The arrogant Bush was completely oblivious to Bin Laden and working to change the nation's energy policies instead so his campaign finance backers (the corporate elite) could screw us all. Just like they did in the earlier CA "energy crisis".

washingtonpost.com

Bush Gave No Sign of Worry In August 2001

By Dana Milbank and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 11, 2004; Page A01

CRAWFORD, Tex., April 10 -- President Bush was in an expansive mood on Aug. 7, 2001, when he ran into reporters while playing golf at the Ridgewood Country Club in Waco, Tex.

The day before, the president had received an intelligence briefing -- the contents of which were declassified by the White House Saturday night -- warning "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US." But Bush seemed carefree as he spoke about the books he was reading, the work he was doing on his nearby ranch, his love of hot-weather jogging, his golf game and his 55th birthday.

"No mulligans, except on the first tee," he said to laughter. "That's just to loosen up. You see, most people get to hit practice balls, but as you know, I'm walking out here, I'm fixing to go hit. Tight back, older guy -- I hit the speed limit on July 6th."

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, in her testimony Thursday to the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, spoke of a government on high alert for terrorism in the summer of 2001. "The president of the United States had us at battle stations during this period of time," she testified. Rice's talk of battle stations is part of the Bush administration's effort to counter an impression that it did not do enough about terrorism before Sept. 11; a Newsweek poll released Saturday found that 60 percent think the Bush administration underestimated terrorism before the attacks.

But if top officials were at battle stations, there was no sign of it on the surface. Bush spent most of August 2001 on his ranch here. His staff said at the time that by far the biggest issue on his agenda was his decision on federal funding of stem cell research, followed by education, immigration and the Social Security "lockbox."

Of course, many of the efforts to thwart an attack would not have been visible on the outside. But some officials on the inside -- notably former White House counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke -- say the administration was not acting with sufficient urgency to the spike in intelligence indicating a threat. And there is nothing in Bush's public actions or words from August 2001 to refute Clarke.

During that month, Bush's top aides were concentrating on the president's political standing: His approval rating had slipped, his relations with Congress were tense, and Democrats had regained control of the Senate. The only time Bush mentioned terrorism publicly that month was in the context of violence in Israel.

In public, Bush often engaged in playful banter. Reporters teased him about his golf game and whether he would take an afternoon nap. Bush teased them about their suffering in the Texas heat. "I know a lot of you wish you were in the East Coast, lounging on the beaches, sucking in the salt air, but when you're from Texas -- and love Texas -- this is where you come home," he said.

A former Bush aide who remains close to the White House said the use of the term "battle stations" by Rice was an overstatement as it is understood in what the White House constantly calls "the post-9/11 world." The former aide, who refused to be identified to avoid angering the president and his staff, said that some members of Bush's senior staff did not know the extent of the information he had been given about the al Qaeda threat, and that even those in his inner circle did not imagine "the scale, the precision, the magnitude" of the strikes on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

"In a pre-9/11 world, it was like, 'Check it out and see what you find and get back to us after Labor Day,' " the former aide said. "It wasn't just the president who was on vacation. It was the whole government. It was the Bureau [FBI] and the Agency [CIA], too. The attention to the threats was above and beyond normal, but it obviously wasn't enough."

Officials close to Bush defended his approach during that summer, saying that of course what was done looks inadequate now, but that no one could have imagined such attacks back then, including the president. These officials said their only frames of reference were the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995, which killed more than 160 people, and the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, which killed six and injured more than 1,000.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush's actions in August were adequate and appropriate. "The intelligence was non-specific and pointed to attacks overseas," McClellan said. "We directed embassies and bases abroad to button up, and directed the domestic agencies to make sure they were buttoning up at home, as well. . . . If we had had any information that could have prevented the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., the president would have taken strong and decisive action to stop them."

In retrospect, Bush's schedule for August 2001 seems quaint, the issues relatively small. On the first of the month, Bush announced a tentative agreement on an HMO patients' "Bill of Rights." The next day, he met with lawmakers about education. On Aug. 4, the issue was Medicaid; on Aug. 8, Bush helped to build a Habitat for Humanity home. Aug. 13 found him celebrating agricultural legislation, and the next day put him at a YMCA picnic. The rest of the month brought him to a fundraiser in New Mexico, a Harley-Davidson plant, a Target store, a Little League championship and a steelworkers' picnic.

Security issues did arise, but nothing about domestic terrorism. During the month, Bush announced his support of peace developments in Northern Ireland, spoke of U.S. withdrawal from an arms treaty with Russia, complained about the "menace" of Saddam Hussein shooting at U.S. planes over Iraq, and named Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers to be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The possibility of terrorist attacks against the United States never came up.

In an Aug. 29 speech to the American Legion titled by the White House "President Discusses Defense Priorities," Bush spoke about higher pay for soldiers, an increase in military spending, military research and development, and the need to defend against missile attacks. "We are committed to defending America and our allies against ballistic missile attacks, against weapons of mass destruction held by rogue leaders in rogue nations that hate America, hate our values and hate what we stand for," he said.

Bush vowed to the veterans, 13 days before the attacks: "I will not permit any course that leaves America undefended."

Nor did terrorism have any place in a speech Bush gave at the end of August, after he returned to the White House from his Crawford ranch. The White House titled the Aug. 31 speech "President's Priorities for Fall: Education, Economy, Opportunity, Security." But the only one of these topics Bush discussed with more than a mention was education. "One of the things that I hope Congress does is work and act quickly on the education bill and get it to my desk as soon as they get back," he said.

Reporters' questions also reflected the tranquillity. They asked Bush to comment on a Little League player who lied about his age, the slow pace of reaching an immigration deal with Mexico and the federal role in high-speed Internet access.

The most extended treatment of security issues in the month of August 2001 came on the 24th, when Bush announced Myers's appointment as Joint Chiefs chairman. Again, Bush placed emphasis on missile defense. "One of the things you will hear us talk about is the need to develop an effective missile defense system, and we do have money in the budget for that," he said.

In response to a question about whether the United States would increase its role in Middle East peace efforts, Bush directed Yasser Arafat "to urge the terrorists, the Palestinian terrorists, to stop the suicide bombings." Bush did mention Rice at the session -- but only to say that she and White House counselor Karen Hughes had "briefed" him on the Chandra Levy matter after the two aides watched then-Rep. Gary A. Condit's television interview about the missing intern.

In the White House Rose Garden on Aug. 3, before leaving for the ranch, Bush summarized the achievements of his first months in office and set a three-part agenda for September. His first goal was completing work on legislation dealing with "education and the disadvantaged." His second priority was the federal budget. And third, he said, "beginning in September, I'll be proposing creative ways to tackle some of the toughest problems in our society." There was no mention of terrorism or even foreign affairs as a priority.

Nor was there for the rest of the month, except when the subject was Israel. On Aug. 13, while on a golf outing, he spoke with reporters at length about the heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. But much of his public comments were in the category of lighthearted banter. After helping with the Habitat home on Aug. 8, Bush displayed a bloodied finger and cracked: "It must be a slow news day if you're worrying about my finger."

On Aug. 23, Bush took a trip to Crawford Elementary School, where he allowed the children to ask him questions. He spoke of golf, fishing, exercise and presidential perks such as the White House, the limousine and the Secret Service. Bush also volunteered his afternoon schedule: a meeting with Rice, a phone call to the Argentine president, lunch with the first lady, a visit with the family pets, a call to his personnel office and a lesson on trees. "We've got a horticulturist coming out from Texas A&M to help us identify the hardwood trees on our beautiful place," he said.

In summary, Bush told the children: "I've got a lot going on today."

Allen reported from Washington.



_______________________________________________________________________