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(U) The 9/11 Commission Report -- Hot Off the Press!
FROM: the SID 9/11 Response Team
Unknown
Run Date: 07/23/2004
(U//FOUO) The National (9/11) Commission's long-awaited final report is on the streets! Building
on the work done by the Congressional Joint Intelligence Committee, the National Commission
staff reached out to the public and private sectors, gathering reams of documents, meeting with
scores of witnesses, and receiving many briefings to piece together its account of the events of
September 11, 2001. For the better part of a year, they spent countless hours analyzing, reanalyzing and compiling all of this information into a compelling report that recreates the
circumstances surrounding 9/11, highlights lessons learned (with the advantage of hindsight),
and recommends new measures to improve our national security. It goes without saying that
NSA cooperation was absolutely vital to this effort.
(S//SI) One of the Commission's biggest challenges was to produce a meaningful, unclassified
report for public consumption using a large body of material from classified sources. This was a
complex endeavor, because many of the Commission staffers, who were predominantly from
academia and law practices, had not come into contact with SIGINT before joining the staff. SID
supported the work of the Commission while protecting sensitive SIGINT equities.
(S//SI) Working with the Intelligence Community and NSA's Office of General Counsel and Office
of Policy, SID personnel examined over 500 pages of the draft report word-by-word in under a
month, identifying classified information and proposing alternative wording. The Agency was
only able to release many intelligence facts in the Commission report by disassociating them
from NSA or SIGINT. The final review process ended in face-to-face negotiations with the
Commission staff running up to the eleventh hour. As a result of this well-coordinated,
painstaking work, the publicly-released copy of the 9/11 Commission's final report is a wellwritten, complete story with few visible redactions and SID is satisfied that our information has
been well protected.
(C) The classification review process was only one example of our excellent cooperation with the
National Commission. With the support and oversight of DIRNSA, SID Leadership, and the Office
of General Counsel, employees at all levels of SID, in addition to folks in IAD and FAD , briefed
and interviewed with the Commission staff throughout the year, sometimes with as little as 24
hours notice. Time and time again, people rose to the occasion and patiently explained the
intricacies of their work, skillfully answering unanticipated questions. In addition to these many
interactions, NSA also turned over thousands of pages of requested documentation, including
SIGINT reports, activity logs, and policy documents, to name a few. Locating these documents
and preparing them for release to the Commission involved much hard work on the part of
employees throughout the Agency. The turnaround time was always outstanding.
(S//SI) You should all feel proud knowing that time you or your colleagues invested in explaining
our business to the National Commission staff members paid off. Throughout the process, the
Commission staff members were receptive and impressed with the level of expertise at NSA.
Many times the clarification provided by members of the SID workforce was essential to making
sure NSA was accurately represented to the public. We reiterate DIRNSA's encouragement (see
DIRgram-323 ) that you read the Commission's final report, keeping in mind ways to improve
the security of our nation. When you read it, know that SID was an important participant in this
national effort.
(S//SI) As a final reminder, when discussing the report with people who are not cleared, please
do not attribute any of the information back to NSA or SIGINT. Any congressional or media
inquiries about the report should be directed, without comment, to NSA's Legislative Affairs
Office or the Public Affairs Office , respectively. As noted above, we worked hard to disassociate
NSA from the final report. It is essential that we not inadvertently establish the link through
comment to friends, family or others. The National Commission's report is posted to its website
at http://www.9-11commission.gov , and it is also available on NSANet at 9/11 Commission
Report .
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108