Zelikow's main area of expertise is in the field of public policy, particularly in the framing of history to serve state policy and the formation of public myths, or "public presumptions." From Wikipedia:
While at Harvard, he worked with Ernest May and Richard Neustadt on the use, and misuse, of history in policymaking. They observed, as Zelikow noted in his own words, that "contemporary" history is "defined functionally by those critical people and events that go into forming the public's presumptions about its immediate past. The idea of 'public presumption'," he explained, "is akin to William McNeill's notion of 'public myth' but without the negative implication sometimes invoked by the word 'myth.' Such presumptions are beliefs (1) thought to be true (although not necessarily known to be true with certainty), and (2) shared in common within the relevant political community."Zelikow says that history's narrative power can affect how people engage with the world and how they relate to "the actions of individuals in the history." As far as Zelikow and the National Security Regime in America are concerned, it is better that the American people view 9/11 as an attack by a radical Muslim terrorist group than to know the truth - that 9/11 was the result of a government conspiracy at the highest levels of the Bush administration, the United States government, and the Israeli government.
Zelikow combined his knowledge of public mythology with his knowledge of the so-called threat of terrorism. In 1998, Zelikow co-authored a report with Ashton B. Carter and John M. Deutch called "Catastrophic Terrorism: Elements of a National Policy," which argued that America's national security was at greater risk after the fall of the Soviet Union than before, and laid out a strategy of deterrence and preventive defense. They wrote: "We are not as confident that the United States government is suitably prepared to address the new threat of catastrophic terrorism that utilizes weapons of mass destruction or intensive cyber-assault." A new world brought with it new enemies to America, the report stated. America's conventional military had to be remodeled to meet the new threat of catastrophic terrorism, which threatens public security on the largest and most unconventional of battlefields - society. But they left out an essential truth about terrorism in the report, and that is that the American empire is the biggest agent and sponsor of terrorism in the world. Only a terrorist state can be threatened with terrorism.
In retrospect, the "Catastrophic Terrorism" report was less a warning than a blueprint. The authors pondered the implications of a terrorist attack in America, saying that such an event would mark a "before" and an "after" and give the government greater powers to protect the citizenry from similar attacks. Zelikow, Carter, and Deutch wrote:
Readers should imagine the possibilities for themselves, because the most serious constraint on current policy is lack of imagination. An act of catastrophic terrorism that killed thousands or tens of thousands of people and/or disrupted the necessities of life for hundreds of thousands, or even millions, would be a watershed event in America’s history. It could involve loss of life and property unprecedented for peacetime and undermine Americans’ fundamental sense of security within their own borders in a manner akin to the 1949 Soviet atomic bomb test, or perhaps even worse. Constitutional liberties would be challenged as the United States sought to protect itself from further attacks by pressing against allowable limits in surveillance of citizens, detention of suspects, and the use of deadly force. More violence would follow, either as other terrorists seek to imitate this great "success" or as the United States strikes out at those considered responsible. Like Pearl Harbor, such an event would divide our past and future into a "before" and "after." The effort and resources we devote to averting or containing this threat now, in the "before" period, will seem woeful, even pathetic, when compared to what will happen "after." Our leaders will be judged negligent for not addressing catastrophic terrorism more urgently.The government conspirators who committed 9/11 attacks most likely read this report, and Zelikow himself must have been pleased when he was selected to be the Director of the 9/11 commission.
Using imagination, we hope now to find some of the political will that we know would be there later, "after," because this nation prefers prevention to funereal reconstruction. When this threat becomes clear the President must be in a position to activate extraordinary capabilities.
The job of Zelikow and other like-minded opportunists is to cover up treasonous and criminal events and whitewash history. He was chosen to be the Director of 9/11 Commission by the Bush administration because of his Machiavellian abilities to preserve official myths, and formulate rationales for criminal state policies and procedures.
Another interesting bit of information is that Zelikow had close ties with the first Bush administration as well as with a key member of the second Bush administration, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The two published a book in 1997 called "Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft." Zelikow has also co-authored a book with World Bank President Robert Zoellick on America and East Asia, and ironically, he edited a book called "Why People Don't Trust Government."
You don't need a book to answer the question of why people don't trust government, all it takes is four words: because the government lies. And it also outsources its lying to individuals like Zelikow. To borrow a phrase from English essayist William Hazlitt, Zelikow is an intellectual pimp of power. Washington's treasonous National Security Regime pays academic whores like Zelikow to give their lies and crimes a rationale, and justify the murder of innocents. Such people regard the separation between politics and morality as a natural thing. Killing innocent human beings to serve a greater agenda is an essential part of "statecraft." So is covering up history and replacing historical truths with political myths.
In March 2000 Zelikow wrote a review of the book "Day Of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor," by author and WWII veteran Robert Stinnett. The book successfully makes the case that the FDR administration had foreknowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack, discrediting the official story that was used to draw America into World War II. Zelikow defended the official lie in his review, a pattern that can be seen throughout his career. His main purpose is to suppress real history and maintain the elitist narrative of politics and world events in the modern world, from WWII to the war against Communism to the 9/11 attacks and the war on terrorism.
Five years ago, the writer of Washington's Blog stated that "Zelikow is arguably the single most responsible person in covering up the truth about 9/11." From Washington's Blog article called "The Myth Maker":
We all know that he controlled what the Commission did and did not analyze, then limited the scope of the Commission's inquiry so that the overwhelming majority of questions about 9/11 remained unasked (see this article and this article). Zelikow is arguably the single most responsible person in covering up the truth about 9/11.In 2004, author and former CIA and State Department analyst Melvin Goodman told Democracy Now's Amy Goodman that Zelikow was paid by the CIA to whitewash the Agency's history, and that he has served as a mouthpiece for numerous administrations. Democracy Now, April 29, 2004:
AMY GOODMAN: Why did they roll over, and what is the role of Phillip Zelikow, the director of the 9-11 commission? We have reported in the past that he is the co-author of a book with Condoleezza Rice. So, they clearly are colleagues and are close.The proof of that Zelikow is guilty of covering up the 9/11 attacks, and manipulating the American people is inescapable. He is one of the most corrupt members of Washington's powerful and secretive establishment, a traitor of humanity, and a war criminal.
MEL GOODMAN: Well, he has ties to the first George Bush administration from 1989 to 1992. He has a very close working relationship, professional relationship with Condi Rice. He headed a case study project at Harvard and took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the CIA. He used CIA documentation and produced case studies that exonerated the CIA from any charges of politicization of intelligence, particularly with regard to the Soviet Union. He has generally been an administration voice in all of the matters that he has dealt with, whether they are Democratic or Republican administrations.
The official myth about 9/11 has so far determined the course of human history, and transformed America into a despotic country, while the victims' truth has been denigrated and treated as a crazy conspiracy theory by the official press, and large segments of society. But the myth won't prevail forever. The criminal war on terrorism won't last a century. Truth cannot be suppressed. History cannot be erased. Freedom cannot be crushed to pieces. If kings can be guillotined, then so can presidents.
Zelikow and the rest of the traitors who committed 9/11 and covered it up won't get away with their crimes. Judgment day is coming to Washington D.C.
