In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Loop de Loop
On Thursday, Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, is scheduled to testify under oath before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. Here is how I imagine this line of questioning will go:
Q. Dr. Rice, what didn't the president know and when didn't he know it?
A. The president never knew anything at any time.
Q. Well if the president never knew anything, how could he continue not to have known it, especially after what happened?
A. The president makes it a point to keep himself out of the loop. That way, anyone in the loop never has to answer directly to him.
Q. How many people are in the loop, as opposed to being outside of it?
A. Which loop would that be?
Q. The counterterrorism loop. According to the vice president, [Richard E.] Clarke was never in that loop.
A. That's not what I believe the vice president said. He said [Clarke] wasn't in the loop, but he refused to specify which loop. It may have been another loop. I think you're reading things in here.
Q. Well let's assume for the sake of argument he means the counterterrorism loop.
A. There is no counterterrorism loop, so I can't see how [Clarke] could be in it.
Q. So you're saying he was outside the loop?
A. I didn't say that.
Q. Well if he wasn't in the loop he must've been outside it.
A. Not necessarily. Not being in the loop doesn't mean you're outside it, it just means you're not necessarily in the loop. You can be beside the loop.
Q. Beside the loop?
A. You can have access to a given loop.
Q. Let's be clear about something here. If you're beside the loop, you can have access to the loop but not necessarily be in the loop?
A. That's correct.
Q. Would you say that Clarke had access to the loop?
A. I wouldn't say that.
Q. Why not?
A. Having access in this case wouldn't have afforded him any special knowledge, since the president at the time was out of the loop, as I said. He was nowhere near the loop.
Q. He wasn't beside the loop.
A. Clarke?
Q. The president.
A. No, we were under strict orders to keep the president as far away from the loop as possible. Those were his explicit instructions.
Q. So your job, as I understand it, was to keep the president coming anywhere near the loop?
A. That's one way of describing it.
Q. As national security adviser, I presume you were in the loop?
A. Which loop?
Q. The counterterrorism loop.
A. Well, as I said earlier, that loop didn't exist.
Q. You had no counterterrorism policy?
A. I didn't say that.
Q. Well, presumably as security adviser you had a counterterrorism policy.
A. We had certain guidelines.
Q. And those guidelines were ... ?
A. In the event of an actual event, to take appropriate countermeasures.
Q. And Clarke was part of that decision making?
A. He was part of the decision being made.
Q. What does that mean?
A. His department was reorganized according to the level of threat assessment.
Q. Which at that time was high.
A. We were given warnings and continued to assess the threat level according to the information we had.
Q. That sounds like a loop to me.
A. No sir, it wasn't a loop.
Q. It sounds like the beginning of a loop. You were getting information and pursuing guidelines based on actual threats.
A. That's feedback.
Q. Excuse me?
A. That kind of information is feedback, but not exactly a loop. It comes from, you know, CIA, then it has to be assessed.
Q. And how do you assess feedback if it isn't in the loop?
A. It goes through certain channels.
Q. What channels?
A. You have to understand the kind of information we're talking about. This is highly classified time-sensitive information.
Q. That goes through channels, but not a loop.
A. That's correct.
Q. So Clarke would have access to the channels?
A. Not necessarily.
Q. Could he be beside the channels?
A. The channels aren't really a part of the department. It goes through them and comes to us.
Q. So you're getting highly classified time-sensitive information from certain channels that your own counterterrorism chief doesn't have access to?
A. I didn't say that.
Q. Just what are you saying?
A. That the level of threat has to be assessed based on the information we get.
Q. That comes through certain channels not connected to your department.
A. That's correct.
Q. Would you or anyone in your department be able to verify the accuracy of the information?
A. That depends.
Q. On what?
A. On the certainty of the channels.
Q. You're saying the reliability of the information depends on the certainty of those who provide it to you?
A. I didn't say that.
Q. How many people are in the loop?
A. Which loop?
Q. The loop outside the one that doesn't exist.
A. Could you rephrase the question?
Q. Dr. Rice, what didn't the president know and when didn't he know it?
- Michael 6:35 PM - [PermaLink] -
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