Former city officials strongly rebut criticism of 9/11 panel

[JoFerret]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/politics/18CND-RESPONSE.html

Several former New York City emergency service officials testifying today before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks vociferously rebutted charges that their departments' response to the catastrophe suffered from age-old rivalries and a lack of coordination between the departments.

"I have yet to hear a single instance where anybody shows me anything where the agencies did not work together and coordinate their efforts," said Richard Sheirer, former director of the New York City Office of Emergency Management. "I urge the commission to take a very close listen to the tapes on all the various agencies."

A 26-page staff report by the commission concluded that faulty communication severely hindered rescue efforts by city workers on Sept. 11, 2001. The report praised the heroism of many of the city's workers, but pointed out communications gaps that included a lack of coordination between the Police and Fire Departments and an inability to share information effectively between on-scene officials and 911 phone operators. The report also suggested that the longstanding rivalry between the Police and Fire Departments contributed to the failure in communication.

Mr. Sheirer's staunch defense of the the city's response on Sept. 11 was echoed in angry testimony from two other former emergency-services officials, Bernard B. Kerik, former police commissioner of New York, and Thomas Von Essen, the city's former fire commissioner. The men were among eight former and current city officials who testified in the first day of a two-day hearing by the commission, which is exploring the city's disaster preparedness both before and since the terrorist strikes.

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[MasonJar]

1. Typical! Let Bush come to testify in private with his nanny and

not under oath, but denigrate the brave firefighters who lost many of their fellow firemen and the police who took a beating too. Bush let this happen, but this handpicked commission will not do its job. I hope the widows are ready to raise a ruckus.