Sept. 11 Panel Wasn’t Told of Meeting, Members Say
2006-10-02
Source: New York Times
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rss feedMembers of the Sept. 11 commission said Sunday they were alarmed that they were told nothing about a July 2001 White House meeting at which George J. Tenet, then director of central intelligence, is reported to have warned Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser, about an imminent attack by Al Qaeda and failed to persuade her to take action.
Details of the meeting on July 10, 2001, two months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, were first reported last week in a new book by Bob Woodward. The White House disputes his account.
The final report from the Sept. 11 commission made no mention of the meeting, nor did it suggest that there had been such an encounter between Mr. Tenet and Ms. Rice, now secretary of state.
Since the release of the book, "State of Denial," the White House and Ms. Rice have disputed major elements of Mr. Woodward's account. Ms. Rice has said through spokesmen that there had been no such exchange in a private meeting with Mr. Tenet and that he had expressed none of the frustration attributed to him in Mr. Woodward's book.
"It really didn't match Secretary Rice's recollection of the meeting at all," said Dan Bartlett, counselor to President Bush, in an interview on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "It kind of left us scratching our heads because we don't believe that's an accurate account."
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