Opinion
 

Bush failing to own up to mistakes

By David C. Salinas

Today, after months of stone walling and feet dragging, the Bush administration will allow Condoleezza Rice to testify under oath before the 9/11 commission. Supposedly, one of the factors that led to this overdue decision was a 60-year-old photograph. The photo was of William Leahy, chief of staff under Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, appearing before a congressional panel investigating the attacks on Pearl Harbor. The photo blew away the administration's argument of "breaking precedence." So what was Bush trying to hide by keeping Rice from testifying under oath? 

Apparently, a lot of contradictions.

Hopefully one of the first contradictions the commission can clear up is how, as Rice insists, the administration was focused on terrorism before 9/11. At that time, she was preparing speeches which never mentioned al-Qaida nor Osama bin Laden, and focused more on Cold War concepts and policies of the past. The specific speech I'm talking about was supposed to be delivered by Rice on Sept. 11, 2001. In the speech Rice would have criticized the Clinton administration for not doing enough about the "real threat of long range missiles."

Another important question to ask Rice will be on her statement in May 2002 in which she said, "I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile." 

Not only had Richard Clarke discussed this during the 1996 Olympics, but it conflicts with the reports that on Aug. 6, 2001, President Bush received a briefing advising him that "bin Laden was capable of a major strike against the United States that could involve the hijacking of an American airplane."

Rice also needs to clear up her claim that before 9/11, "Our plan called for military options to attack al-Qaida, Taliban leadership, ground forces and other targets, taking the fight to the enemy where they lived." 

Because when asked about this by the 9/11 commission, Deputy Secretary of State Dick Armitage said there was no plan of invasion, and they had only planned an attack after the World Trade Center and Pentagon were hit.

But for all of Rice's misstatements after and mistakes before 9/11, she will at least testify in public and under oath. Our fearless leader will not testify under oath or in public, but only privately with Dick Cheney by his side. 

I'm not adding that part as some hyperbolic insult, either. President Bush would only agree to be questioned by the commission as long as Cheney was present. One pundit, making light of the situation, said, "Can you imagine George Bush (Sr.) demanding that Dan Quayle be with him during questioning?"

But that's the major problem with this administration. Truman used to have a sign on his desk that said, "The buck stops here," meaning he was ultimately responsible for whatever happened. 

But apparently to this president, the only buck he cares to stop is the kind given to him by his campaign contributors. 

You see, the lack of focus on terrorism is not just Rice's fault; the miserable post-war planning in Iraq is not just Donald Rumsfeld's fault; the faulty intelligence that led to the war is not just George Tenet's fault; the record deficit is not just congress's fault; and the 2,000,000 jobs lost is not Clinton's fault. 

It's also President Bush's fault. 

If Bush wants to bask in the glory of the early successes in Iraq and Afghanistan or the fact that the stock market is up, he better take the blame for all the people left uninsured because he has no health care plan; for all the manufacturing and high-tech jobs outsourced because of his laissez-faire attitude towards globalization; for all the casualties we have suffered since he flew his "mission accomplished" banner; and he better take full responsibility for his administration's lackadaisical attitude toward terrorism before 9/11. 

But that takes courage and honesty, two traits not often found in this White House. As author Roy L. Smith once said, "The ability to accept responsibility is the measure of the man." Right now, Bush is about the size of "mini-me".

Salinas, a columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at davidcsalinas@yahoo.com.