WASHINGTON- U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza
Rice has used a historic public hearing to paint a picture of a
vigilant Bush administration that was on high alert to the
dangers of Al Qaeda, but was ultimately blind to the specific
threat posed by Osama bin Laden during the summer of 2001.
Yet, Rice, during three hours of occasionally aggressive
questioning by members of the bipartisan 9/11 commission, was
repeatedly challenged on whether a brief prepared for U.S.
President George W. Bush a month before the attacks that killed
3,000 people should have led to action by the government.
The classified presidential daily brief delivered to Bush at his
Crawford, Texas, ranch on Aug. 6, 2001, was entitled "Bin
Laden Determined to Attack the United States," Rice
revealed, but she repeatedly characterized it as a historical
document which provided no new information or specific threats.
Democratic members on the panel, who have seen the briefing from
the Central Intelligence Agency, maintained there was enough
specific information contained in the document to jolt a
lethargic White House into action - which might have prevented
the worst terrorist strike on American soil.
The president thought Rice was "terrific," the White
House said, and Bush even called Rice from his pickup truck in
Texas, where he is attempting to take an Easter break. Source.
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