by Scott Ott
(2004-03-31) -- Just a day after U.S. President George Bush announced he would allow National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to testify under oath before the commission investigating the 9/11 terror attacks, a partial transcript of Ms. Rice's previous closed-door session with the panel has leaked to the media.
The leak comes amid charges from former White House counter-terrorism coordinator Richard A. Clarke that the Bush administration treated the al Qaeda threat as "important" but not "urgent" and that the president once intimidated Mr. Clarke into investigating a possible link between al Qaeda and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Panel member names are not identified in the partial transcript, which was gleaned from notes taken by an amateur stenographer who just happened to be in the room during the session. Here is an excerpt:
PANEL MEMBER: How would you describe the Bush administration's level of concern about al Qaeda prior to the 9/11 attacks?
DR. RICE: We viewed the al Qaeda threat as important, but not urgent. We were more concerned with developing a missile defense system and planning to avenge Saddam Hussein's attempt to assassinate President Bush's father.
PANEL MEMBER: Describe your working relationship with former counter-terrorism coordinator, and now bestselling author, Richard A. Clarke.
DR. RICE: What can I say about Dick Clarke that you don't already know? The man is brilliant--an intellectual giant. His work in the Clinton administration had almost wiped al Qaeda from the face of the earth. In hindsight, I should have listened to him. I should have let him meet daily with the president. But I was jealous of his massive intellect and his personal charisma, which made him such an effective leader. I prevented him from protecting America, yet he was too humble and loyal to contradict me, or the president, in public.
PANEL MEMBER: To your knowledge, did the president ever try to bully Mr. Clarke into fabricating a connection between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein?
DR. RICE: Yes. As soon as the planes hit the World Trade Center, Mr. Bush decided that he finally had his motive to invade Iraq. He felt that Saddam's non-compliance with the terms of surrender from the Gulf War was inadequate, as was the fact that Saddam's anti-aircraft guns fired on Coalition aircraft on a regular basis. He needed a real reason to force Iraq to comply with a decade of U.N. resolutions. So, he grabbed Dick Clarke by the throat, jacked him up against the wall and said, 'Saddam is behind these terror attacks, isn't he?' Then he winked, to clearly indicate to Dick that the correct answer would be 'Yes, sir.'
PANEL MEMBER: If you could go back to early 2001 and start over, what else would you do differently?
MS. RICE: I would politely decline the president's invitation to serve as national security advisor and tell him forthrightly: 'Mr. President, Dick Clarke is your man.'
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