Posted on 05/16/2002 5:52:25 PM PDT by Dallas
NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday raised the specter of a new, devastating terror attack on the United States and said Democratic Party criticism of the White House's handling of pre-Sept. 11 terror warnings at such a time was "thoroughly irresponsible".
Cheney said in a speech in New York that an investigation by Congress into possible intelligence failings ahead of the Sept. 11 attacks, in which about 3,000 people were killed, should be handled with great circumspection.
"An investigation must not interfere with the ongoing efforts to prevent the next attack, because without a doubt a very real threat of another perhaps more devastating attack still exists," Cheney said at the start of the speech at a dinner marking the 40th anniversary of the New York State Conservative Party.
"The people and agencies responsible for helping us learn about and defeat such an attack are the very ones most likely to be distracted from their critical duties if Congress fails to carry out their obligations in a responsible fashion," Cheney said.
The vice president attacked Democratic Party critics of the White House's handling of pre-Sept. 11 terrorism warnings, saying that suggestions the attacks could have been prevented were "thoroughly irresponsible and totally unworthy of national leaders in a time of war."
Key members of Congress had demanded earlier to know if the U.S. government had had enough information to head off the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Was there a failure of intelligence? Did the right officials not act on the intelligence in the proper way? These are the things we need to find out," said House of Representatives Democratic leader Richard Gephardt.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he was "gravely concerned."
Administration officials said President George W. Bush had been warned in August of a possible hijack plot, but the intelligence was too general to act upon.
In his speech Cheney said he wanted to tell "my Democratic friends in the Congress is that they need to be very cautious not to seek political advantage by making incendiary suggestions".
"The president and I believe that one of our most important responsibilities is to do all that we can to ensure that an attack like 9/11 never happens again," he said.
"We believe that a thorough investigation of the events that led up to 9/11 is entirely appropriate and at the president's direction I've worked with the leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees to ensure that they get the necessary cooperation...
"There is an obligation on the part of the Congress to make certain that any investigation is conducted in a professional and responsible manner by members who are knowledgeable and are committed to improving our ability to defend the nation, not those who would seek short term political advantage," Cheney said.
Don't forget to put in a LIBERAL amount of marjuana.
And I have no intention of moving to DU, but thanks for the suggestion.
In all honesty, they are a gift for a sixty year old woman with whom I work. Somehow I don't think she'd appreciate the mj.
Smart-ass comments get old after a while, doncha think?
Excuse me, but Gephardt was lying through his fake teeth. The congress had the same information that the White HOuse did in Advance. What did he do to prevent the attacks? Nothing, not that anyone could have, but the point is, he is a partisan lying attack dog!
Good questions, indeed!
Not as old as the lies of a liberal.
Boy, isn't he a waste of space and air.
You're getting this from where?
Last week crodding the Canadian border they were doing computer background checks on everyone entering the US !
Before 9-11 they only looked at your ID and passed you through !
He has alot of nerve saying this when his boss "irresponsibly" continues to try to sneak through 245i. They are all equally responsible for the next attack, and are all equally behaving irresponsibly.
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