La Dra. Rice rehusa testificar en la Comisión Investigadora del 11 de Septiembre

La pregunta es: si todo es tan claro...¿porqué no quiere testificar? Pista: debería hacerlo bajo juramento de decir la verdad. Ahh... y su jefe debe ser electo este año.

Feb. 25, 2004 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal commission reviewing the Sept. 11 attacks expressed disappointment Wednesday with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice for refusing to testify in public.

``Although we have met privately with Dr. Rice, we believe the nation would be well-served by the contribution she can make to public understanding of the intelligence and policy issues being examined by the commission,'' the 10-member panel said in a statement.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was still discussing the time and format of the meetings. Bush has said he did not think his public testimony was necessary.

Relatives of Sept. 11 victims say they are particularly interested in Rice's testimony. They cited her May 2002 comments that the administration had no prior indication that terrorists were considering suicide hijackings, even though reports later showed that intelligence officials had considered the possibility.

``I can't understand why these elected officials, particularly the president and vice president, aren't willing to come before the American public and testify,'' said Kristen Breitweiser of New Jersey, whose husband, Ronald, died in the World Trade Center. ``That raises a concern they're hiding something.''

Rice met with the commission for four hours at the White House on Feb. 7. After the session, at least two commissioners, Democrats Richard Ben-Veniste and Timothy Roemer, said it would be useful to have Rice testify in public.

At the panel's next public hearing, in late March, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell are to testify, as well as their counterparts in the Clinton administration, William Cohen and Madeleine Albright. Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, also is to appear at that open session.

The panel, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was established by Congress to study the nation's preparedness before the attacks and its response. It also is to recommend ways to guard against similar disasters.

In its statement, the commission urged Congress to pass legislation to extend the May 27 deadline to finish its work. Earlier this month, it asked for at least a two-month extension, citing delays because of disputes with the administration over access to documents and witnesses.

The president supports the extension but Republican leaders in Congress oppose it. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has cited a need to quickly have the panel's recommendations on how to improve the nation's security.

Former Republican Gov. Thomas H. Kean of New Jersey, the commission chairman, has said the panel will be forced to pare down inquiries into intelligence failures if Congress doesn't act soon to give it more time.

In its previous hearings, the commission has highlighted intelligence miscommunications and other government missteps dating to the mid-1990s that allowed the Sept. 11 hijackers to enter and stay in the country.