Bush rebuts 9/11 critics

FORT HOOD, Texas -- President Bush on Sunday defended himself against critics by saying that an intelligence briefing he received a month before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks contained no specific threats.

"Had I known there was going to be an attack on America, I would have moved mountains to stop that attack," Bush told reporters briefly Sunday after attending an Easter service at the 13th Corps Support Command Chapel at Fort Hood. It was the first time the president had talked to the press after Saturday's release by the White House of declassified portions of a document that had warned of possible attacks on the United States by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida.

"Of course we knew America was hated by Osama bin Laden," the president said. "That was obvious. The question was, who was going to attack us, when and where and with what?"

The briefing's text said the activity that had been under way was consistent with hijackings of aircraft and other types of terrorist attacks. The memo also mentioned the possibility of planes being hijacked in order to gain prisoner releases. The memo did not foretell an intention to fly aircraft into buildings, Bush said.

Transcripts of the classified intelligence briefing were released by the White House in response to inquiries from the commission investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Should the memo -- a leading topic of the Sunday talk shows -- have raised more of an alarm?

"I think in hindsight that's probably true," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. He said the Clinton and Bush administrations bear responsibility for Sept. 11. But Slade Gorton, a member of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, said the memo "did talk about potential attacks in the United States," but "it didn't give the slightest clue as to what they would be or where they would be."

"The FBI has more questions to answer than Condoleezza Rice or (former presidential anti-terrorism adviser) Dick Clarke or anyone we've had testify before us so far," said Gorton, a former Republican senator from Washington state.

Richard Perle, a former Pentagon adviser who was an assistant defense secretary in the Reagan administration, said there was "not enough specificity to take any action."

"What could a president have done under those circumstances? Shut down the United States? Grounded all aircraft? Gone into a panic mode?"

To Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., however, the memo should have created a sense of urgency at the top levels of government.

"If you are having a brief that is entitled 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S.,' and then it lays out specific things . . . you would think that that would raise enough caution flags that you would haul in the FBI, that you'd put out an all-points bulletin," he said.

The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks will hear testimony on Tuesday and on Wednesday from a dozen current and former law enforcement and intelligence officials, including Attorney General John Ashcroft; his predecessor, Janet Reno; Robert S. Mueller III, the current director of the FBI; and Louis J. Freeh and Thomas Pickard, former directors.

A joint congressional committee last year concluded that the FBI and the CIA failed to heed warnings about al-Qaida's desire to strike the United States and that intelligence officials "missed opportunities to disrupt the Sept. 11 plot."

The president attended the Easter service with his wife, twin daughters, his father and mother and the first lady's mother, Jenna Welch. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice also attended church with the Bushes. But she sat beside Fort Hood commander, Brig. Gen. James Simmons, as the Bush clan occupied an entire church pew.

During the "Prayers of the People" portion of the Episcopal service, care and courage for members of the armed forces was requested. Those prayers also were extended to the president.

Bush told reporters of his own prayers for the soldiers who faced what he characterized as a "tough week last week" with increased attacks in Iraq. "Today, on bended knee, I thanked the good Lord for protecting those of our troops overseas," the president said.

More than 650 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Some 65 of those soldiers were stationed at Fort Hood.

Bush on Sunday also visited a military hospital and awarded Purple Hearts to 10 soldiers who were wounded in fighting in Iraq on April 2 and April 4.

When he left the hospital, Bush was red-eyed and grim.

The president ate Easter dinner at his ranch. The menu included "gingersnap and apricot crusted ham, roasted sweet and sour beets, carrots and parsnips," as well as "green chili cheese grits souffle," the White House said in a news release.

Contributing: Associated Press; New York Times News Service

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