Condoleezza Rice & the 9-11 Commission [LIVE THREAD] 9AM EST

http://c-span.org/ ^ | 4-8-04 | ME

[OXENinFLA]

Rice Testifies Before 9/11 Cmsn. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testifies before the Sept. 11 Commission.

[cajungirl]

I guess I am pessimistic. condi has hit it out of the park and the vast media will present it otherwise. Unless you watch this or watch conservative media, you won't have a clue.

[SupplySider]

I agree. This is disgusting. A bunch of failed nobody's (on both sides), browbeating the administration because they didn't achieve the impossible, and somehow prevent 9-11.

Reminds me of Ollie North standing tall in front of that long-haired bald guy and the other Dem weaklings.

[rhombus]

I'm for the distruction of the deomcratic party.

The Democrats are doing a very good job at destroying their own party.

[Quilla]

My 83 year old mother is watching this at home. She keeps calling me at work asking "Who is that horrid woman?" She's ready for a few Republican panel members to ask questions. I hope she makes it through this.

[ride the whirlwind]

This is a huge "Ollie North moment" - the Dems are in a hole

I really really like the sound of that!

[MEG33]

1500 posts and you want a summation?LOL Ben was nasty and Gorelick was Goring.Condi is FINE!

[Reb Raider]

I didn't write that, I was just commenting to the person that did that it was a passionately felt description of Ben Veniste and I am well known in my house for having the same heartfelt descriptions of the dems and their media cohorts.

Sorry ,I don't know how to change the font when copying someone's post or it would have been clearer!! :)

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Anyone have any live streaming video links... the kids are amping out if I try to watch one min... UGHH..

[texasflower]

I plan to see if they will release the names of those that were there.

Since it is a PUBLIC hearing!

[mountainfolk]

I am absolutely rooted to my sofa. Have got to go to an appointment but haven't found a good time to break off. Condi Rice is the genuine article, smart, articulate and so above the RAT mentality that thinks this is THEIR forum for campaigning and slamming Bush and his administration. The clapping just emphasizes the political slant of the RATS on the commission. Go Condi---thank you for your service to our country.

[kassie]

Condi not understanding this man's question.

[dansangel]

Bookmark *ping*

[b4its2late]

There are literally tens of thousands of 911 family members who support Bush, but the Republicans wouldn't be so disgusting as to pack the gallery with them.

That sort of filth is for the Dems.

Good point.

[DoctorMichael]

From today's WashTimes Op-Ed:

Rice, Clarke and September 11

New revelations that the final national security policy paper submitted to Congress by President Clinton barely mentioned the terrorist threat from Osama bin Laden provide some much-needed context for National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony today. As this newspaper reported Tuesday, the 45,000-word document makes no mention of al Qaeda at all and refers to bin Laden by name just four times. The document further undermines assertions by former White House terrorism analyst Richard A. Clarke that the Clinton administration considered al Qaeda an "urgent" threat, while Miss Rice and the Bush administration "ignored" it.

Mr. Clarke's credibility has been further undermined by two letters written by Rep. Chris Shays, chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security in July 2000 and January 2001 ? long before Mr. Clarke became a controversial public figure. In the letters, Mr. Shays was sharply critical of the quality of Mr. Clarke's work as anti-terrorism czar in the Clinton administration. Last month, Mr. Shays sent another letter to the September 11 commission stating that, under Mr. Clarke, "several presidential directives and a Justice Department five-year law-enforcement plan were clumsily lashed together and called a strategy" to combat terrorism.

Unfortunately, calling Miss Rice to testify before the September 11 commission investigating the attacks provides one more example of what is wrong with Washington today. Rehashing yet again events of the past rather than preparing for the future is harmful to the national interest. Miss Rice has been forced to spend valuable time preparing for her testimony when her attention is needed to events in Iraq.

A sincere effort to gain lessons learned could have been done methodically and quietly rather than on a partisan public timetable geared to sensationalism. (Thank goodness that FDR and his senior advisers didn't have to waste precious weeks and months being grilled by former isolationists.)

While there are inevitably discrepancies in the ways that honorable people remember events, we know that Miss Rice will not be defensive and will carefully explain the administration's pre-September 11 approach.

The sharply worded letters sent by Mr. Shays, criticizing Mr. Clarke's work as the Clinton administration's counterterrorism czar, suggest that Miss Rice had plenty of reason to be wary of investing a great deal of responsibility in him. In a July 5, 2000, letter to Mr. Clarke, for example, Mr. Shays blasted his evasiveness in responding to committee questions about a comprehensive anti-terror strategy. Mr. Shays amplified these concerns in a Jan. 22, 2001, letter to Miss Rice. In a March 24 letter to Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton of the September 11 panel, Mr. Shays said that Mr. Clarke's approach to terrorism was "reactive and limited to swatting at the visible elements of al Qaeda," making him "part of the problem before September 11." In evaluating Miss Rice's testimony, the panel will need to take the credibility problems of Mr. Clarke, the administration's sharpest critic, into account.

[mtbopfuyn]

Slate - we haven't had another incident on our soil since 9/11. Have we displaced threat from here to elsewhere?

Condi - no. AQ realizes it's war. We've made it harder for them but we're not 100% safe.

[hideandwatch]

i'm developing a very simplistic and alarming opinion of the pentagon ie government pre september 11...is doctor rice saying that they were just basically "game playing" with their plans..developing, tiring and moving on to another plan...none of the plans was completed pre september 11...this is the way things were done?...

[r9etb]

I didn't know who he was, but his clear, concise questioning was greatly appreciated after the emotion-fondling of Gorelick!

Slade Gorton (R), former Senator from Washington. He's a pretty sharp fellow. Former state AG, IIRC, before becoming a big wheel in WA state politics.

[Catspaw]

Oh, I know she'll be back to work as soon as she leaves the hearing room.

Me? I'd be in a darkened room with a cool cloth over my forehead for a couple hours after the Dems tried to beat up on me.

[prairiebreeze]

Condi is doing superbly. Thinking so very well on her feet. Deflecting attacks. Not letting them intimidate her.

I am so impressed.

Prairie

[TxBec]

yes. 1500 words or less please :)

Just turned it on..