President Bush has flip-flopped on National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's availability for public, under-oath, testimony before the 9-11 commission. This is an important victory for everyone that really wants to examine the policy failures that led to September 11th.
The victory was not total, though. President Bush has required the 9-11 Commission to accede to a bizarre condition for Rice's testimony: the Commission "must agree in writing that it will not request additional public testimony from any White House official, including Dr. Rice." This prior-restraint on the Commission could only have one purpose: to prevent the Commission from asking questions that could embarass the administration. Why would it bother asking questions if it has already agreed not to talk to anyone that can answer them?
Bush claims that he "ordered this level of cooperation because I consider it necessary to gaining a complete picture of the months and years that preceded the murder of our fellow citizens on September the 11th, 2001." Again, he has chosen the "big lie" approach. Pretend that this is "extraordinary cooperation," instead of the bare minimum (or below it). For a more accurate depiction of Bush's cooperation with the 9-11 commission, see our 5 minute guide.
Posted by Research Team at March 31, 2004 10:05 AM