United States president George Bush on Thursday said he had answered every question he was asked in a White House meeting with a public commission investigating the September 11 attacks, but would not give details of the closed-door session.
The 10-member commission described the meeting in the Oval Office, which was not recorded at the White House’s insistence, as ”extraordinary”, adding that the president and his vice-president, Dick Cheney, had been ”forthcoming and candid” in their joint appearance that lasted more than three hours.
”The information they provided will be of great assistance to the commission as it completes its final report,” a statement said.
”I’m glad I did it”, the president told reporters afterwards. ”I’m glad I took the time. If we had something to hide, we wouldn’t have met with them in the first place. We answered all their questions.”
Asked about the substance of the discussion, Bush said: ”Probably best that I not go into the details of the conversation, and let them incorporate it into their report. There was a lot of interest about how to better protect America. In other words, they’re interested in the recommendations that they’re going to lay out, and I’m interested in those as well.”
Bush has been under fire over the course of the commission’s hearings for failing to respond to dire threats in the summer of 2001 of an impending terrorist attack on American soil. But he has insisted that none of the warnings, principally from the CIA, was specific enough to take action that might have prevented the attacks.
He was also criticised for his insistence on speaking to the commission in the presence of the powerful Cheney. Asked about the reasons for the joint appearance on Thursday, Bush said: ”I wanted them to know how I set strategy, how we run the White House, how we deal with threats. The vice-president answered a lot of questions — answered all their questions. And I think it was important for them to see our body language as well, how we work together.”
Members of the commission from both parties declared themselves charmed. Timothy Roemer, an outspoken Democrat who has been highly critical of the administration, said the president had faced ”very tough questions” but had allowed him all the time he needed to ask them. ”I came away very, very impressed with the president’s graciousness,” Roemer said.
Another commissioner, Jim Thompson, a Republican, was full of praise for Bush. He told the Associated Press news agency that the questions included everything ”across the board” that had been in the public hearings.
”The president was asked the vast majority of the questions and he answered them. There was no question the president or vice-president did not answer,” Thompson said.
”There was some laughter from time to time. The president is a bit of a tease … There were no tense moments. I thought the president gave a five-star performance. I wish the American people could have seen it.”
The commission chairperson, Thomas Kean, a Republican former New Jersey governor, said much of the discussion had been devoted to brainstorming possible reforms in areas such as intelligence.
”We let the president know we’re getting into the recommendation phase, and that it’s very important,” Kean said. ”We said we hoped we could test some things out as to whether some of recommendations we were considering were indeed practical. The president said he was open to some ideas, and nothing was ruled out.”
The commission, which is investigating the circumstances leading up to September 11 and whether the attacks could have been prevented, is due to deliver its report by July 26, just before the Democratic national convention, at the height of the presidential election campaign. If it finds Bush was negligent in any way before the attacks, it could prove extremely damaging to his re-election hopes.
The commission has heard allegations by the White House’s former counter-terrorism chief, Richard Clarke, that the Bush administration did little to confront the threat from al-Qaida in its first months in office. It has also studied an intelligence briefing provided to the president on August 6 2001 in which the CIA warned of an impending attack on US soil, possibly involving hijacked planes. – Guardian Unlimited Â