Foreign Affairs Discussion Group

[Pre386]

Bush says had no warning of 9/11
Thu 25 March, 2004 21:16

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=483271§ion=news

By Caren Bohan

NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush insisted he had no advance warning of the September 11, 2001, attacks as he challenged the assertions of a former aide who accused him of not placing a high enough priority on pursuing al Qaeda prior to the tragedy.

Visiting a community college in the election swing state of New Hampshire on Thursday, Bush tried to shore up his credibility on national security, which may be key to stopping Democrat John Kerry from taking the White House from him in November.

"Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to strike America, to attack us, I would have used every resource, every asset, every power of the government, to protect the American people," Bush said, appearing with Cheryl McGinnis, the wife of a pilot killed in the attacks.

Counterterrorism expert Richard Clarke, who served the last four U.S. presidents, said Bush did not take the threat of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organisation seriously and downgraded its importance in comparison to the administration of former President Bill Clinton.

Clarke delivered his scathing critique of Bush in testimony on Wednesday before the commission investigating the events leading up to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

One of the most damaging revelations was a letter Clarke wrote a week before the attacks asking White House policymakers to imagine a day after hundreds of Americans lay dead at home and abroad after a terrorist attack and ask themselves what they could have done.

BUSH RAISING MONEY ON KERRY TURF

The White House has sought to undermine Clarke's credibility, brandishing comments he made previously which had been favourable to the administration.

Clarke's allegations, detailed in a new book, have blanketed the U.S. airwaves in recent days, putting the president on the defensive just as his campaign was gaining momentum with an effort to attack Kerry.

Kerry, who has remained out of the fray on vacation throughout the saga, returned to the campaign trail on Thursday, promising to restore trust in the White House.

Bush, who planned later on Thursday to raise $1.2 million (660,000 pounds) in Kerry's home state of Massachusetts, did not mention Clarke in his remarks. But he did refer to the commission, with which his administration has had a somewhat rocky relationship.

Bush said the panel was doing "very important" work and noted it was looking not only at his administration but also "the eight years of the previous administration."

Bush initially opposed the panel's creation and has been involved at various times over the past few months in delicate negotiations over the timing and circumstances of his own testimony with the panel and those of his staff.

The president has agreed to meet with the commission but both he and his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, have declined to testify in public hearings. The administration has cited separation of powers because the panel was created by Congress, but commission members have expressed disappointment that Rice did not join administration officials such as Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in testifying publicly this week.