Tag Archives: Edward Jay Epstein

The hole in the report

If Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s confession is genuine, the 911 Commission’s bestselling report isn’t far from fiction, leaving out as it is does his role in the 1993 WTC bombing and his Iraq connection, according to investigative reporter Edward Jay Epstein:

"The result is that basic issues concerning KSM’s interrogation–and the dozens of crucial citations in the 9/11 Report–are now in such doubt that 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey suggested last Sunday, in his Daily News column, that KSM be put on trial in New York, where presumably he could be properly cross-examined. While that remedy may be far-fetched, some resolution of this investigative failure is necessary."

Cracks in the narrative

The 9/11 Commission’s report was a bestseller because it had a simple narrative line that anyone could read and appreciate. Alas, it may have been too simple. It depended on the assertions of two career jihadis, and what they told their CIA interrogators about the plotters and the plot. Investigative reporter Edward Jay Epstein says the commission was not allowed to question either the jihadis or the interrogators, and a new investigation of the alleged participation of a jihadi cell in Spain cracks the narrative’s spine.