Public must demand answers about 9/11

The "gray flannel suit" generation of the 1950s was the last generation to believe in its elected leaders. When they were called up to fight the Korean War (the forgotten one), they did so without question. They had confidence in their leaders. That innocence and confi- dence was lost with the Vietnam War when that generation discovered their leaders were not honest with them.

The erosion of confidence escalated with Watergate when we were not only not told the truth but were also "stonewalled." The public's demand to find answers as to how America could be attacked by terrorists on 9/11, without our government's awareness, is a direct result of the mistrust that grew out of the Vietnam and Watergate experience. The creation of the 9/11 Commission to investigate, and make recommendations to prevent further attacks, came about because Americans are no longer accepting glib answers from their leaders. The commission, however, seems more concerned with finding whom to blame rather than examining the conditions that led to the attacks.

So far, they fail to see that our governmental agencies are a major part of the problem. They were, and still are, woefully unprepared to deal with terrorist attacks because they are mired in their own processes and dying of old age. Agencies tend to guard their turf jealously, and apparently there is no leadership to help the agencies connect the dots.

If the commission is serious about finding solutions to prevent further terrorist attacks, then it should examine the behavior of our current leaders within the context of long-standing public mistrust dating back to the Vietnam era. The public's skepticism is molded out of past experience; therefore, the current administration need not become defensive, as it now appears to be doing. It is doing what organizations often do instinctively, become defensive, and stonewall — especially when threatened.

Rather than killing the messenger, the commission would do well to focus on the complaints, the causes and the circumstances of 9/11 in order to prevent future attacks. We need people who are willing to act in the public's interest rather than focus on the next election. Leaders are needed who can create a culture wherein they trust the abilities of public employees to risk making decisions, rather than wait to use them as scapegoats when failure occurs.