For Immediate Release
October 3, 2006
Contact: Stacie Paxton/Mark Paustenbach - 202-863-8148
What Else Is The Bush White House Not Telling The American People?
Washington, DC - Following the September 11th terrorist attacks, Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice said there was no way of predicting the terrorist plot,
yet we continue to learn about previously undisclosed warnings. First we
learned about the now infamous "Bin Laden Determined to Attack America" memo,
and this week we're told that Rice was warned by CIA Director George Tenet in
July 2001 of al Qaeda's intent to attack U.S. interests.
The Bush White House is clearly concerned about the appearance of Rice’s faulty
memory, as they issued a press release today entitled, “The Rest Of The Story:
The Rice-Tenet Meeting.”
After first denying the meeting, the White House now admits that the meeting
did, in fact, take place as Bob Woodward alleges in his new book. This
contradicts not only Rice's previous assertions, but also those of Bush
counselor Dan Bartlett who backed up Rice's faulty memory.
The Washington Post notes that according to the 9/11 Commission transcript,
Rice asked Cofer Black and Tenet to also brief Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft, yet yesterday, a State Department
spokesman said the information presented in this meeting was "not new, rather
it was a good summary from the threat reporting from previous weeks." If this
was the case, why did Secretary Rice feel it was necessary for Secretary
Rumsfeld and Attorney General Ashcroft to have the same briefing? What else is
this White House not telling the American people?
"It certainly sounds like our Secretary of State has a pretty faulty and
unreliable memory," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie
Paxton. "Instead of telling the truth, time and again, the Bush Administration
engages in misleading attacks to try to distract from their failed record. The
American people deserve real leadership from their White House and their
elected representatives in Congress. Democrats remain committed to a new
direction for America."
Rice: Said She Had No Warnings About Al Qaeda; Bin Laden “Determined To Attack Inside America” Memo Was Not A Warning. “Commissioner, this was not a warning. This was a historic memo -- historical memo prepared by the agency because the president was asking questions about what we knew about the inside.”
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/08/rice.transcript/>
State Department Spokesman Confirmed Meeting Between Tenet and Rice. “A review
of White House records has determined that George J. Tenet, then the director
of central intelligence, did brief Condoleezza Rice and other top officials on
July 10, 2001, about the looming threat from Al Qaeda.” State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack’s account came hours after Ms. Rice, the secretary of
state, told reporters aboard her airplane that she did not recall the specific
meeting on July 10, noting that she had met repeatedly with Mr. Tenet that
summer about terrorist threats. Ms. Rice, the national security adviser at the
time, said it was ‘incomprehensible’ to suggest she had ignored dire terrorist
threats two months before the Sept. 11 attack.”
Officials Agree, Tenet Sounded the Alarm During July 10th Meeting. Officials
now agree that on July 10, 2001, Mr. Tenet and his counterterrorism deputy, J.
Cofer Black, were so alarmed about intelligence pointing to an impending attack
by Al Qaeda that they demanded an emergency meeting at the White House with Ms.
Rice and her National Security Council staff.
State Department Spokesman: Information In Meeting Was "Not New." McCormick
said, "the information presented in this meeting was not new, rather it was a
good summary from the threat reporting from previous weeks." 10/3/06]
But, Rice Asked For Rumsfeld And Ashcroft To Receive The Same Briefing. “
McCormack said that after the meting, Rice had asked that the same material be
given to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and then-Attorney General John
Ashcroft.”
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