All 9/11 questions answered: Bush - President, VP appear before panel
WASHINGTON, April 29: US President George Bush said on Thursday that he and Vice President Dick Cheney had answered every question from the panel investigating the September 11 attacks insession of more than three hours.
"If we had something to hide, we wouldn't have met with them in the first place. We answered all their questions," said Mr Bush, who had only grudgingly agreed to talk with the commission and then imposed strict conditions. The White House insisted Mr Cheney join the president, that they not be sworn to tell the truth, and that there be no transcript or recording of the session - only notes taken by one panel staffer and two White House lawyers.
The "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States" is due to release its report in late July, right as Mr Bush's race with his Democratic rival for the White House, Senator John Kerry, goes into high gear.
In a brief appearance in the White House Rose Garden, hastily announced after the three hour and ten minute session, Mr Bush suggested that the panel members were already mulling what advice to give in their final assessment.
"There was a lot of interest about how to better protect America. In other words, they're very interested in the recommendations that they're going to lay out," said Mr Bush, whose official lawyer was present for the questions.
Mr Bush said he would not reveal details of the questions, but later allowed that they had not asked him whether al-Qaeda operatives like those who carried out the attacks in 2001 were operating in the United States now. Asked for the reasons behind his unprecedented insistence on Mr Cheney's presence, Mr Bush replied: "I think it was important for them to see our body language as well, how we work together."
The president's opponents charged the administration sought to limit the reach of potentially embarrassing revelations, and his insistence on testifying with Mr Cheney has drawn criticism and ridicule.
Mr Bush ducked a question on whether he owed it to the families of the roughly 3,000 victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to record the session or provide a transcript. Although all 10 commission members sat down with Mr Bush and Mr Cheney promptly at 9:30 am, as scheduled, two Democrats left before the meeting ended at 12:40 pm: Vice-chairman Lee Hamilton and former senator Bob Kerrey.
A commission official said both members had longstanding, previously scheduled appointments and were not showing their displeasure with what was already a politically loaded meeting. Mr Bush has touted his leadership in the global war on terrorism ahead of the November 2 presidential election while battering Kerry's national security credentials.
But a poll published Thursday showed Mr Bush's approval ratings in a slump, his race with Kerry a dead heat, and highlighted growing doubts about his handling of the war in Iraq.
And former counter-terrorism aides have publicly called into question Mr Bush's response to the growing threat from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network after he took office in January 2001.
Critics have pointed to a secret briefing for the president, since made public, that warned him on August 6th that warned bin Laden was determined to strike inside the United States and that US authorities had detected "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks."
Just over a month later, members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network killed some 3,000 people after slamming hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth jet crashed in Pennsylvania. Mr Bush and Mr Cheney had been expected to face questions on their response to the August briefing, which the administration has said was long on "historical" information and short on "actionable" intelligence. -AFP
