Rice to Give Testimony.........
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| Thu, 04-08-2004 - 10:05am |
President George W Bush understood the threat from al-Qaeda well before 11 September, his national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has said.
Ms Rice is appearing before the body looking into the 2001 attacks.
"President Bush understood the threat, and he understood its importance," she told the commission.
Ms Rice is testifying in public about policy in the months before the attacks after Mr Bush reversed a decision to refuse the commission's request.
In her opening statement she said: "(President Bush) made clear to us that he did not want to respond to al-Qaeda one attack at a time.
"He told me he was 'tired of swatting flies.'"
Ms Rice told the commission: "There was no silver bullet that could have prevented" the devastating attacks on New York and Washington.
The US "simply was not on a war footing", she said.
"For more than 20 years, the terrorist threat was growing, and America's response across several administrations of both parties was insufficient," Ms Rice said.
Observers say Mr Rice's evidence could be vital for Mr Bush's re-election chances.
It is also being seen as a key moment in her own political career, with some tipping her as a future secretary of state or even president.
Her testimony is being covered by all the main US television networks.
She is expected to face intense questioning by the 9/11 commission - a panel of Republicans and Democrats charged with examining all the circumstances of the 2001 attacks, and setting out the lessons to be learned.
They will put to her accusations made by the former White House counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke two weeks ago.
In his testimony - and in a book on the George Bush presidency - he accused the administration of ignoring his warnings about al-Qaeda, and of being fixated with Iraq.
When he appeared before the commission he made a dramatic apology.
"Your government failed you, and I failed you," he said.
Ms Rice did not offer an apology as the White House said the administration felt it had done all it could to prevent the attacks, based on the information available.
But she said: "As an officer of government on duty that day, I will never forget the sorrow and the anger I felt."
The White House had originally refused to let Ms Rice testify, arguing that she was in a privileged position as a presidential adviser and that it would set the wrong precedent.
However it relented after a political row.
The White House has also hinted it may change course and release a speech Miss Rice was due to give on 11 September 2001, but which was never made because of the atrocities.
The speech apparently stressed the need for missile defence, rather than a war on terrorism.
Mr Bush's national security credentials, which are central to his re-election campaign, may depend on Miss Rice's testimony.
Patty Casazza of New Jersey, whose husband died in the World Trade Center attacks, said she hoped the appearance would make things much clearer.
"Her testimony will either undermine our confidence in this administration or bolster it," she told the Associated Press news agency.


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>"What she didn't say out loud"<
Interesting subject.
I wonder what they'd have read into her expessions the week Clarke released his book? I have never seen any public figure with such an unpleasant scowl. Most in the public eye are more in control.
I've read that excessive blinking & rapid eye movement denotes someone's lying. It's interesting to watch for it when politicians are speaking.
Deja Vu!
Asked why information about the threats appears not to have been passed on to federal and local law enforcement in Seattle, Jones said:
"I cannot take at prima facie value that you've contacted the correct FBI agents. I don't know what the ground truth is."
So, the guys in charge locally aren't the 'correct' agents?
I use to pay attention to blinks, but had forgotten how interesting it was.
ITA it has just taken me some time to figure out my uneasiness about her testimony. Different from I read it, then I feel angry.
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