We continue not to know [updated]

I will be honest, I did not see Condi Rice’s testimony to the 9/11 commission yesterday. I have been reading commentaries, conservative and liberal, and the news doesn’t appear to be good. The reasoned right won’t muster a strong defense, and in some cases are actually questioning (link via TPM) what new information the testimony gave. The left of course is having a field day.

If you read the conservative article above, and the following Boston Globe op-ed – especially the last paragraph – the testimony seemed to be dependent on people not having any sort of memory. Bush is on record as saying he was unaware of al-Qa’eda prior to 9/11, and George Tenet is on record as saying they were the most serious threat to the US, almost 6 months before 9/11. Someone was asleep at the wheel. A mea culpa, while politically difficult, would not have been a bad thing. Now it’s led to web of deception by this administration, that is surprisingly easy to unravel. I just hope it’s done before more intelligence is ignored for ideological purposes.

Finally, on the apology side: I am a New Yorker, and grew up going to the WTC regularly. I have very fond childhood memories of being in the area. I was not in NY on 9/11, but my brother lived about 1/2 mile from there and was part of the volunteer operations during the following days. Richard Clarke’s apology was incredibly meaningful to us. I didn’t know who he was, and I don’t believe any one individual is responsible for the failure of intelligence in 9/11. However, for someone who was involved in the process to acknowledge publicly there were mistakes made, and that they were sorry for that failure, is the mark of a true mensch. So to Richard Clarke, thank you.

Update: It seems CNN is hiring journalists again, not just reporters. Two interesting articles on Rice’s testimony (1, 2). And is there a time the President hasn’t been on vacation?