UQ Wire: Officials Go On The Record On 9/11

In This Item:
1. Interview with Former Minister of National Defense, CANADA
2. Letter from Rep. Johnson (CT) to Commissioners Kean & Hamilton

NOTE: A fax and letter writing campaign is now leading to other members of Congress asking that they insist the Commission respond directly to the questions raised by the 9/11 Family Steering Committee (www.911independentcommission.gov)

THE HONOURABLE PAUL HELLYER, FORMER MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE AND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA

Interview with Kyle Hence of 911CitizensWatch.org & UnansweredQuestions.Org (Transcribed by Bill Douglas of National 911Visibility.org, May 27, 2004, International 9-11 Inquiry Toronto, Canada.)

Paul Hellyer held the Canadian office equivalent to Secretary of Defense in the U.S., and was Deputy Prime Minister, Canadian equivalent to Vice President of the United States.

Kyle Hence: Hello. Thank you for taking time with us. Please introduce yourself, with a little bit of your background, for our viewers.

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: Hi, my name is Paul Hellyer. Iím a former Canadian politician, a member of three administrations. Iím the former Minister of National Defense, and rose to the rank of Deputy Prime Minister in the Trudeau Administration.

Kyle Hence: Where were you when 9-11 (11 September 2001) occurred? Share with us some of your observations about how the world hinged on this event, and some of your concerns about the policies that have been put in place after 9-11.

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: I was in my office and one of the staff members herd something on radio and I said, well letís turn on the TV and see what we can find out and we did. And we watched as most people did, the terrible events unfold minute by minute. And you have that feeling of sick horror . . . sort of . . . you know, this has got to be some kind of surrealism . . . canít be real. But, the longer the day went on the more evidence there was that this was no joke. This was a real thing and that it was just so awful that it was beyond description. And so I was one of the people that just felt . . . well, like most of the world, and certainly most Canadians a deep grief and shared the loss of the people whoíd lost friends, loved ones, as a result of the attack. And I did many of the things that people did. I went to a special church service, and signed the book and did the things I thought were appropriate for the circumstances.

Kyle Hence: There were many Canadians who died too.

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: Yes, absolutely. It was not obvious at the time, but this came later when the statistics were made public. So, my attitude never changed about that aspect of things. But, I think what did change over time were the consequences. When President Bush decided to declare war on terrorism. The war on terrorism . . . terrorism is a terrible thing, but this was a police problem and an intelligence problem. What was wrong with your intelligence? Why didnít you know this was going to happen? You spend billions and billions with spooks all over the world and surely you should have known what was going on. And, so I began to be concerned about that. And then questions were raised by others. Why did the President just sit in the schoolroom when he heard the news? Why did he not acknowledge that he already knew what was going on? As a former Minister of National Defense, the news came out [I had to wonder]. . . why did airplanes fly around for an hour and a half without interceptors being scrambled from Andrews [Air Force Base] . . . is it Andrews right next to the capitol?

Kyle Hence: Yes, that ís correct.

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: . . . take them with a quick action alert they should have been there in five minutes or ten minutes. If not, as the Minister of National Defense, which in the United States is the Secretary of Defense, I would want to say ìwhy not?î

Kyle Hence: Does it disturb you, or do you have concerns about your neighbors to the south that thereís been no inquiry at a defense level relative to the specific failure to scramble jets?

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: I think the inquiry has been very shallow and superficial. And I would like to see a much tougher more in depth inquiry. The evidence is that some people were allowed to fly out of the United States after the attack when American citizens were not allowed to fly in. And Canadians had the pleasure, I guess in a sense, of the company of tens of thousands, several tens of thousands of them [Americans] in Canada for a few days, especially in Newfoundland where the people were most gracious in looking after them. But, why were some members of the Bin Laden family allowed to fly out of the United States? And . . . you know . . . just why? Why? Why?

There are so many questions. But, you say, what is going wrong here? Or, was there something going wrong? How much did they actually know? And you get into very deep territory because itís the same kind of thing as we saw with Pearl Harbor. Did the President know, or didnít he know? I donít know. But, itís a very good question.

Kyle Hence: But, thereís some evidence to suggest he may have.

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: There is some evidence to suggest that he may have and it was a deliberate decision on his part to let the attack happen because he wanted to get the United States into World War II. And otherwise it was going to be difficult to get Congressional approval.

Kyle Hence: So you can understand why perhaps people are asking the same question about President Bush and the Bush Administration.

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: Absolutely. I think itís a fair question. I donít know what the answer is. But, I would like to ask the questions . . . or I would like to see someone in a position of authority ask these questions and insist on getting answers? At least to why some of the things happened that seem to be, for an ordinary person, inexplicable.

Kyle Hence: It seems like thereís a fundamental lack of accountability and transparency, especially now in the wake of 9-11. Does that concern you in regards to whatís happening in America with the Patriot Act, and the projection of American military power?

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: Oh, very, very much so. Iím very disturbed about a lack of transparency. Everyone talks about it, and no one is willing to come clean, as it were. I just had lunch, interestingly enough with the designer of the Aberaro [spelling ?] which was cancelled more than 40 years ago and one of the things we were discussing were the lies that people in government and the Air Force told at the time. And I guess this makes me all the more suspicious. If they lied about that, what else were they lying about? So, we were agreeing that you had to get behind the superficial and the spin and try and get at the truth. Itís very difficult. It takes a lot of time. But, we have to try and get the truth. Because unless we do, as the good book says, "seek the truth and the truth will set you free." And I think thatís what weíve got to try to do and I hope that somebody has the courage and the persistence to keep at it until we can get it.

Kyle Hence: Thank you very much. Iíll be in touch with you.

Former Minister of National Defense, Paul Hellyer: Good.

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-0705

Nancy L. Johnson
5th District, Connecticut
Committee On Ways and Means
Sub-Committees: Chairman, Health and
Human Resources

May 17, 2004

Mr. Thomas H. Kean, Chairman
Mr. Lee H. Hamilton, Vice-Chairman
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
301 7th Street, SW
Room 5125
Washington, DC 20407

Dear Messrs Kean and Hamilton,

Recently I met with _______ who expressed to me several questions of the Family Steering Committee for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

During our meeting, this constituent expressed his strong desire to gain answers to several questions surrounding the tragic events of September 11, 2001. I have enclosed a list of these questions for your convenience. These questions can be found at the Family Steering Committee's website -www.911independentcommission.org.

I respectfully request the Commission to respond to Mr. ________'s inquiry. I have followed the Commission's hearing with great interest and support the goal of acquiring valuable information so that the nation has a better understanding of what occurred before, during and after the attacks on the United States. I believe it is important for the process that the commission address the questions posed to them, especially from members of families who lost loved ones at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania.

Thank you in advance for your co-operation in this matter. If you have any questions, please feel free to call my District Director, Ken Hiscoe at (860) 223-8412.

Very truly yours,

Nancy L. Johnson

Member of Congress

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