Congressional Quarterly Today April 7, 2004
Rice Will Not Directly Refute Clarke in Her Sept. 11 Committee Testimony, Aide Says
By Niels C. Sorrells, CQ Staff
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice will not make a point-by-point rebuttal of allegations by former White House counterterrorism adviser Richard A. Clarke when she appears before the independent Sept. 11 commission Thursday.
Instead, according to Sean McCormack, spokesman for the National Security Council, Rice will read a 20-minute opening statement that will detail how the Bush administration fought against terrorism in the eight months before the Sept. 11 attacks.
"She will present the facts to the commission and the American people," McCormack said Wednesday.
Most significantly, Rice will not refute Clarke's charges, made in a new book, in interviews and before the commission two weeks ago, that the Bush administration -- and Rice in particular -- largely ignored his warnings of the threat posed by al Qaeda before the Sept. attacks.
"This is the 9-11 commission, not the Dick Clarke commission," McCormack said.
But Rice's planned approach is no guarantee the 10-member panel will not question her closely on any discrepancies between her statements and Clarke's allegations. Rice's appearance, which will be broadcast nationally on television, could affect Bush's re-election campaign, which has stressed his leadership credentials in the war on terror.
Some lawmakers said no matter what Rice says before the panel, many people already have made up their minds about the administration's handling of the terror threat before the Sept. 11 attacks.
"In this blast furnace of publicity, I doubt the air will be cleared for people who think what they want to think," said Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
Others lawmakers are taking a wait-and-see approach, saying it would be unfair to prejudge the importance of Rice's remarks until they are weighed against other testimony. "I don't think you can say one session will resolve this," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
John Pike, a defense analyst with globalsecurity.org, doubted that Rice's testimony would clarify all the conflicting testimony now before the commission. He predicted that the panel will need to review the information several times and that even generations from now, analysts probably will still be trying to figure out why the United States was caught off guard Sept. 11 and what could have been done differently.
"They're still working on the Civil War," Pike said. "They still haven't figured out Vietnam."
Pike also noted that commission members might be tempted to veer into partisan politics. After Republican members criticized Clarke on March 24, suggesting his criticism of the administration's approach to terror contradicted earlier testimony, Pike said Democrats are likely to press Rice to see if they can prove the administration had been too relaxed about terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Sen. Larry E. Craig, R-Idaho, was not optimistic. "What will be interesting is the political sparring," he said. "Now we'll see what they do with Condoleezza Rice."
Rice's testimony begins at 9 a.m. Thursday in 216 Hart.
© Copyright 2004, Copyright 2004 Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
