After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, nearly everybody, regardless of political bent, acknowledged that terrorism is a problem the United States must deal with. A new era was born. Thus it made sense that congress formed the Sept. 11 commission in 2002 to assess the nation's preparedness for the attacks and the circumstances surrounding them. The hope was that future attacks could be prevented.

With such an important cause as preventing terrorism, the commission should've received full cooperation from any organization holding information crucial to the investigation, but this wasn't always the case. For example, President Bush initially opposed the creation of the commission - although he eventually signed the legislation authorizing its creation, and the White House often resisted the group's attempts to access government witnesses and classified documents.

Now the commission members are facing difficulties with the White House again. A shadow group, called the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, has received no response from letters requesting interviews and updated counterterrorism information sent two months ago to the president's chief of staff, leaders from the Pentagon, the CIA, the FBI and others.

The informal 9/11 Public Discourse Project comprises the same members as the disbanded commission but lacks the subpoena powers and formal prestige of its predecessor - thus, the difficulty in getting cooperation from the White House.

There is no reason Bush and his subordinates in various departments should be so stubborn in making important information available. The public needs to know what is being done to prevent terrorism. Besides, aren't politicians our public servants?

Of course, the average American doesn't need to know where Osama bin Laden is hiding, but it sure would help to know what the FBI and CIA are doing to prevent another tragedy such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

There have been some attempts at progress. Some of the Sept. 11 commission's major recommendations were put into effect, such as the creation of the job of director of national intelligence. Still, it's important that the commission members stick around to finish the job because many of their other recommendations have not been implemented.

These include an expansion of nuclear nonproliferation efforts and restructuring congressional oversight of U.S. spy agencies. These are no small potatoes.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino said that much of the information sought by the disbanded commission was available from public sources. So what's the problem with giving it out?

The more facts about terrorism are made available, the better off everyone will be. It's great that groups such as the 9/11 Public Discourse Project exist to inform the public, and it's shameful that the White House is withholding vital information.