- WASHINGTON -- Behind closed
doors and without even a recording being made of what they said, President
George Bush and his deputy Dick Cheney were questioned yesterday by the
11 September commission about the administration's failure to prevent the
al-Qa'ida attacks.
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- Before the private session began, the American public
had been unsure about the extent to which Mr Bush and his officials were
warned about the threat of Osama bin Laden's terror network; afterwards,
they were barely better informed. The only concession to the historical
record agreed by the White House was to allow two staff members of the
commission to take written notes.
-
- Mr Bush had never wanted to face the commission he set
up to investigate the circumstances of the attacks. The administration
eventually agreed that he and Mr Cheney would appear together, neither
under oath, in a single, closed-door session with the 10 commission members
in the Oval Office of the White House.
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- That was hailed as a breakthrough by the commission but,
in exchange for that concession, its chairman had to agree that Mr Bush,
Mr Cheney and no other senior officials would face further questioning.
After the three-hour session Mr Bush told reporters: "I'm glad I did
it; it's important."
-
- Asked if had been advised by his lawyer not to answer
any specific questions from the commissioners, he added: "I answered
every question they asked ... It's probably best I not go into the details
of the questions and let them incorporate [that] into their report ...
If we had anything to hide we would not have met them." The testimony
of Mr Bush and Mr Cheney has gripped Washington, with critics claiming
the President is trying to protect himself from scrutiny.
-
- His defenders say presidents rarely testify in such circumstances
and the former president Bill Clinton - also under scrutiny for what he
did and not do to tackle the threat from al-Qa'ida - also spoke to the
commission in private.
-
- "This is a good opportunity for the President to
sit down with members of the commission and talk with them about the seriousness
with which we took the threat from al-Qa'ida, the steps we were taking
to confront it, and how we have been responding to the attacks of 11 September,"
Mr Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, said.
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- The commissioners arrived at the White House at about
9.15am and gathered for photographs around Mr Bush and Mr Cheney. Alberto
Gonzales, a senior White House lawyer and two unidentified members of his
staff were also present. The session began at 9.30am.
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- There was much for the commission members to ask. Timothy
Roemer, a former Indiana Congressman and one of five Democrats on the commission,
said he would ask Mr Bush about the contents of an intelligence briefing
entitled "Bin Laden determined to strike in US" that was given
to him on 6 August, 2001, and what he did with that information. "Why
wasn't [the threat level] higher, given the threat levels in spring and
summer [of] 2001?" he said.
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- Some relatives of those killed in the attacks on New
York and Washington said they were looking for answers. "The purpose
is not to lay blame but to assess possible reforms," said Kristen
Breitweiser, from New Jersey, whose husband, Ronald, was killed.
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- The White House has been thrown on the defensive by claims
that it did not take seriously warnings about the growing threat from al-Qa'ida
in the spring and summer of 2001. Richard Clarke, Mr Bush's former counter-terrorism
chief, and FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds say warnings were ignored.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=516641
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