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To say that Richard Clarke made a few waves would be an understatement; his book and his testimony before the 9/11 Commission caused a veritable flood. The Democrats are hoping the current is strong enough to carry them all the way to the White House in November, while the Republicans are frantically stacking sandbags to keep from drowning. Not that the Bush administration has anything to hide, but in the public relations game it all depends on what the public believes. It won't matter one bit if Clarke is proven to be a liar as long as people think...

Clarke Says Rice’s Testimony Bolstered His Claims April 8 — National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice repeatedly told the 9/11 commission today that there was no "silver bullet" that could have averted the deadly Sept. 11 terror attacks on America. But former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, who is also an ABCNEWS consultant, said he tried to warn the president of the imminent threat of al Qaeda. He testified during the Sept. 11 commission's public hearings that the Bush administration paid too much attention to Iraq and underestimated the threat from al Qaeda, before and after the Sept. 11 attacks. After...

Clarke denied Condi info about 'planes as bombs' Posted: April 9, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com At the very beginning of her Thursday interview, 9-11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean asked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice the most important question of the day. I've got a question now I'd like to ask you. It was given to me by a number of members of the families. Did you ever see or hear from the FBI, from the CIA, from any other intelligence agency, any memos or discussions or anything else between the time you got into office and 9-11 that talked about...

<p>Americans are beginning to tire of them.</p> <p>Wednesday, April 14, 2004 12:01 a.m.</p> <p>"I watched my husband murdered live on TV. . . . At any point in time the casualties could have been lessened, and it seems to me there wasn't even an attempt made."</p>

David Shippers, former House legal counsel for the impeachment investigation and author of Sell Out, was interviewed by Quinn on his radio show this AM. Shippers had some very interesting things to say....some examples, Shippers claims that he contacted the Justice Dept weeks agon with warnings that a large terrorist strike involving southern Manhattan was imimnent. He was ignored. He also states that our best Middle Eastern terrorist expert, an FBI agent, has yet to be consulted. Essentially, Shippers is stating that when all is said and done the American public will find that the authorities had lots of ...

<p>March 31, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice got her wish yesterday - the green light to testify in public before the 9/11 commission - and White House officials were confident she would effectively make the case that President Bush was vigilant against terrorism. The historic deal clearing the way for Rice's sworn testimony will put her in the spotlight as the wide-ranging probe gains steam and delves into explosive charges from former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke that the White House didn't take the threat from Osama bin Laden seriously.</p>

WASHINGTON — Members of the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks said Tuesday that they will closely question national security adviser Condoleezza Rice on the claims made last week by former White House counterterrorism coordinator Richard Clarke: that the White House did not urgently react to warnings of an impending terror attack and waited too long to develop a response plan. The battle between the two White House aides that has played out for more than a week in Clarke’s book, at the commission’s most recent hearing and in the media will be re-enacted to some extent when Rice...

On Sept. 11, 2001, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to outline a Bush administration policy that would address "the threats and problems of today and the day after, not the world of yesterday" -- but the focus was largely on missile defense, not terrorism from Islamic radicals. The White House declined to release the complete text of Rice's speech, since it was not given. The White House did confirm the accuracy of excerpts given to The Post, and former U.S. officials provided a detailed summary of the speech. "The president's commitment to fighting terrorism isn't measured by the...

Don't look now, but Clinton terrorism czar Richard Clarke has inadvertently let the White House off the hook on the most potentially explosive charge related to 9/11 - allegations that President Bush let Osama bin Laden's family escape from the U.S. in the days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Clarke says nothing about this episode in his book and with good reason, since the truth fits neither his Bush-bashing agenda nor his carefully constructed image as a tougher-than-nails terrorism fighter. It turns out, however, that it was Clarke himself who gave the green light for...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice will testify publicly on April 8 before the Sept. 11, 2001, commission in an attempt to counter bombshell charges that President Bush did not make terrorism an urgent priority before 9/11. Responding to heavy political pressure from both Republicans and Democrats, the White House made an abrupt about-face on Tuesday and agreed to allow Rice to testify publicly and under oath after insisting she only speak to the panel privately. A key area of questioning for Rice is expected to be claims by former U.S. counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke that Bush...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House, feeling the heat over charges that President Bush failed to make terrorism an urgent priority before Sept. 11, on Thursday released documents showing that one week before the 2001 attacks he ordered plans for military action against al Qaeda. Portions of a Sept. 4, 2001, national security presidential directive were released as plans were set for national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly on April 8 before the Sept. 11, 2001, commission. Responding to strong political pressure from both Republicans and Democrats, the White House made an abrupt about-face on Tuesday and agreed...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Saudi envoy reassured President Bush (news - web sites) on Thursday that the kingdom would not let oil shortages harm world economic growth, in a move that could help Bush who has been under attack from Democrats for failing to halt rising gasoline prices and OPEC (news - web sites) output cuts. Bush, who campaigned in 2000 on a pledge to persuade the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to keep oil supply plentiful, has been under fire in this election year after Saudi Arabia, the cartel's largest producer, led a push to cut OPEC output by...

<p>The White House scheduled Thursday as the day for National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify under oath publicly before the September 11 commission.</p> <p>In her testimony, Miss Rice will dispute statements by former counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke that President Bush ignored the al Qaeda threat before the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center that killed about 3,000 people.</p>

<p>April 2, 2004 -- Excerpts of a top-secret document detailing possible military options against al Qaeda and the Taliban - planned prior to Sept. 11, 2001 - were released by the White House yesterday.</p> <p>The document, called the National Security Presidential Directive, was finalized on Sept. 4, a week before the terrorist attacks.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's high marks for waging war on terrorism have been the bedrock of his popularity and his re-election campaign. Traditionally, commander in chief is the cornerstone for any incumbent, and this president is no exception. But recently, Bush's image as the wartime steward has taken a hit, from former counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke's compelling testimony that the Bush administration ignored the terrorist threat for months to the president's insistence - then reversal - that national security adviser Condoleezza Rice won't testify before the Sept. 11 commission. In that time, polls show Bush's strength on handling terrorism...

LONDON (AFP) - US officials knew months before September 11, 2001 that Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s Al-Qaeda network was planning to use aircraft to carry out a terrorist attack, a former FBI (news - web sites) translator has alleged. Sibel Edmonds told the Independent newspaper, in an interview published Friday, that a claim by US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s national security advisor Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) that there had been no such warnings was "an outrageous lie". The former translator with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said that she had...

mericans believe that the White House is cooperating with the 9/11 commission but they also say that members of the Bush administration are hiding something about what they knew before the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to a CBS News poll made public on Friday. Advertisement Americans are less trusting of the administration and more critical of its handling of terrorism and other policy areas than they were before the commission's public hearings began, the recent surveys of public opinion show. In addition, a poll by The Los Angeles Times found that a majority...

WASHINGTON — It has become a political cliché of Washington to say that Condoleezza Rice's upbringing at the hands of ambitious parents who pushed her to excel - as a concert pianist, a competitive ice skater and a young girl tutored in Spanish and French - created a woman who has lived on stage for most of her life. It is not a cliché to say that on Thursday, when Ms. Rice publicly testifies to the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, she will have to turn in a show-stopping performance as the woman on whose shoulders the credibility of...

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the commission looking into the Sept. 11 attacks said Sunday that some of its findings has surprised him and will surprise the public as well. Thomas H. Kean also said he expects the commission's final report to be published before the November elections, possibly as early as July, even though the White House must clear it for intelligence problems. The commission's deadline for submitting its report is July 26, extended from May 27 after complaints that the White House was delaying the turnover of necessary materials. Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, said...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the commission looking into the Sept. 11 attacks said Sunday that some of its findings has surprised him and will surprise the public as well. Thomas H. Kean also said he expects the commission's final report to be published before the November elections, possibly as early as July, even though the White House must clear it for intelligence problems. The commission's deadline for submitting its report is July 26, extended from May 27 after complaints that the White House was delaying the turnover of necessary materials. Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey,...

<p>The country is in an uproar over former White House terrorism expert Richard Clarke's recent contentions, which will continue to be debated.</p> <p>Let me give some insight on my own very recent (February 2004) experience with Mr. Clarke, who teaches a class at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He teaches this class with Rand Beers, a former government official with National Security Council experience who now works on the Democratic presidential campaign.</p>

April 12 issue - A federal investigation into the bank accounts of the Saudi Embassy in Washington has identified more than $27 million in "suspicious" transactions—including hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Muslim charities, and to clerics and Saudi students who are being scrutinized for possible links to terrorist activity, according to government documents obtained by NEWSWEEK. The probe also has uncovered large wire transfers overseas by the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. The transactions recently prompted the Saudi Embassy's longtime bank, the Riggs Bank of Washington, D.C., to drop the Saudis as a...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The chairman of an independent commission looking into US counterterrorism activities prior to the September 11 attacks warned he could not guarantee the panel's report will be released before the November presidential election because of a protracted White House vetting process. Former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean said he was "surprised" by the rule but saw no way around it. "Any time you're dealing with any kind of intelligence, even if you write a memoir after you've served in government, you've got to submit that to the same process," said the chairman, appearing on NBC's "Meet the...

DAY OF INFAMY 20019-11 panel to probe FBI informant's tipMan who translated lead on al-Qaida plot confirms meeting with 3 investigators Posted: April 6, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Paul Sperry© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com WASHINGTON -- When he watched the planes hit the Twin Towers on 9-11, former FBI translator Behrooz Sarshar says he "immediately" remembered a tip about an al-Qaida plot the bureau got from an informant more than four months before the terror group attacked America. Though he won't divulge details of the tip or discuss the sources and methods behind it, arguing they are still highly classified, Sarshar confirmed in an...

<p>The September 11 commission will look at the discrepancy between the testimony of Richard A. Clarke that the Clinton administration considered the threat of al Qaeda "urgent" and its final national-security report to Congress, which gave the terror organization scant mention.</p>

<p>April 7, 2004 -- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony tomorrow before the 9/11 Commission in Washington will air live, even on the broadcast networks.</p> <p>Cable's Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC are all covering the hearings, which begin at 9 a.m. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are also taking the rare step of pre-empting regular programming to cover Rice's testimony. Rice is expected to appear before the panel for 21/2 hours.</p>

Sept. 11 Commissioner, former Navy Secretary John Lehman is predicting that tomorrow's testimony by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will be "compelling," based on her previous testimony to the Commission behind closed doors. "We had four hours with her in private and she was so articulate and so credible and so compelling that all of us felt that the American people had to hear her discuss what the Bush policies were," Lehman told radio host Sean Hannity. The 9/11 Commissioner complained that the hearings so far had been "monopolized by a view that basically accused Condi Rice of being...

Julian Borger in Washington Thursday April 8, 2004 The Guardian A senior terrorism expert said yesterday that he had delivered a final desperate warning of an inevitable terrorist attack to Condoleezza Rice five days before al-Qaida struck New York's World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in Washington. On the eve of the national security adviser's public appearance today to defend the Bush administration's record before the commission studying the September 11 attacks, Gary Hart, a former Democratic presidential candidate who co-chaired an earlier three-year public study of the threats to US security in the 21st century, told the Guardian his...

WASHINGTON -- By the time she leaves the Sept. 11 commission hot seat today, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice may have given either President Bush or Democratic rival John Kerry an edge on the vital election issue of whether the White House has successfully fought terrorism. America will probably not learn much new about what was or wasn't done before or after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, officials and experts said. After all, Rice, 49, submitted to extensive off-camera questioning by the commission in February, and that questioning yielded no bombshells. Rice will describe...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) will present an unapologetic defense of President Bush (news - web sites) before the 9-11 commission on Thursday in the highest profile national security testimony since the Iran-Contra affair nearly two decades ago, officials and analysts said. All three major U.S. television networks planned the unusual step of preempting daytime programming to broadcast the national security adviser's sworn public testimony on how the Bush White House weighed the threat of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda network before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The moment could hardly...

WASHINGTON - National security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) testified Thursday "there was no silver bullet that could have prevented" the Sept. 11, 2001 terror strikes, conceding the United States was ill-prepared despite a threat two decades in the making. President Bush (news - web sites) "understood the threat, and he understood its importance," in advance, she told a national commission in implicit rejection of claims made last month by former terrorism aide Richard Clarke. Rice said the president came into office determined to develop a "more robust" policy to combat al-Qaida. "He made clear to me that...

Democratic party attack dog-turned 9/11 Commissioner Richard Ben Veniste adopted a harsh prosecutorial style Thursday morning during his questioning of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, repeatedly cutting her off as she attempted to give detailed answers to his questions. The fireworks began when the abrasive Washington lawyer, a one-time attorney to DNC chief Terry McAuliffe, grilled Rice on whether she told President Bush about Richard Clarke's warnings that al Qeada cells had penetrated the U.S. BEN-VENISTE: Did you tell the president at any time prior to Aug. 6, [2001] of the existence of al Qaeda cells inside the United...

A text of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony as delivered before the Sept. 11 commission on Thursday, as transcribed by eMediaMillWorks Inc.: KEAN: I've got a question now I'd like to ask you. It was given to me by a number of members of the families. Did you ever see or hear from the FBI, from the CIA, from any other intelligence agency, any memos or discussions or anything else between the time you got into office and 9-11 that talked about using planes as bombs? RICE: Let me address this question because it has been on the table....

<p>The television at Steve's Barbershop in Peoria, Ill., was tuned to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the September 11 commission yesterday, and co-owner Steve Bainter and his customers watched her in awe.</p> <p>"I'd say she's done an excellent job, but I was expecting her to do that. My customers agree," Mr. Bainter said, when contacted by The Washington Times and asked whether he was watching the much-ballyhooed hearing.</p>

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Leading US dailies were divided along ideological lines over national security advisor Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites)'s performance before the September 11 commission, whose members were criticized for partisanship. The Washington Post and New York Times agreed that Rice was unconvincing in her attempt to show that the administration of President George W. Bush (news - web sites) was focusing on terrorism before the tragedy of 2001 that cost the lives of some 3,000 people. Rice was "at her weakest," said the Times, when she attempted to portray Bush as a "hands-on admnistrator" with keen...

Testimony Provides Breath of Racial Reality for TV By ALESSANDRA STANLEY here was absolutely nothing in Condoleezza Rice's neutral-toned suit, primly folded hands or calm demeanor to draw attention to her sex or race. Her answers, guarded, prosaic and a bit pedantic, were typical of any high-level Washington official. But the last time the major networks interrupted regular programming to provide live coverage of a black woman testifying under oath in Washington was years ago when Anita Hill spoke out against Clarence Thomas in 1991. And at least one former senator intent on confronting Ms. Rice seemed sensitive to her...

  Condoleezza Rice Testifies:   LIES A SIXTH GRADER WOULD NOT ACCEPTbyMichael C. Ruppert © Copyright 2004, From The Wilderness Publications, www.copvcia.com. All Rights Reserved. May be reprinted, distributed or posted on an Internet web site for non-profit purposes only. April 8, 2004, 2000 PDT (FTW) – The critical interaction in any criminal investigation of a major crime is between the detective and the suspect. It is the detective's mission to get the suspect to trip up and make statements which can then be presented in court to discredit the suspect, break down his alibis, and prove the suspect's...

WASHINGTON -- Condoleezza Rice never seemed to face her toughest audience Thursday. Row after row of families of Sept. 11 victims sat directly behind her in the stark, cavernous hearing room, a silent chorus demanding answers. It was these families whose persistence led to the creation of the commission, and by the time the three-hour grilling of the president's national security adviser was over, they knew little more than when they came.

Relatives of the Sept. 11 victims ripped into Condoleezza Rice yesterday after she insisted the Bush administration had no clue the U.S. would be attacked. "Shame," Terry McGovern, a New Yorker whose mother was killed, yelled at the national security adviser during Rice's testimony before the 9/11 commission. Other relatives ridiculed Rice's assertion that she had no idea that Osama Bin Laden's men would hijack planes and crash them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. "How could she not know that?" asked Kristen Breitweiser, who lost her husband in the attacks. She noted that several similar threats were made,...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In response to request by the 9/11 commission, the White House is now working to declassify the president's daily intelligence briefing -- known as a "PDB" -- from August 6, 2001, a document that was the subject of heated questioning during National Security Adviser Condolezza Rice's 9/11 commission testimony Thursday.</p>

While flipping through TV coverage of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice’s testimony before the 911 commission, I stopped at ABC. More clearly, I was floored by ABC. Upon conclusion of Dr. Rice’s testimony, Peter Jennings, introduced ABC’s consultant on national security issues to review, confirm or rebut her testimony. In a episode of naked bias, ABC’s consultant was Richard Clarke. The same Richard Clarke whose prior testimony in front of the same commission and whose currently on-sale book places him squarely as part of the story. By way of an introduction, Mr. Jennings stated that ABC had retained Richard Clarke...

WASHINGTON - U.S. government agencies issued repeated warnings in the summer of 2001 about potential terrorist plots against the United States masterminded by Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), including a possible plan to hijack commercial aircraft, documents show. While there were no specific targets mentioned in the United States, there was intelligence indicating al-Qaida might attempt to crash a plane into the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. And other reports said Islamic extremists might try to hijack a plane to gain release of comrades. The escalating seriousness was reflected in a series of warnings issued by the State Department,...

Al-Qaida Allegedly Tried In 2001 To Send Operatives Into U.S. For Explosives Attack WASHINGTON -- The Associated Press has learned that President George W. Bush's August 2001 terrorism memo includes information indicating that three months earlier, al-Qaida was trying to send operatives into the United States for an explosives attack. The so-called presidential daily briefing, or PDB, was delivered to Bush on Aug. 6, 2001 -- a month before 9/11. The AP has talked with sources familiar with the PDB. Several people who have seen the memo say there were various reports Osama bin Laden had wanted to strike inside...

The top-secret briefing memo presented to President Bush on Aug. 6 carried the headline, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," and was primarily focused on recounting al Qaeda's past efforts to attack and infiltrate the United States, senior administration officials said. The document, known as the President's Daily Briefing, underscored that Osama bin Laden and his followers hoped to "bring the fight to America," in part as retaliation for U.S. missile strikes on al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in 1998, according to knowledgeable sources. Bush had specifically asked for an intelligence analysis of possible al Qaeda attacks within the...

Ben-Veniste's rudeness was clear for all to see, but to understand just how dishonest was his line of questioning, look at this article from the May 27, 2002, issue of Human Events, a conservative Washington weekly: Sen. Bob Graham (D.-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told HUMAN EVENTS May 21 that his committee had received all the same terrorism intelligence prior to September 11 as the Bush administration. "Yes, we had seen all the information," said Graham. "But we didn't see it on a single piece of paper, the way the President did." Graham added that threats of hijacking...

Highlights of the report entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the US" include: -- Osama bin Laden was set on striking the US as early as 1997 through early 2001; -- At least 70 FBI investigations were underway in 2001 regarding possible al Qaeda cells/terrorist-related operations in the U.S. Sources aware of the PDB say much of the intelligence is uncorroborated, and none of it is related to the eventual September 11 terrorist plot.

<p>CNN) -- The White House has released part of a key intelligence report on Osama Bin Laden that says the head of al Qaeda had been determined to conduct terror attacks in the United States since 1997. CNN's Carol Lin talked to senior political analyst Bill Schneider about the implications of the memo's contents.</p>

................ Titled "Bin Laden determined to strike in US," the briefing told Bush that the FBI was conducting "approximately 70 full field investigations throughout the US that it considers Bin Laden-related," and that the CIA and FBI were investigating a tip that Osama bin Laden's supporters were planning attacks in the United States. The memo also said the FBI had detected "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks." The document, a little more than a page long, summarized a series of indicators that bin Laden, Al Qaeda's leader, was trying...

DR. RICE: Good afternoon. I'm going to give you a chronology of the events that occurred during the spring and summer of 2001. But I want to start with a little definitional work. When we talk about threats, they come in many varieties. Very often we have uncorroborated information; sometimes we have corroborated but very general information. But I can tell you that it is almost never the case that we have information that is specific as to time, place, or method of attack. In the period starting in December 2000, the intelligence community started reporting increase in traffic concerning...