http://www.comcast.net/News/POLITICS//XML/1151_President__White_House__Advisers/7db018b1-6115-4263-87a5-d746c9a79177.htmlRice: Nation Ill-Prepared Despite Threats
34 minutes ago
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
President Bush "understood the threat, and he understood its importance," in advance, she told the commission delving into the attacks that killed more than 3,000, destroyed the twin World Trade Center towers in New York and blasted a hole in the Pentagon.
"He made clear to me that he did not want to respond to al-Qaida one attack at a time. He told me he was 'tired of swatting flies'," she added in implicit rejection of claims made last month by former terrorism aide Richard Clarke.
In widely anticipated testimony, Rice offered no apology for the failure to prevent the attacks _ as Clarke did two weeks ago. Instead, she said, "as an officer of government on duty that day,
I will never forget the sorrow and the anger I felt."Rice read some of the "chatter" that the United States picked up during the spring and summer that raised alarms about a possible attack:
"Unbelievable news in coming weeks." "Big event ... there will be a very, very, very, very big uproar." "There will be attacks in the near future."