I see what you mean with the 9/11 Commission, but I have to disagree with your write-off of War and Peace. The difference between lucid and average translations is incredible; both in terms of talent in creative expression and the effect on a literary community. I see that the work of a translator is distinct from that of an original author, but illuminating translations requires a poetic sensitivity that goes beyond a dispassionately precise understanding of the language(s). If translators are capable of taking a novel that so adroitly describes the human condition and making it more accessible to English-speaking audiences, I feel it merits recognition.(The same translators also did an even more wonderful job on Crime and Punishment.)