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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Right, and this is way BV questioned her as he did. She declassified the title. Regardless of tactics it was a coo for BV.
I have heard her say that her role is coordinator.
She doesn't have the ability to declassify things at will. BV knew the memo including it's title was classified when he asked her about it. She knew that she would be questioned about it and was prepared to characterize the contents, but BV was playing politics to ask her for the title, and put her in the position of revealing the title or say it was classified and then whip up a storm of suspician over the weekend about it.
If BV had a real point about the memo, he would have challenged her characterization about it.
Renee
Also, they have to make sure that they dont issue student visas for dead terrorists as well.....How bad did that make them look when Mohammad Atta's visa was approved months after 9/11.
There has to be a better networking of communication between all of the departments pertaining to intelligence and security in this country, including the state law enforcement agencies, and to some extent the major cities agencies as well, as they may have the budget to afford the computer systems required.
He was trying to give them a juicy sound-bite to use in their quest to get GWB out of office.
Renee
Exactly.
Ben Veniste is on a witch hunt, and wants to be able to take any responsibility away from the Clinton Administration of which he was part of, and place 100% of the burden at the feet of GWB. Unfortunately for him, this is totally impossible.
If BV had a real point about the memo, he would have challenged her characterization about it.
I'm going to look up the exact dialogue...but on this point, how in the heck could he 'challenge her characterization about it' if it was STILL classified???
Rice's testimony. It was a difficult situation for her to
be in and I found her to be aloof, evasive and should have
taken some responsibility for the failure to protect this
country and the loss of thousands of people on 9/11. I
couldn't stand listening to her say how great Bush is and
then she'd smile as if she didn't have a care in the world.
I was just disgusted with the whole thing. These hearings
accomplish nothing except a lot of finger pointing.
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