Is Condoleezza Rice going to come forward and really spill the beans?
Surprisingly, President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney recently gave her the go-ahead to be publicly questioned under oath by the Sept. 11 commission regarding the current administration’s knowledge surrounding al-Qaida and whether preemptive tactics could have foiled the group’s attacks.
The decision by Bush and Cheney to have Rice publicly testify is nothing more than a chance to do further talking around the truth than telling the truth. Why else would George Bush – of all people -be so insistent that she appear before the panel? Two word: Damage control.
In a perfect world, I would expect for her to tell them everything that they need to know. But because her boss is in the midst of an election year, we can expect more ambiguous explanations and contradictory statements.
The commission has already exposed the issue that Rice has already done her fair share of making conflicting remarks. In her private meeting with them, she claimed that no one could have ever predicted al-Qaida would seize airplanes and use them as missiles. However, former National Security Council Counter-terrorism Chief Richard Clarke did.
The commission has said that prior to Sept. 11, Clarke informed the administration of this possibility and offered procedures to follow. He even outlined for them the measures he took to secure the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. As expected, Rice wants to revise her statement.
Perhaps she’s not that innocent after all.
Is going public to “tell the truth” not the same thing that was done to explain the United States’ occupation in Iraq? If memory serves correctly, the weapons of mass destruction turned out to be just as bogus as Bush’s presidential election victory.
Our President has such an extensive record for deceiving the people that I am willing to bet that his entire executive branch have already gotten their stories straight and worked on the other lies that Rice will tell the American people.
Monica Harden is a senior magazine production student from Hockley, Texas. Contact her at mharden82@aol.com