Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Suggested Topics:
Dr. Rice, as I understand it, you spoke to President Bush before he went into the
classroom in Florida about the first strike on the World Trade Center. Do you
recall what information you conveyed to him? Specifically, did you tell the
President that it was a commercial aircraft that had struck the World Trade
Center? (see below)
Background Information:
In an interview with Bob Woodward you described your reaction upon hearing
about the second plane that crashed into the World Trade Center: You stated that
your immediate reaction was "it's a terrorist incident." (p. 361)
(1) Was that view based in any way on specific intelligence information? Was
that view based in any way on general intelligence information? Would you say
that view was shared by others in the Situation Room?
(2) What did you view your role as National Security Advisor to be in the
situation you faced, i.e., with the country under attack? What steps did you take
to fulfill that role?
(3) What were your priorities during this time? Specifically, what actions did you
take and what decisions did you make or participate in between the time of the
second strike at the WTC (0903) and the time the Pentagon was hit (0937)?
(4) How quickly, as National Security Advisor, were you able to learn the nature
and source of the attacks and brief the President?
As I understand it, after the second hit on the World Trade Center the Situation
Room convened a secure video teleconference with the leadership of key
agencies, including DoD and the FAA. This video teleconference was initiated
around 0925, and continued throughout the afternoon.
Background Information:
Who was in charge of the White House response to the attacks on the morning of
9/11? What decisions were made, by whom? What decisions did you make that
morning?
Background Information:
Based on our investigation, the following is a list of decisions made by various
persons at the White House on the morning of 9/11:
(1) Initiation of SVTS\CSG
(2) Evacuation of WH
(3) Evacuation of the Vice President
(4) Request for fighter coverage for DC
(5) Request for fighter coverage for API
(6) Decision to implement continuity of government measures
(7) Decision to ground all commercial aircraft
(8) Shoot down authorization
(9) Decision to raise defense level to DefCon 3
(10) Closing the borders
(11) Implementation offeree protection measures
(12) Request to Russians to call off the exercises
V. Threat to AF1
(1) We have heard a good deal about the Threat to Air Force One that was
circulated that morning. Could you describe what you knew of the threat that
morning?
Background Information:
In an interview with Evan Thomas on November 11, 2001 Rice stated that
AFTER the Vice President urged the President not to return to Washington and
"put the phone down" "a communicator from down in the bunker came over and
said, there's a named threat to Air Force One." "So if there was ever at that point
any thought that the President might come back, it was now gone, because we
knew we didn't want him to land at Andrews." (p. 390-91)
(3) After September 11th, what did you learn about this threat and its origin?
When did you learn that the threat was not credible?
Background Information:
Evan Thomas Interview, November 1, 2001:
"Q: Let me pull the string back, if I can, on this, because there's been so much
written about this throughout. Did you guys ever figure out how this got into the
system, how this gremlin crept in there?
Dr. Rice: The best we can tell, there was a call that talked about events -
something happening to the President on the ground in Florida. And that
somehow got interpreted as Air Force One. And by the time it got to me, it was
Air Force One. And that maybe
Q: Did they call it a crank call?
Dr. Rice: I - we don't - look. I don't know. I don't know if it was a crank call
or a real threat or — I don't think we're going to ever know.
Q: I mean, how did they know about the code name?
Dr. Rice: That's why we still continue to suspect it wasn't a crank call. - But who
would have even known the code name is still beyond -
Q: The threat, as far as the President on the ground, maybe they weren't using
the code. Is it possible that your own communicators stuck the code in?
Dr. Rice: It's possible the communicators stuck the code in. But you talk about
the fog of war..." (pp 390-91)
"And Rumsfeld had - you know, the fighters had scrambled by that time. And he
asked the Vice President, he said to the Vice President, I have to have a decision
on rules of engagement. And the Vice President talked to the President and said,
we have to talk about rules of engagement. What if the plane doesn't respond?
And I wasn't on that call; I was around. My memory of it is that the Vice
President said, so, sir, do you want to give them the authority if it doesn't
respond, to shoot it down. The President said, yes." (page 394)
Our understanding is that Secretary Rumsfeld was not initially involved in the
shoot down decision; he learned of the decision from the Vice President and later
became involved in trying to sort out the specific rules of engagement that pilots
would follow.
Could you clarify for us your recollection of how and when the issue of
authority to shoot down commercial aircraft was first raised with the Vice
President?