Rice Doesn't Recall Al Qaeda Warning

Secretary Of State: No Memory Of Pre-9/11 CIA Warning, As Woodward Book Claims

(AP)  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she cannot recall then-CIA chief George Tenet warning her of an impending al Qaeda attack in the United States, as a new book claims he did two months before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

"What I am quite certain of is that I would remember if I was told, as this account apparently says, that there was about to be an attack in the United States, and the idea that I would somehow have ignored that I find incomprehensible," Rice said.

Rice was President George W. Bush's national security adviser in 2001, when Bob Woodward's book "State of Denial" outlines a July 10 meeting among Rice, Tenet and the CIA's top counter-terror officer.

"I don't know that this meeting took place. But what I really don't know, what I'm quite certain of, is that it was not a meeting in which I was told there was an impending attack and I refused to respond," Rice said.

Speaking to reporters en route to Saudi Arabia and other stops in the Middle East, Rice said she met with Tenet daily at that point and has no memory of the wake-up call from Tenet described in the book.

"It kind of doesn't ring true that you have to shock me into something I was very involved in," Rice said.

There was near-constant discussion of possible attacks overseas, and high alarm, Rice said.

The meeting between Tenet, Rice and Cofer Black of the CIA was not mentioned in the reports from several investigations of the Sept. 11 attacks. But Woodward wrote that it stood out in the minds of Tenet and Black as the "starkest warning they had given the White House" on al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his network.

Tenet asked for the meeting after receiving a disturbing briefing from Black, according to the book.

Black reportedly laid out secret intercepts and other data "showing the increasing likelihood that al Qaeda would soon attack the United States." Tenet was so worried that he called Rice from his car and asked to see her right away, the book said.

"Tenet and Black felt they were not getting through to Rice," Woodward wrote of the session. "She was polite, but they felt the brush-off."

Rice referred to the session as "the supposed meeting" and noted that it is not part of the independent Sept. 11 Commission's report.

"I remember that George was very worried and he expressed that," Rice told reporters. "We were all very worried because the threat reporting was quite intense. The problem was that it was also quite nebulous."

Meanwhile, former Attorney General John Ashcroft said Monday that he should have been notified of any such report dealing with a pending attack on the United States. "It just occurred to me how disappointing it was that they didn't come to me with this type of information," Ashcroft said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"The FBI is responsible for domestic terrorism," Ashcroft said. He said both Tenet and Black of the CIA should have been aware that he had pressed for a more aggressive policy in going after bin Laden and his followers in the United States and should have briefed him as well. Rice knew of this advocacy, he suggested.

"There was no covert action to kill him and we needed one," Ashcroft said.

Rice, who was promoted to secretary of state in Bush's second term, also said she never argued that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should be fired. The book's suggestion that Rumsfeld would not take her calls is "ludicrous," Rice said.

Rumsfeld and Rice are not close, and he is often considered her rival in administration decision-making. Woodward wrote that then-White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card twice tried to get Bush to sack Rumsfeld and replace him with Bush family counselor James A. Baker III, and that both then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and Rice backed the plan.

Woodward interviewed Rice for his new book.

[roythelib]

I am no fan of Dr. Rice, but I think CBS could find a better picture to use with this story.

Dr. Rice is a Cold War/Russia specialist so it is not surprising that she might think some obscure Middle East terrorist was worth spending much time on. I believe that Richard Clark gave much the same assessment of his conversations regarding UBL.

[drgoodwin12]

Richard Clarke warned her at aboutthe same time Tenet did.In the public hearings on 9/11 she did not rebuke or state that she did not recall when asked if Clarke had tried to warn her.He not only warned her ,he attempted to no avail to warn Bush.No wonder Woodwards book is called state of denial.They(the Bush Adminstration and the Rovettes)deny everything that does not fit their policy or call people traitors for questioning it.All the news media has to do is go back over the televised hearings.They alone prove her to be what she is a Rovette.

I'm thinking that Sec. Rice's denials are more a diliberation of incompetence and inadequacy, then a real defense of the policies of the Bush administration.

She has been the apologist for an inept, miopic federal administration. Condi and crew has set back america to a time when intolerance and blind ambition were the height of united states ambition.

Not that Rumsfield and *** Cheney, did not know.
They willfully ignore what they know to be the truth. They knew this attack was coming. They did nothing to protect the american people except to uselessly spend our tax dollars on unproductive warfare and corrupt rebuilding efforts.

They are profitting from fear and war. They knew the 9-11 Highjackers had nothing to do with Iraq. They knew that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.

It is time to talk about impeachment.

[stantodd]

You Go Girl. Does Pres. Rice sound good or not?

[stantodd]

Woodward should be honest, fair, and unbiased in his reporting. His negative flair is an absolute disgrace to politics.

[alphaa10-2009]

More damage control from Bushland. After all, what could Rice say in self-defense? That her dog ate the CIA report? If she acknowledges the report to any degree, she is trapped into an end-game of implausible qualifications about how she responded and how appropriate her response was, under the circumstances.

Better, she thinks, to play for total lack of recall, without actually saying, "Tenet never told me." But to claim lack of recall is still more than curious, since much information about al Qaeda planning against the US already had been circulating. Did she need somebody to connect the dots for her? Staying abreast of such reports was the basic requirement of her job-- even without the Tenet report, Rice should have been in full alarm months before 911.

Instead, she made a habit of ignoring Richard Clarke, who also issued such security advisories. Clarke was shunted aside repeatedly in his attempts to get the attention of Bush and other advisers, then completely absorbed with Iraq. In the eight months preceeding 911, Bush did not schedule even one meeting of the anti-terror working group.

Ashcroft attempts a defense, kind of, with the claim Tenet never told him. But Ashcroft, himself, did not report to Tenet, either-- both normally reported directly to Bush. Clearly, the buck stops with Bush.

[rayhc]

My full name: Raymond Howard Carlson

My E-Mail: [e-mail]

Message:

Please get ALL the books by Joel C. Rosenberg and read them! Get a copy of the video and book entitled %u201CTHE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH%u201D by Hal Lindsey! Get a copy of the video of the controversial documentary film by Michael Moore that attacked the Bush Administration! Next, get a copy of a BIBLE (King James or New King James Versions)!

What is the Bush Administration REALLY doing in the %u201CMIDDLE EAST%u201D? First, we attack Afghanistan! Is Bin Laden there? NO! Then, the Bush Administration attacks IRAQ! Were there weapons of mass-destruction? NO! Now, the Bush Administration is looking at IRAN! Does IRAN have ATOMIC WEAPONS? YES! The former Soviet Union sold Atomic Weapons to IRAN; it was in the NEWS! IRAN has about five (5) or six (6) warheads! Now, IRAN wants to acquire %u201CNUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES%u201D to build more weapons. What is NEXT to INVADE? I know, Saudi Arabia! Then, O.P.E.C.! Is it not obvious? The Bush Administration wants to corner the world OIL MARKET! Question: Is certain individuals within the Bush Administration profiting off this so-called %u201CWAR ON TARRORISM%u201D?

Michael Moore%u2019s film shows some evidence that the Bush Administration is possibly connected indirectly to Bin Laden through Bin Laden%u2019s family!

CONTACT ME! Thank You.

[pakaal]

C'mon, the "I don't recall that meeting" excuse was old when Reagan used it in the Iran Contra scandal. I'm even more tired hearing it a quarter of a century later. Talk about a state of denial!

[alphaa10-2009]

"Stan Todd" said-- "You Go Girl. Does Pres. Rice sound good or not?"

Not.

(But it is a good joke. Just remember the next time Tenet tells you something.)

[rayhc]

My full name: Raymond Howard Carlson

My E-Mail: [e-mail]

Message:

BIBLE STUDY:

The correct interpretation of Revelations 13:

The %u201CBEAST%u201D in Revelations 17 is the SAME %u201CBEAST%u201D in Revelations 13! Look to the END of the chapter in Revelations 13. There is a %u201CSECOND%u201D %u201CBEAST%u201D! This is the anti-christ. His, the anti-christ%u2019s, number is 666! Do NOT be confused! The anti-christ is NOT Dameon Thorn! Ha! Ha! The anti-christ is a multi-dimentional majestic angel that has powers and can shape-shift (SEE: %u201CTHE DEVILS ADVOCATE%u201D%u2014Lucifer%u2019s character)! The anti-christ is immortal, and will survive a fatal attack! Furthermore, the anti-christ will make lightning fall from a clear sky!

Can PROPHACY be changed? YES! GOD can CHANGE prophecy if GOD has %u201CJUST CAUSE%u201D! Contact Dan Moore at the %u201CLIVING WATERS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP%u201D in Fountain Valley , Ca.. Also, contact Chuck Missler (contact Calvery Costa Mesa%u2014 Santa Ana , Ca.)! Chuck Missler and I disagree on the %u201C BABYLON %u201D issue; however, both Chuck Missler and I agree that the United States will be destroyed by H-Bombs!

CONTACT ME! Thank You.

[alphaa10-2009]

RayHC said-- "Michael Moore%u2019s film shows some evidence that the Bush Administration is possibly connected indirectly to Bin Laden through Bin Laden%u2019s family!"

The bin Laden and other Saudi families share holdings with Bush in the Carlyle Group, which has its bloody fingers into a variety of extremely lucrative enterprises in the US and abroad.

Ironically, the Carlyle connection also makes members of the Saudi royal family beneficiaries of billions of tax dollars Halliburton and other corporate giants make from Iraq. This little embarrassment is kept appropriately out of the Saudi news.

Moore had his film script vetted, line by line, for documentary support by an independent third-party (legal firm). The GOP/Swift Boat propaganda studio (Disney, again?) tried to counter F911 claims, but did not attempt the same vetting, and the latter half of the video is completely non-rebuttal.

You might say, bin Laden and Bush are part of the same "family". After all, it's only more money to Bush-- the ultimate anti-patriot-- and to bin Laden, any "family" connection to fund his hatred is just fine. Just keep the hatred and money flowing.

[alphaa10-2009]

RayHC-- Just a reminder, since you have not posted before, and this is a pitfall for even veteran posters-- the CBS blog machine runs slowly, at times. If it seems to be chugging, hit the refresh button on your browser and the page will reconstitute and pull the new version from the blog server (if all works well). If you pound away on the "Publish" button, it will not make the contraption work faster, and probably will result in multiple posts of the same message. All of us have had this happen-- the key is simply patience.

[rayhc]

My full name: Raymond Howard Carlson

My E-Mail: [e-mail]

More comments below!

Message:

Please get ALL the books by Joel C. Rosenberg and read them! Get a copy of the video and book entitled %u201CTHE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH%u201D by Hal Lindsey! Get a copy of the video of the controversial documentary film by Michael Moore that attacked the Bush Administration! Michael Moore%u2019s film was out in theaters about a year ago. Next, get a copy of a BIBLE (King James or New King James Versions)!

What is the Bush Administration REALLY doing in the %u201CMIDDLE EAST%u201D? First, we attack Afghanistan! Is Bin Laden there? NO! Then, the Bush Administration attacks IRAQ! Were there weapons of mass-destruction? NO! Now, the Bush Administration is looking at IRAN! Does IRAN have ATOMIC WEAPONS? YES! The former Soviet Union sold Atomic Weapons to IRAN; it was in the NEWS! IRAN has about five (5) or six (6) warheads! Now, IRAN wants to acquire %u201CNUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES%u201D to build more weapons. What is NEXT to INVADE? I know, Saudi Arabia! Then, O.P.E.C.! Is it not obvious? The Bush Administration wants to corner the world OIL MARKET! Question: Is certain individuals within the Bush Administration profiting off this so-called %u201CWAR ON TARRORISM%u201D?

The PROBLEM: The Russians, The Chinese, and The European Union are pissed-off at the Bush Administration concerning the United States involvement within the "MIDDLE EAST"!

CONTACT ME! Thank You.

[tom_gwynn]

Everything else aside, should we the American people be satisfied with a Secretary of State who "cannot recall" an unusual, high-level meeting where, according to Tenet and Black, she was warned of an imminent threat to American soil? Either they're lying and the meeting didn't take place (in which case she should have the guts to say it didn't take place) or they are telling the truth and she should have the guts to say she did not take the warning seriously. But "cannot recall"? Reagan at least had the excuse that he was old and beginning to suffer from Alzheimer%u2019s. Condi gets no such pass. She is one of the highest officers in our government and should be among America's best and brightest! If she cannot recall something this important, one way or the other, she's not qualified for the office and should be booted out of the beltway! Likewise the idiot who appointed her.

And, while we're on the subject of the Good Book, it says that you shall know the true prophets from the false ones by their fruits. I believe this line has been misinterpreted. You shall know the false prophets because they *are* fruits.

[tomflint69]

this forum is for Christian extremists thats why they are posting Bible? where are my Jew extremists? I am a pious good JEW.

[alphaa10-2009]

Nat Lawson-- Part 2
With GOP "adjustment" of electoral districts to an absurd degree to help reelect their pols, tinkering with electronic voting machines to skew any election results to their people, and by de facto control of committee chairmanships in both House and Senate, the GOP is anything but a unifying and patriotic force in American politics. The GOP is, instead, a one-party wannabe dictatorship equal to anything the Mexican PRI attempted-- the kind of rule Peruvian conservative ideologue Mario Vargas Llosa called "the perfect dictatorship".

Under that one-party rule, the Constitutional concept of "checks and balances" was the first target of Karl Rove and the NeoCon cabal-- freedom of information, power sharing and equal access to instruments of power is the enemy of the GOP.

But what would you expect? LIke the PRI, Bush and the GOP have an abominable record to defend, so they must turn off public debate and welcome any distraction. Understandably, Iran is already turning into a prime topic on the GOP/Bush distraction menu.

[alphaa10-2009]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml

natlawson said, "They willfully ignore what they know to be the truth. They knew this attack was coming. They did nothing to protect the american people except to uselessly spend our tax dollars on unproductive warfare and corrupt rebuilding efforts.

"They are profitting from fear and war. They knew the 9-11 Highjackers had nothing to do with Iraq. They knew that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction... It is time to talk about impeachment."

------------

Normally, impeachment is the first recourse of the people when all other measures fail. The problem-- as Bush, Rove, Cheney and every fluttering little GOP heart knows-- is the GOP has bolted shut the doors of the judiciary and the legislative branches already.

[tomflint69]

Condoleezza Rice, Miss World 2006. Yes I declare her "Miss World". She is a humble and a very nice lady. Shw should be our next President (is it possible? heee heeee heeee ;)

[alphaa10-2009]

tomflint69 said-- "Where are my Jew extremists? ..."

In Washington, DC, working for Bush and the NeoCons.

(Which, I insist on saying, is quite different than a clear plurality of patriotic, and politically mainstream Jews working for peace in the USA, Gaza and Lebanon. Olmert is not universally popular, even inside Israel.)

[alphaa10-2009]

tomflint69 said-- "heee, heee, heee!"

Indeed.

[pakaal]

So, now that we've confirmed that the July 10 meeting happened after all, and that Rice was informed about the threat (and according to then Director of the CIA Tenet was politely dissed)...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/02/washington/03ricecnd.html?ex=1317441600&en=5b2729634605a9e1&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

...what's going to be the next excuse? Really, the Bush Administration is amazing in its ability to avoid taking responsibility for its tragic, blundering, deadly mistakes in judgment.

[shutupmurtha]

lol.....You can tell this is propaganda just by looking at that horrible photo of Rice....lol. This is so blatent it's funny. She looks like satan in the picture they have of her.....either the CBS photographer really sucks at photography (which I would not be surprised...CBS always has the worst cinematics and design of all the networks, but that has nothing to do with any of this) or they chose this picture. This has got to be the most obvious, oldest, and cheapest form of propaganda in the books. I dont even have to read the story the title of the headline and the photo says it all. They could have said "Rice is doubtful about Al Quaeda warning" or "Like Andy Card, Rice also doubts Woodward's truthfulness in his book" or First Andy Card says Woodward took his quotes out of context and now Rice questions him too."

[sharncedar]

SutupMurtha: "lol.....You can tell this is propaganda just by looking at that horrible photo of Rice....lol. This is so blatent it's funny. She looks like satan in the picture they have of her....."

lol, that's really funny. I don't like Rice much, but good point

[angryliberal-2009]

yeah that is an awful photo.

[newsjeff-2009]

In response to a comment that was made on this network, comparing the Ronald Reagan Administration to the Bush Administration is like comparing watermelon and spinach. The Ronald Reagan who won the presidency and re-election by a hudge landslide victory both times, was a republican but a type of republican who would work with democrats and republicans to get things done for America. During the Reagan Administration the entire republican GOP party focused more on running the country,growing the economy,creating jobs,ect., heck I even remember a minimum wage increase occur in all 50 states when Ronald Reagan was in office. Of course now our GOP controlled white house,senate,congress, have to bash homosexuals,same *** marriage,abortion,and preaching religious beliefs, since this is all the republicans feel is the only problems facing America. Oh, I almost forgot the Iraq war which has no evidence that Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were ever connected to begin with. Reagan believed that marriage beliefs,homosexuality,abortion was a personal matter not a government matter.

[mh4cbs1]

Is there Anybody still so gullible as to believe Anything that Rice, Bush, Cheney, Rummy say?? If you love America, do your patriotic duty and get these hijackers of the GOP impeaced and trhown in jail where they belong. And throw out the spineless, complicit Dems while you are at it)

Remember the aluminum tubes, mushroom clouds, WMDs "we know where they are", "last throes" of the insurgency, "mission accomplished", 'bring them on", Saddam had "a relationship" with Al Queada (sure, a relationship of mutual hate! In fact he was one of our good-buddy brutal dictators while he was "killing his own people")....

Do you enjoy being ripped off by the rich? Do you like to watch our middle class and poor kids die in Iraq for this needless war for power and profit? Do you like massive tax cuts for the super wealthy while working families struggle harder and harder for less and less...

Wake up Sheeple of America! Stop being such complete CHIMP CHUMPs!

[long_rider]

The bad part of the true story is eleven countries told various government agencies, including the Whitehouse, about the 9/11 attacks months before they happened. Isreal removed all of their govt. offices from the WTC one week prior to 9/11.

This administration either ignored the warnings, due to stupidity, or they wanted 9/11 to happen.

Why would a person with a Phd claim that she did not remember such an important detail. Can't buy that one Condie. The old Nixon 2-step.

Why do they always post the worst picture they can find when it comes to conservatives?

She probably said she doesn't recall a warning because none was given.

www.politipoll.net

[phil-in-fin]

I do not think Rice is that stupid.

I am sure that there are plenty of people out there who believe her.

The evidence: King George II got re-elected.

[pakaal]

Amen, NewsJeff, in comparison to the current "administration", the Reagan years were blessings in abundance. There's always dirt in politics, whether it's Democrat or Republican. As to Reagan and job growth, well, we have to agree to disagree. To an extent. Reagan does come in at a respectable 11% Payroll Employment Growth (Public and Private) by Jan '89, - much higher than his first term percentage of 5.8% - but even his second term best doesn't match that of Carter (12.8%), LBJ (16.5%) or FDR (21.5%), all Democrats. On the other side we have Bush 41 (@1.6%), Ike (-0.3%) and Bush 43 coming in dead last at -0.8% job growth as of January '05. The bottom line is that Reagan is the one and only Republican in the top nine Democrats at the top of the charts for growth. ...And they say these guys know the private sector?

[stick130]

It's long past the days that anything that comes from the {White Lying House} that any American with an I Q of 75 will believe. Remember WMD's? Bush got a Free Pass from the Press for 6 years. They are also part of the problem. The Press is only telling us now what most of us suspected for years. If Condi would tell the TRUTH it's now' way too late!
Bush makes Clinton look like a Saint!

[alphaa10-2009]

Sledge said-- "Why do they always post the worst picture they can find when it comes to conservatives?"

Actually, this is one of her better pictures-- which has little to do with her political beliefs, by the way. But you are correct that Rice and her behavior are a poor image for the GOP.

[alphaa10-2009]

nikoski said-- "Actually, "ShutupMurtha" if you read the credits on the picture it comes from the AP taken by Pedro Ugarte and not CBS..."

Good point, and "ShutupMurtha" perhaps will learn to be more observant... even to "Shutup" rather than expostulate in public. (A misdemeanor.)

[mh4cbs1]

Sledge:
About the warning you say "probably none was given". You are living in a Bush fantasy land, or in total FOX/CBS News ignorance.

Do you not believe the White House, when they say they have records of the meeting. Do you not believe AP wire service, who checked with several former and present members of the administration? What will it take ??

Don't you realize that these Neo-Con criminals have hijacked your precious GOP? How much total death, destruction, deficits are you willing to take?

[cd327]

"She looks like satan in the picture they have of her.....either the CBS photographer really sucks at photography".....

Yes, she DOES look rather evil, doesn't she? But, don't blame it on the photographer. This is simply a photo of her. BAD one at that, but, hey, they can't all be good, now can they???

As for propaganda? PLEASE. This woman, cannot 'recall' warnings, that resulted in the killing of thousands of our people. Her lack of 'recall', only means she is lying. What an easy way out for her.

And now, they will get on to something else, to try and divert attention from her. This administration is so very predictable.

[bluestardad]

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has no more credibility now than when she was National Security Advisor in 2001. Then in August 2001 she could not find actionable intelligence in a National Security Briefing titled %u201CBin Laden Planning to Attack inside United States Using Passenger Aircraft%u201D. She has once again shown why she has her current job as she is loyal to President Bush and his administration no matter how messed up he is, nor how many lies he tells, or how many Americans Die because of their failed policies, she supports him. But Condoleezza Rice has long ago learned the art of dodging an honest question. She just uses the standard fall back phrase %u201CI do not recall%u201D%u2026since ignorance and a bad memory cannot be prosecuted she and the rest of this administration have used this phrase as their main defense against questions of their ineptitude and deception. Remember a vote for Republicans is a vote for %u201CStay the Course%u201D and the deaths of more Americans.

Michael Boetjer
Captain U. S. Army
Double Blue Star Father

[exusmcsgt]

Tenet briefed Rice on Al Qaeda threat before 9/11

International Herald Tribune JIDDA, Saudi Arabia

A review of White House records has determined that George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, did brief Condoleezza Rice and other top officials on July 10, 2001, about the looming threat from Al Qaeda, a State Department spokesman said Monday. The account by Sean McCormack came hours after Rice, the secretary of state, told reporters aboard her airplane that she did not recall the specific meeting on July 10, 2001, noting that she had met repeatedly with Tenet that summer about terrorist threats. Rice, the national security adviser at the time, said it was "incomprehensible" she ignored dire terrorist threats two months before the Sept. 11 attacks.

exusmcsgt here...White House records and both of the gentlemen who advised Rice show there is no doubt that the meeting took place. What does it say about a National security Adviser when she blows off such a threat? In my opinion, it shows total incompetence.

[quabbit]

I attended one of the top 20 universities in the country. I studied 6 years of Latin, linguistics, as well as countless writing and literature classes and I have absolutely no idea what Condoleezza Rice's double-speak sentence is supposed to mean...

"I don't know that this meeting took place. But what I really don't know, what I'm quite certain of, is that it was not a meeting in which I was told there was an impending attack and I refused to respond."

Is she saying:

A) But what I really don't know is that it was not a meeting in which I...

B) What I am quite certain of is that it was not a meeting in which I...

First she's saying she doesn't know, then she's saying she's quite certain, all in the same sentence nonetheless! These intentionally ambiguous choreographed responses have so sadly become such a common practice among politicians that we, the American public, will never know the black and white truth. We're forced to derive our own interpretations out of statements that are so intentionally delivered to be gray.

[mjv2944]

Just another "yes" person in the Dubya Brigade of corrupt and unknowing people. Don't recall is just the same as a flat out lie. It amazes me that the American public is taking this corrupt regime with a grain of salt. Look at all that has happened in the last 6 years, it should scare the hell out of you. Start by voting out every incumbent in congress, lets take back America.

[fckss05]

I believe her!

[adventurepa]

What you need to remember when you go into the voting booth this November is both administrations failed at taking Al Qaeda seriously before 9/11.
The CIA and FBI would not certify that Al Qaeda and Bin Laden were responsible for the Cole attack. Before that Al Qaeda was not known to be the threat they are today. Both Administrations underestimated the capabilities of this group. Just like Pearl Harbor we were sucker punched by Al Qaeda on 9/11. Finally knocked us out of our stupidity.
The reality of the situation is not who did or didn't do what.
But what do we do now?

So your statement means nothing stopneofatbs.
"Bill Clinton and his National "Security" team had 8 FULL YEARS to confront Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. They did absolutely nothing."

That doesn't matter.

The information they passed on at the end of there administration was ignorded by the Bush Administration too.
8 years is not really fair as the attacks didn't really pick up until 1994 and the first World trade center. That's 2 years into Clintons first term. So 6 years and a few months less for the investigation to tip off the administration that there was a real problem.
Probably less then 6 years to put together the pieces.

Again that does nothing for what we should do now.
Or what we should have been doing post 9/11.
I'll give you a clue.
It's not Iraq.

[dlatkinson-2009]

What I find incomprehensible: that after all those warnings of possible terrorist attacks y'all decided to take a month long vacation in Texas after only 7 months on the job!

[adventurepa]

Hey Stopne,
Don't know why we attacked the serbs except for the ethnic cleansing thing going on.
However that has been taking place in many countries.
That is not important to the situation we are in now.
Same for Clinton and his fun with Monica.
(Reality is most men would have done the same thing, History and surveys show cheating happens more then most are willing to admit)
The interfearence of Ken Starr's investigation might have had something to do with Clintons decision making. (Most Republicans said those missle attacks were trying to take the focus away from Ken Starrs investigation)

However the information you state is not accurate.

"What we did though was have solid evidence that Saddam was seeking WMDs (if he didn't have them), that he DID have ties to terror groups, and he was torturing and killing his people."

This has already been shown to be false information regarding ties to Al Qaeda and WMD's.
As far as torturing and killing goes, it is happening elsewhere all the time.

Still does not help us in the current situation with Al Qaeda.
The war with Iraq is about oil and money for the war machine. Also for the money it brings the direct benefactors on the other end of the Government contracts.
It's not about morals, otherwise we would be stepping in in Africa.
It is also not about WMD's otherwise we would be after North Korea, Pakistan, India and Iran.
All developing Nukes.
Again none of this takes care of Al Qaeda.

[getcentered]

NICE RICE!

Just ride the wave of ignorance.
Just like the rest of us! Yea!

I bet you it's gonna work for Abramoff!!
Good call Rove!

For how much responsibility these people have, they sure are forgetful.

[trueprogress]

As Americans we really do not know much about evil. *Now we do. We have to stop finger pointer, and get really serious, and fight a total war for our future.
That means doing whatever it takes to protect us and win.



* slitting throats on plaines, killing innocents in the thousands, after liberation of Iraq, killing fellow Arabs, targeting women and children, sadistic torture. (Our people jumping out of WTC. - show the pictures everyday media ! --) And..cutting off heads of innocent reporters. What next ? Nuclear bombs, biologic ? We are decent, they are evil. We are "feeling bad" for gitmo prisoners, and their rights, they are planning to dominate the world.

[nynative1340]

What would you expect her to say: "Well, yeah, I knew. But if we just sat back and did nothing it would give George the reason he needed to attack Iraq and overthrow Saddam. Something he's been wanting to do since day one."

[abbe7]

Maybe will a little bit more help she will recall

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/02/washington/03ricecnd.html?ex=1160452800&en=a9fc92094cf1099a&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY

[cathaleen]

How is it that she is Secretary of State - also considered to be a brilliant person that she cannot remcall a meeting with the CIA regarding an impending attack on our country? Oh! pleeees.

[staff2--2008]

What this administration (and republicans in general) does well is duck accountability...I have never seen so many forgetful people in one place...think about that when you vote republican...don't forget...

[aesop2-2009]

Would not expect anything different. Typical of the Bush administration. Reality is obviously not a concept they deal in at any level.