Hearing to probe 9/11 failings

2004-03-23 13:00

Hope Yen

Washington - A federal panel reviewing the September 11 attacks says a two-day hearing will focus on the Bush and Clinton administrations' failed response to the threat from al-Qaeda.

This announcement comes amid new allegations that Bush officials didn't do enough to prevent the tragedy.

Timothy Roemer, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana, said officials from both administrations will face tough questions about why the government didn't consider a stronger military option sooner, particularly after US intelligence received repeated warnings in early 2001 of a possible attack.

Scheduled to testify on Tuesday were secretary of state Colin Powell and defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as well as their counterparts in President Bill Clinton's administration, William Cohen and Madeleine Albright. They are appearing as part of the panel's review of failures in diplomatic and military strategy.

Knowledge

Commissioners say questions for Clinton officials include why the administration reverted to a nonmilitary approach despite knowledge that al-Qaeda terrorists had planned attacks to coincide with the December 31 1999, millennium festivities, and particularly after the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yeman.

In August 1998, Clinton had ordered cruise missile attacks on al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a factory in Sudan in retaliation for al-Qaeda's suspected role in the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Officials in the Bush's administration, meanwhile, should expect questions about whether officials downplayed the al-Qaeda threat despite warnings from Clinton officials as well as growing intelligence chatter about a possible strike during the summer of 2001.

"We will focus on the leadup to 9-11 and the extraordinary information that was being collected during the summer of 2001 and how that information was or was not disseminated to the appropriate agencies," said Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic commissioner and former Watergate prosecutor.

The hearing comes as Bush's re-election campaign is showcasing his role as a wartime president. And it follows explosive allegations in a book released on Monday by Richard A Clarke, Bush's former counterterrorism coordinator and a holdover from the Clinton administration.

Clarke said he warned Bush officials in a January 2001 memo, just as they were taking office, about the growing al-Qaeda threat after the Cole attack - but was put off by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who "gave me the impression she had never heard the term before".

Clarke resigned his White House job 13 months ago, after holding senior posts under Presidents Ronald Reagan, Clinton and the first President Bush.

Clarke is scheduled to testify on Wednesday, along with CIA director George Tenet, Clinton national security adviser Sandy Berger, who was Rice's predecessor, and deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage.

The 10-member commission has invited Rice to testify, but she has declined on the advice of the White House, which cited separation of power concerns involving its staff appearing before a legislative body.

- SAPA