Condi Rice to testify--in public and under oath. . . - Page 2

gldstwmn · #16 04-07-2004, 10:30 PM

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...=584&e=9&u=/nm ...

White House Refuses Panel Request for Rice Speech
By Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has refused to provide the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks with a speech national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was to deliver on that day touting missile defense as a priority rather than al Qaeda, sources said on Tuesday.

The White House said it was cooperating with the investigation. "The White House is working with the commission to ensure that it has access to what it needs to do its job," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

The Washington Post, citing former U.S. officials, reported last week that the speech was designed to promote missile defense as the cornerstone of a new national security strategy (reflecting "the intellectual underpinnings for the administration's pre-9/11 neglect of counterterrorism") , and contained no mention of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, or Islamic extremist groups.

Under pressure, the White House let commission staff review the Clinton papers at the National Archives. A commission official said on Tuesday that staff members had completed their review and that the panel may request some of the documents.

jwd · #17 04-07-2004, 11:16 PM

BRING IT ON

Go Condi!!!

strandinthewind · #18 04-08-2004, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jwd
BRING IT ON

Go Condi!!!

I agree. I think she has nothing to fear in that she will say nothing new and she did damage control so to speak by going on 60 minutes last week, which is a friendlier forum than this panel can be.

All in all, I think the WH through CR should say, look the Fed. Agencies had the info. but we never put it together. Moreover, clearly we knew Al-Q was a threat but were caught with our pants down - period. We are humbled by that and apologizeto the people we failed. BUT, we have learned from that and are doing everything we can never to let it happen again.

I think if she said that, it would all roll off her back like water on a duck.

strandinthewind · #19 04-08-2004, 09:04 AM

OMG - she is getting grilled unmercifully about the Aug. 6, 2001 PDB memo, apparently and although it clearly suggested only a general Al-Q threat, it is somewhat of a smoking gun regarding what W knew and what CR told W. This grey haired guy is just letting her have it and she is getting somewhat frazzeled. Bad move on her part.

They are not declassifying the 8/6/01 PDB in its entirety - another bad move on W's part.

Moreover, she is not being contrite - another bad move.

Finally, the audience, filled with 9/11 widows, etc., is clearly out for her blood and are applauding the unmerciful grilling.

This is not boding well for CR.

But, it is not over.

gldstwmn · #20 04-08-2004, 10:03 AM

She's dancing all over the place. I think she's told one bold faced lie already. Hope they can prove it. It's turning into a bit of a disaster. CNN is streaming it live. Sorry I don't have the link.

gldstwmn · #21 04-08-2004, 10:06 AM

Kerrey is grilling her. She should not have a limit on the time of her testimony.

darklinensuit · #22 04-08-2004, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gldstwmn
Kerrey is grilling her. She should not have a limit on the time of her testimony.

I agree. I think she's coming off sympathetically in this part.

BTW, I keep forgetting how young she is. She looks older.

- Jake

strandinthewind · #23 04-08-2004, 10:12 AM

In one way, I feel sorry for her. She is put in the place of having to explain in hindsight the errors of many people from different agencies who never met and even if they did could they have made sense of these general threats, etc.

But, the buck stops with her.

In the end, I do not think that given the state of mind of the US, the general threats at issue, and the sheer number of general threats received everyday and never happen - there was a feasible way to prevent 9/11 no matter who was at the helm.

dissention · #24 04-08-2004, 10:21 AM

Wow, they're out for blood. This is as bad as Shrub's SOTU speech.

She's getting very frazzled and sharp, this is not going to bode well for her. She's just speaking one contradiction after another, though. Around 9:30, she said that they had no knowledge that planes would have anything to do with an attack, then she said that the air safety agencies were alerted immmediately five minutes afterwards. She's toast.

darklinensuit · #25 04-08-2004, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dissention
Wow, they're out for blood. This is as bad as Shrub's SOTU speech.

Wow, he spoke in tongues on the Mirage Tour?

- Jake

dissention · #26 04-08-2004, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by darklinensuit
Wow, he spoke in tongues on the Mirage Tour?

- Jake

I don't know about that, but Condi's doing a good job of bungling some of her answers to the point where they make less sense than Stevie's coked-out rambling.