Thank you. I understand, Dr. Rice, that you've an
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opening statement. Your prepared statement, of
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course, will be entered into the record in full,
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and we look forward to -- if it it's a summary
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statement, that's fine. Dr. Rice.
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Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
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I thank the Commission for arranging this
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special session. I thank you for helping us to
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find a way to meet the nation's need to learn
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all that we can about the September 11th
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attacks, while preserving important
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constitutional principles.
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The Commission, and those who appear before
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it, have a vital charge. We owe it to those that
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we lost, and to their loved ones, and to our
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country, to learn all that we can about that
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tragic day, and the events that led to it. Many
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of the families of the victims are here today,
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and I want to thank them for their contributions
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to this Commission's work.
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The terrorist threat to our nation did not emerge
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on September 11th, 2001. Long before that day,
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radical, freedom-hating terrorists declared war
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on America and on the civilized world: the
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attack on the Marine barracks in Lebanon in
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1983; the hijacking of the Achille Lauro in 1985;
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the rise of al-Qaida and the bombing of the
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World Trade Center in 1993; the attacks on
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American installations in Saudi Arabia in 1995
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and 1996; the East Africa [embassy] bombings
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of 1998; the attack on the USS Cole in 2000.
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These and other atrocities were part of a
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sustained, systematic campaign to spread
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devastation and chaos and to murder innocent
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Americans.
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The terrorists were at war with us, but we were
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not yet at war with them. For more than 20
|
years, the terrorist threat gathered, and
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America's response across several
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Administrations of both parties was insufficient.
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Historically, democratic societies have been
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slow to react to gathering threats, tending
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instead to wait to confront threats until they
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are too dangerous to ignore, or until it is too
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late. Despite the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915
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and continued German harassment of American
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shipping, the United States did not enter the
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First World War until two years later. Despite
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Nazi Germany's repeated violations of the
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Versailles Treaty and provocations throughout
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the mid-1930s, the Western democracies did
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not take action until 1939. The U.S. government
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did not act against the growing threat from
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Imperial Japan until it became all too evident at
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Pearl Harbor. And, tragically, for all the
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language of war spoken before September 11th,
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this country simply was not on war footing.
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Since then, America has been at war. And under
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President Bush's leadership, we will remain at
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war until the terrorist threat to our nation is
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ended. The world has changed so much that it
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is hard to remember what our lives were like
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before that day. But I do want to describe some
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of the actions that were taken by the
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Administration prior to September 11th.
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After President Bush was elected, we were
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briefed by the Clinton Administration on many
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national security issues during the transition.
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The President-elect and I were briefed by
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George Tenet on terrorism and on the al-Qaida
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network. Members of Sandy Berger's NSC
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[National Security Council] staff briefed me,
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along with other members of the national
|
security team, on counterterrorism and
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al-Qaida. This briefing lasted for about an hour,
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and it reviewed the Clinton Administration's
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counterterrorism approach and the various
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counterterrorism activities then under way.
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Sandy and I personally discussed a variety of
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other topics, including North Korea, Iraq, the
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Middle East, and the Balkans.
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Because of these briefings and because we
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had watched the rise of al-Qaida over many
|
years, we understood that the network posed
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a serious threat to the United States. We
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wanted to ensure that there was no respite in
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the fight against al-Qaida. On an operational
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level, therefore, we decided immediately to
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continue to pursue the Clinton Administration's
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covert action authorities and other efforts to
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fight the network. President Bush retained
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| George Tenet a |
