Condi Rice vs. Bob Woodward: Let the Battle Begin

Condi Rice vs. Bob Woodward: Let the Battle Begin: "Condi Rice vs. Bob Woodward: Let the Battle Begin
Editor&Publisher: Condi Rice vs. Bob Woodward: Let the Battle Begin
Why wasn't the 9/11 Commission told about a July 10, 2001, meeting in which Condoleezza Rice was warned, in no uncertain terms, that a terrorist attack on the U.S. was near at hand? Now she disputes the account in the Woodward book. If it's accurate, will she resign?
By Greg Mitchell

(October 01, 2006) -- While it may get overlooked in the torrent of revelations related to Iraq in the new Bob Woodward book, “State of Denial,” his bombshell account of a previously unknown warning about terror attacks on the U.S. just before 9/1, delivered directly to Condoleezza Rice, seems equally significant. Now Rice is disputing the account. How will Woodward respond? And if his story holds up, will she resign?

This angle gained more attention on Monday with The New York Times reporting that some 9/11 Commission members are alarmed that they were never told about this warning. Timothy J. Roemer, a member of the commission, tells the Times, “I’m deeply disturbed by this. I’m furious.” The Times relates that some commissioners question "whether information about the July 10 meeting was intentionally withheld from the panel." The Washington Post, meanwhile, on the same day, carries Rice's denial -- meaning the next move belongs to Woodward, perhaps on "Larry King Live."...

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So, if the story is confirmed -- Woodward's track record is strong -- Rice should quit. Let's see what Tenet and (CIA counterterrorism chief J. Cofer) Black and any documents say.

My check of her testimony before the 9/11 Commission in 2004 reveals that not only did she not disclose this meeting with the two men -- she also gave misleading information about the level of threats to the homeland that she learned about that summer.

How do we square Black’s account (in the Woodward book) of that July 10, 2001, meeting -- "The only thing we didn't do was pull the trigger to the gun we were holding to her head" -- and Rice’s statement to the 9/11 Commission, “There was no threat reporting of any substance about an attack coming in the United States”?..."