Some members of the 9/11 Commission suspected that military officials knowingly had made false statements to Congress and the commission about the Pentagon’s response to the 9/11 terrorists attacks, according to the Washington Post. This claim and publication of excerpts of NORAD audiotapes in the current Vanity Fair magazine has caught widespread media attention. The Post reported that commission members had contemplated appealing to the Justice Department, but instead decided to leave the matter to the inspectors general of DOD and the Transportation Department, since the matter involved the FAA, as well. An IG report sent to Congress in 2005 faulted Pentagon recordkeeping for some errors in official testimony. According to the Post, release of a DOD IG report on the matter is imminent. Much of the recent media hype has focused on Vanity Fair’s “new” release of the tapes, however Air Force Magazine in October 2004 reported on the miscommunications between NORAD and the FAA, offering excerpts of the tapes provided by the 9/11 commission, and noted the “inaccuracies in the public record.”
As the Air Force readied for its June 21-22 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the service was also putting its Agile Combat Employment strategy into action, dispersing combat aircraft and Airmen from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in preparation for a possible Iranian retaliatory attack. Some defense experts say…
