Former 9/11 Commission Border Counsel Releases Documentary: "9/11: The Terrorist Travel Operation"
Former 9/11 Commission border counsel Janice Kephart has released a self-produced and narrated documentary, 9/11: The Terrorist Travel Operation. The documentary tells the story of the 9/11 hijackers' terrorist travel operation. Documentary content is based on 9/11 Commission investigative work as to how the hijackers got in and stayed in the United States long enough to commit the horrific acts of 9/11. Narration is based on hundreds of documents, interviews with all immigration inspectors and many consular officers responsible for adjudicating hijackers, as well as high level government officials responsible for border policy before, during and after 9/11.
"The country vowed after 9/11 to never forget. Today, we have a whole generation who does not know, and did not live through, 9/11. If we are never to forget, we must educate. That is the purpose of this documentary. It is history, it is legacy, from the person who knows the details of the hijacker's border story and has continued to live it for the past 20 years. I hope it resonates and educates," - Janice Kephart, former 9/11 Commission border counsel.
Many of the images in the documentary were never officially released by the 9/11 Commission or the federal government. The documentary includes images of immigration documents, flight patterns of the planes on the morning of 9/11, and Kephart's own analytic charts – the underlying work that resulted in many of border-related facts and circumstances of the Commission's staff monograph, 9/11 and Terrorist Travel, which in turn, supported the border recommendations in the 9/11 Commission's Final Report.
About Janice Kephart
Janice Kephart began her border and counterterrorism work as a counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1998, she was staff lead for a hearing on foreign terrorist activity in the United States, held on the five year anniversary of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. That hearing released the now infamous Bin Laden fatwa calling for the killing of American civilians. The 9/11 Commission hired Kephart to help investigate how the 9/11 hijackers got in and stayed in the country. Border recommendations included requiring passports for all those entering the U.S. and biometrics for enhanced border security, and included Kephart's terms terrorist travel and we must assure that people are who they say they are.
Since her Commission work, Kephart has testified before Congress 19 times on borders and credential identity related issues; was invited to speak before the United Nations' National Security Council on terrorist travel; won the 2015 Women in Biometrics Award, one of five women from over 50 nominated; and was honored by Duke University as one of their most influential graduates of her decade. She regularly appears in national media TV, radio and print. She is a graduate of Duke University and Villanova School of Law.
Today Kephart is CEO of Identity Strategy Partners (IdSP) and supports the federal government in responsible implementation of biometric and identity solutions related to national security and facilitation. IdSP is an economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business based out of the Washington, D.C.
Comments
Post a Comment