As expected, Condoleeza Rice denied that the Bush Administration was slow to recognize the al Qaeda threat. She may, in fact, believe that.
She also testified today that Saudi Arabia is now a full partner in the war on terrorism. That is not true and probably a lie.
It is a reminder, too, that we, the people, still know almost nothing of the Saudi role in 9/11. It is not paranoid to suspect there is a smoking gun hidden in the Saudi connection.
I am not optimistic that we will learn much more before Election Day. Prince Bandar buddies up to Democrats, too. Remember his visit to Santa Fe to lunch with Bill Richardson?
Incidentally, the White House is lucky. Rice’s testimony on 9/11 coincides with further deterioration of the situation in Iraq, where a descent into civil war is an imminent danger. So the past obscured the present.
Too bad the 9/11 Commission is not probing the origins of our war on Iraq, the illusions and delusions of the cabal that pushed it and their failure, even today, to admit mistakes.
Clarke apologized to the 9/11 widows. Will Secretary Rumsfeld ever apologize to Gen. Shinseki, who made the mistake of telling Congress we would need lots more soldiers in Iraq?