9/11 Families Slam Hearings

Forty relatives of 9/11 victims are slamming the so-called independent investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that too many on the panel are using the probe to "grandstand for political gain" in a bid to damage President Bush in an election year.

In an open letter released to the New York Post on Tuesday, the 9/11 relatives blamed the commission for fostering "the incredible notion" that President Bush knew 9/11 was coming and did nothing.

"I see the commission going partisan and that's not the way it's supposed to be. If it does that, it will be nothing but a political disgrace," former United Firefighters Association chief Jimmy Boyle, whose firefighter son Michael died on 9/11, told the paper.

Instead, said Boyle, Bush deserved praise for the way he's conducted the war on terror since 9/11, saying, "It's a whole new world as of Sept. 12 and I believe President Bush is the right man."

The letter also praised National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, saying: "We believe Dr. Rice when she says that the president 'would have moved heaven and earth' to prevent a terrorist attack had he known such an attack on our homeland was imminent. Any suggestion otherwise is incredible and inflammatory."

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