I'm trying to find quotes or articles praising the 9/11 Commission, and their report. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Newspaper Editorials Praise 9/11 Report

http://www.allbusiness.com/services/...4703987-1.html

By Charles Geraci
Publication: Editor & Publisher
Date: Friday, July 23 2004

There were few surprises today in the editorial reaction to the report of the 9/11 commission in the nation's largest newspapers. Nearly all of them surveyed by E&P were supportive of the report and its findings.

The Washington Post was typical in writing that the report offers "a useful analysis of the changes that have taken place since, as well as the changes that have not taken place, " and calling the commission's unanimity and comprehensiveness "impressive."

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland had perhaps the catchiest opening: "Let us first dispense with perhaps the least relevant conclusion of the Sept. 11 commission: the final score of missed 'operational opportunities' that conceivably might have prevented the atrocities of the day stands at President Bill Clinton 4, President George W. Bush, 6."

Other papers stressed the commission was wise to hold back from casting blame on either the Bush or Clinton administrations. The Chicago Sun-Times said the commission's "emphasis was on solutions, not blaming individuals when everyone misjudged the rising threat of Islamic terrorism."

Several papers emphasized a need for Congress to act after the commission's report. The San Francisco Chronicle said, "Congress has no more urgent duty than to assess and act on the findings ..." The Sun-Times added, "At least we hope that having the serious shortcomings of our intelligence spelled out in black and white will galvanize Congress and the president into acting quickly to do what is necessary to upgrade the system."

The Chicago Tribune insisted that "the repair job falls to Congress." The Philadelphia Inquirer said that "Congress and President Bush should adopt quickly many of the recommendations in the Kean commission's welcome report." The paper came out in support of a national counter-terrorism center headed by a single chief who reports to the president.

The Kansas City (Mo.) Star found reason to criticize the government for "complacency" and for "not putting enough money into needed improvements, and some approved money has been frittered away."

Most papers relied on the report to cast blame, rather than do so in their words, but the New York Daily News did not restrain itself. The paper said that "responsibility rests with two presidents, Congress, the CIA, FBI, Defense Department, FAA and a thicket of other agencies, which is to say the failures are spread far and wide."

9/11 panel report elicits praise, political carping

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english...ent_351002.htm

Updated: 2004-07-23 09:14

Like patients analyzing a Rorschach test, readers of the final report by the September 11 Commission were able to find support for their individual views on the reasons and remedies for the 2001 terror attacks.

U.S. President George W. Bush latched on to the panel's finding that US security lapses were "institutional" rather than a failure of his particular administration.

The Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, exulted that the report appeared to exonerate his kingdom of complicity in the plot, even though the vast majority of the hijackers who commandeered the planes used in the attacks were of Saudi origin.

And opposition Democrats in the Republican-controlled US Congress insisted that Thursday's report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States underscored GOP-intransigence on matters of national security.

"We know that our ports and our waterways and our borders are not adequately protected. We know that the plutonium and the uranium that exist out there in the world that makes us vulnerable, " said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"Why is this not a priority for the Republicans? Why is this not a priority for the President of the United States?"

For their part, Republicans made it clear that they believed the security breakdowns which allowed the attacks to take place resulted from failed policies carried out during Democratic President Bill Clinton's tenure in the White House.

"During the 1990s, America's intelligence capacity was crippled, and our international credibility was undermined by our refusal to take the terrorist threat seriously enough," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said.

"The question our nation now faces is whether we want to return to the '90s law enforcement approach to terror or whether we want to reaffirm our commitment to fight and win the war on terror," the Texas Republican said.

Earlier, Democrats and Republicans had tempered their comments, praising the committee's Herculean achievements on compiling and analyzing a mountain of evidence over nearly two years, and lauding the evenhanded tone of the final document.

But the sparring parties gave in over the course of the day to political wrangling, led by Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry who, taking a swipe at Bush, said the Republican president had not done nearly enough to combat terror since the al-Qaeda attacks.

"This report carries a simple message for all of America, about the security of all Americans: We can do better," Kerry said. "We must do better and there is an urgency about us doing better."

Bush's presidential campaign wasted no time in firing back.

"The Commission's report makes the case for the policies that U.S. President Bush has been pursuing in the War on Terror and eliminates any doubt that the best defense against the threat of global terror is a strong offense," the campaign said in a statement.

While President Bush welcomed the report and praised its conclusion that we are safer today but still have more work to do, our opponent attacked the administration's progress and leadership in the War on Terror, breaking his own pledge to focus on 'bipartisan solutions'," the campaign complained.

The Republican president, who had initially opposed creating the commission, eagerly associated himself with some of the recommendations from the 10-member panel.

"I agree with their conclusion that the terrorists were able to exploit deep institutional failings in our nation's defenses that developed over more than a decade," he said in a speech in Glenview, Illinois.

Other comments on report ranged from high praise for the panel's exhaustive efforts, to outrage over perceived flaws and oversights in the document.

"They have done an incredible job," said New York Senator Chuck Schumer, whose state, site of the World Trade Center twin towers, was hardest hit in the terror attacks nearly three years ago.

His Senate colleague, Hillary Clinton, praised the commissioners, called the report "a great testimony to the their willingness to search hard for the truth, to get at the facts."

The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Pat Roberts said the report was as being spot-on in its finding that US intelligence officials failed to think outside the box in envisioning the kinds of attacks terrorists might devise.

But critics were emphatic in debunking the report.

Kyle Hence, co-founder of 9/11 Citizens Watch, called the document "a whitewash ... a farce, an out-and-out cover up, and a shameful, colossal spin job."

He added that the group intended to issue its own analysis, detailing its view of how the 9/11 attacks were carried out.