Interesting. In previous posts I’ve noted the inherent problem with having Philip Zelikow serve as Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission when <$NoAd$>he is a close associate of Condi Rice and was one of the three principals who ran the Bush foreign policy transition team — a key focus of the investigation he’s running.
But here’s some evidence of some ability to rise above that conflict. From the new Newsweek …
Last Monday morning 9/11 commission executive director Philip Zelikow faxed a photograph to the White House counsel’s office with a note saying that if the White House didn’t allow national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify in public before the commission, the photograph would”…be all over Washington in 24 hours,” Newsweek has learned. The photo, from a Nov. 22, 1945, New York Times story, showed presidential chief of staff Adm. William D. Leahy, appearing before a special congressional panel investigating the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The point was clear: The White House could no longer get away with the claim that Rice’s appearance would be a profound breach of precedent.
A pity he has to resort to soft blackmail to get their attention. But perhaps he knows the language they understand.
