9/11 Panel: Bush White House Withheld Papers

April 8, 2004 6:06 AM

9/11 Panel: Bush White House Withheld PapersThe commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks announced yesterday that it has identified 69 documents from the Clinton era that the Bush White House withheld from investigators and which include references to al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and other issues relevant to the panel's work.
posted by Postroad (8 comments total)

I have only heard a snippet of the testimony, but Dr. Rice sounded a bit shakey during that moment. .what are other people's impressions of this?
posted by Danf at 7:48 AM on April 8, 2004

Her opening statements sounded shakey and overly defensive. Like Rummy wrote them for her and she didn't have his ability to completely ignore reality.

Reminds me a lot of Powell's presentation to the UN. Unconvincing and filled with hidden regret.

I kept expecting her to blurt out that she was mad as hell and couldn't take it anymore.
posted by n9 at 8:23 AM on April 8, 2004

/meta
Posty, somebody posted a Rice thread 2 hours and 2 minutes before you gave us your FPP -- was it really needed on the front page? why not post it as a comment in that thread?
posted by matteo at 9:18 AM on April 8, 2004

1. W's administration restricts access to Bush Sr.'s Presidential Records.
2. W's administration restricts 9/11 panel's access to 9/11 documents.
3. W's administration restricts access to Clinton's Presidential Records.

See a pattern here? What if the President were to appoint a new Archivist, the office which oversees Presidential Libraries?
posted by ewkpates at 10:16 AM on April 8, 2004

Her tone of desperation is far more marked than one would have expected.
posted by y2karl at 10:49 AM on April 8, 2004

According to Rice, the document ""Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States," dated August 10, 2001, "did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting." Still, isn't that a bit of a hint? And if what she says is true, why is it still classified? Or is that a politically partisan question?
posted by zedzebedia at 10:55 AM on April 8, 2004

of course it is! [insert why+hate+america...etc..]
posted by dabitch at 11:31 AM on April 8, 2004

Seems like a lot hinges on that memo. Let's hope there'll be enough pressure to have it declassified so we can find out just how "historical" it was.
posted by muckster at 11:35 AM on April 8, 2004