Sept. 11 Commission Interviews Condoleezza Rice
Saturday, February 07, 2004
WASHINGTON — The commission reviewing the Sept. 11 attacks met with President Bush's national security adviser Saturday in an interview one commissioner described as cooperative and productive.
Condoleezza Rice (search) met with the commission privately for several hours Saturday at the White House to discuss what the administration knew before the catastrophe, said Timothy Roemer, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana. He declined to give details of the meeting.
"I thought the tone and level of cooperation and the exchange was productive," Roemer said.
But he added, "I strongly underscore and underline the need" to have Rice and Sandy Berger (search), national security adviser under former President Clinton, testify in public.
In May 2002, Rice said there had been no prior indication terrorists were considering suicide hijackings. But reports later indicated that intelligence officials had considered the possibility of such strikes as recently as one month before the attacks.
The commission is still trying to get Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney (search) to testify, as well as Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore (search).
Commissioners have suggested they also want Cabinet members to testify in public hearing, but neither they nor Rice have said whether they will do so.
"My feeling is that she should be testifying publicly and under oath," said Mary Fetchet of New Canaan, Conn., a member of the commission's Family Steering Committee. Her son, Brad, died in the attacks.
"The American public should hear her explain how she's had conflicting statements with regard to what she knew and didn't know," Fetchet said.
The Sept. 11 panel — known formally as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (search) — was established by Congress to study the nation's preparedness before the attacks and its response afterward, and to make recommendations for guarding against similar disasters.
Commission members have complained that their work repeatedly has been delayed because of disputes with the administration over access to documents and witnesses.
The commission is expected to decide this week whether to subpoena notes it took on classified presidential briefing papers, including an August 2001 memorandum that discusses the possibility of airline hijackings by al-Qaida terrorists. A four-member commission team reviewed the material in December but weren't allowed to take their notes with them to share with the other commissioners. |
