The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation by Philip Shenon

I've been pleased by a lot of the attention the book has received in the blogosphere. But not all of it. Some bloggers keep suggesting that Philip Zelikow, the commission's executive director, was placed on the 9/11 commission by the White House -- that my book shows he was "planted" on the commission by the WH. I think my book makes clear that was absolutely not the case, and that Dr. Zelikow was not a White House favorite at the beginning of the investigation, nor at the end. In fact, since the book was sent to the printers, I've been told something fascinating about Dr. Zelikow that he might wear as a badge of honor. Certainly many of the Bush administration's critics would see it as that. I'm been told by more than one authoritative source that the person who, more than anyone else, blocked Dr. Zelikow from getting a top job at the White House in 2001 was none other than David Addington, Vice President Cheney's powerful chief of staff. In the civil liberties community, there can be no higher praise than to be identified as an enemy of David Addington's. Phil Shenon