Posted on 02/27/2004 9:15:38 AM PST by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States will get one hour to ask President George W. Bush what he knew about events leading up to the suicide airline hijackings, the White House said on Friday.
"They are looking at an hour as you pointed out," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said when asked by a reporter whether he could confirm reports that Bush was limiting the meeting to an hour.
Rather than sitting down with all 10 members of the so-called 9/11 commission, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have only agreed to meet privately with its chairman, Thomas Kean, and the vice chairman, Lee Hamilton.
The panel would prefer that Bush meet with all of the members.
Created by the U.S. Congress, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States is charged with examining lapses in intelligence and national security in the months before the attacks. Strikes by hijacked airplanes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon killed about 3,000 people.
The panel has expressed concern that it will not have enough time to gather all the information it needs to meet a May 27 deadline to complete its report.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert has been opposed to granting the panel's request for a 60-day extension on the grounds that the report would be issued at the height of the U.S. presidential campaign, potentially politicizing its findings.
Some Democrats in Congress have accused the White House of only half-heartedly backing the commission's request for an extension.
But McClellan called such accusations "silly."
The White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, has personally appealed to Hastert to reconsider.
"We continue to urge Congress to grant an extension," McClellan said.
The White House initially opposed setting up the commission and until recently openly resisted its extension.
The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday approved an two-month extension but it was not clear whether Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, would allow the issue to go before the Senate for a vote.
As if 9/11 happened in a vacuum and not in the context of: the first WTC bombing (2/26/93), the Khobar Towers bombing, the simultaneous bombings on 2 of our embassies in Africa, the U.S.S. Cole?
So what if there's voluminous evidence that the planning for this attack began more than TWO YEARS in advance -- which meant that it went on right under the noses of the crack Rodham-Clinton-Gore administration?!
When do Clinton, Gore and Rodham (who constantly bleats about her role in her hubby's administration) testify about what they knew and when they knew it? Then again, given that it's common knowledge that the three of them are pathological liars, why bother?
I didn't see that. I saw him saying something to the effect that Bush should just say he went in the National Guard to avoid VietNam, and everyone would understand.
At that I became ill and had a Scotch & soda to calm my stomach.
It's to the point now that should I discover you are a Dimocrat or undecided voter, I ignore your existence.
Sure, I'll be glad to help you neighbor. May I see your voters registration?
You mean on how their alliance with al-Qaeda in the Balkans allowed Bosnian Muslim jihadis to possibly enter the USA without oversight? 9/11 happened because the Clintonistas lost control of their al-Qaeda Balkans operatives. Treason most foul. Treason buried deep within the last administration's foreign policy that still exists hidden like a parasite within the Bush admin.
Bush is not afraid that the institutions he is attempting to heal and rebuild will be exposed for their Clintonian black deeds. The fear among Republicans is that exposing these black deeds of the Democorats will make the American people blame EVERYONE in their anger.
I hope the president spends the entire hour in filibuster.
That "pathetic war hero" won a Medal of Honor as a SEAL and lost his leg in the process. You're free to question his politics all you want, don't you dare question his valor.
There is nothing pathetic about Bob Kerrey.
There is something pathetic about all of us, somewhere down the line.
Kerrey thought he would run for president and suddenly got blindsided by reports of atroicities he was involved with in VietNam.
My reference to "pathetic" is in the fact that he didn't stand up to those charges and carry on. He, perhaps like I would do, quit, as though some unfortunate actions taken in the heat of war were somehow a disqualifier for public office.
If you haven't read about any of that, here is one of many articles on the subject.
"There is nothing pathetic about Bob Kerrey."
There is something pathetic about all of us, somewhere down the line.
Kerrey thought he would run for president and suddenly got blindsided by reports of atroicities he was involved with in VietNam.
My reference to "pathetic" is in the fact that he didn't stand up to those charges and carry on. He, perhaps like I would do, quit, as though some unfortunate actions taken in the heat of war were somehow a disqualifier for public office.
If you haven't read about any of that, here is one of many articles on the subject.
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