,
adding bin Laden's influence is already out there.
"If we get rid of bin Laden terrorism will not go away," he
said.
