Bush to face 9/11 inquiry

U.S. President George W. Bush's supporters see his and Vice President Dick Cheney's upcoming testimony to the Sept. 11 commission as a form of closure, enabling them to show maximum cooperation and get on with other business.

Critics see it as a reluctant concession after months of resistance.

"You should not look at this as an adversarial process. We are all working toward the same objective here,'' said White House spokesman Scott McClellan of Thursday's planned closed-door testimony.

Bush and Cheney will meet in a private session beginning at 9:30 a.m. EDT at the White House with all 10 members of the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

At the administration's request, the questioning will not be recorded, nor will a stenographer be present to make a transcript. Commission members may take notes. That significantly differs with the commission's interviews with former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, which a commission member said were recorded.

Bush plans to build his answers around the theme that he knew al-Qaida was a threat but there was no hint of the time, place or date of an attack, administration officials said.

He was preparing by reviewing documents from the months leading up to the attacks and has been consulting with White House chief of staff Andy Card, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales.

The testimony of Bush and Cheney will not be under oath, but they will "tell it exactly how it happened,'' McClellan said. McClellan said he expected Bush -- not Cheney -- to do most of the talking.

Rich Bond, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Bush and Cheney would "tell the whole truth and nothing but'' to the panel.

"This is a closure in terms of procedures and in terms of some of the symbolism that is associated with the commission,'' Bond said.

Bush first opposed creating the commission and then opposed extending its life. He also initially opposed having Rice testify in public. And he at first said he would only meet with the chairman and vice chairman of the panel, and only for an hour. But he relented on all counts.

(Shenzhen Daily-Agencies)

Source: Xinhua