Barbara Ferguson, Arab News

WASHINGTON, 9 April 2004 — US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testified yesterday the US administration had “no silver bullet that could have prevented” the deadly terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and denied President Bush sidelined the threat of strikes.

In three hours of questioning, a prickly Rice told a bipartisan investigation panel into the Sept. 11 attacks President George W. Bush “understood the threat (from Al-Qaeda) and its importance” and that it took priority over Iraq. Rice’s testimony under oath was broadcast by all major US networks.

Rice said the administration had decided before Sept. 11, 2001 that defeating Al-Qaeda needed a wider change of strategy in South Asia, where Osama Bin Laden’s terror network had found a base and support.

“America’s Al-Qaeda policy wasn’t working because our Afghanistan policy wasn’t working,” Rice told the panel. “And our Afghanistan policy wasn’t working because our Pakistan policy wasn’t working. We recognized that America’s counterterrorism policy had to be connected to our regional strategies and to our overall foreign policy.”

Rice said Bush’s administration had continued secret operations begun under President Bill Clinton, aimed at defeating Al-Qaeda. Significantly, Rice offered no apology for the failure to prevent the attacks — as Clarke did two weeks ago.

The commission’s leaders have already said they believe the attacks could have been prevented, but Rice insisted the United States was “blind” to the disaster that was about to hit.

“The threat reporting that we received in the spring and summer of 2001 was not specific as to time, nor place, nor manner of attack,” she said.

Rice said failure to connect different strands of intelligence was due to a “structural” problem — a reference to lack of communication between different intelligence agencies — which needed time to correct.

At one point panel member Bob Kerrey, a former senator from Nebraska, accused her of filibustering — giving long answers to use up the 10 minutes allotted to each member.

The audience occasionally applauded when Rice faced tough questioning.

The most explosive revelation of the hearing may well have been her acknowledgement of an Aug. 6, 2001 memo entitled: “Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside US.”

Details of the secret intelligence briefing to President Bush outlined concerns about extremists hijacking airplanes. But Rice repeatedly insisted the report was “historical” in nature and not a specific warning of an impending attack.

Commissioner Bob Kerrey then read directly from the memo, adding: “The FBI indicates patterns of suspicious activity in the United States consistent with preparations for hijacking. That’s the language of the memo that was briefed to the president.”

Rice said investigations found no specific details about where such a hijacking might occur. Rice also acknowledged that Clarke had told her in a memorandum that there were “sleeper” Al-Qaeda cells in the United States, but that the FBI had 70 full investigations in pursuit of those hidden operatives.

The commission is scheduled to meet privately with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.