The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

somebody it's not an issue of uk every battle or every skirmish it's an issue of can you do strategic damage to this organization and we were thinking much more along the lines of a strategic damage what i'm going to sell like my brother cherry which terrifies me somewhat by blowing up our destroyers as an act of war against us is it's not i mean how long would that have to go on before we would respond with an act of war we've had several acts of war are committed against us and i think we we believed that are responding kind of tit for tat i probably with inadequate military options because for all the plants that might have been looked at by the pentagon are on the the i shall they were not connected to a political policy that was going to to change the circumstances and i'll kind of eye in taliban and the taliban and therefore the relationship to pakistan i'm getting the debate it as to whether or not one should have responded to the call i think that we really believed that an inadequate response was simply going to embolden them i think you've heard that from secretary rumsfeld as well and

that i believe we felt very strongly that way remarkable one word that hasn't been mentioned once today it we talk about structural changes the fbi and the cia and cooperation in congress but congress has to change the structure the fbi the congress has to appropriate funds to fight terrorism or was the congress well i think that they did it when i made the comment that i the country was not on war footing that didn't just mean the executive branch was not on war footing with the fact is that many of the big changes that quite frankly again we were not going to be able to make a two hundred and thirty three days i don't but some of those big changes do require congressional action the congress cooperated after september eleventh with the president to come up with the patriot act which does give to the fbi and the cia and other intelligence agencies the kind of ability legal ability to share between them that was

simply not there before you cannot depend on the chance that something might fall out of the tree you cannot depend on the chance that a very good i hope customs agent who's doing her job with her colleagues out in the state of washington it's going to get somebody coming across the border of the united states with bomb making materials to be the dod the incident that elite unit that lead to be able to walk to respond adequately this is hard because again we have to be right one hundred percent of the time the only have to be right once but the structural changes that we've made since nine eleven and the structural changes that we may have to continue to make give us a better chance i and in that fight against terrorist or at this we carried an interview newsweek with fewer predators tour mr brzezinski he seemed to be saying that there is a danger that we can obsess about

elk it and lose sight of love equal dangers for example be the rise of a nuclear state iran in the middle east and they're a parent connection to hezbollah and hamas which may forecast even more bitter fighting as we're now learning in iraq or the ability of hezbollah or hamas to attack us on our soil within the united states in the same way the al qaeda did are we keeping an eye on that we are keeping an eye and working actively with the international community and iran and their nuclear and this since i think the one thing that the global war on terrorism has allowed us to do is to not just focus on all cried out because we have enlisted countries around the world saying better terrorism is terrorism is terrorism another which you can't vidal cried and hugged has a lot or a top hamas that we actually started to de legitimize terrorism in a way that it was not before we don't make a distinction between different kinds of terrorism and would therefore united with

the countries of the world to fight all kinds of terrorism terrorism is never and at an appropriate or justified response i just because of political difficulties so yes we are keeping an eye on it but it speaks to the point that we aired an administration the united states administration cannot focus just on one thing what the war on terrorism has done is given us an organizing principle that allows us to think about terrorism to think about weapons of mass destruction to think about the links between them and to form a united front i've across the world tied to to try and when it's less simple question if we come forward with sweeping recommendations for change in our law enforcement and intelligence agencies operate to meet the new challenges of our time not the twentieth century or nineteenth century challenges we faced in the past and if the president of the united states' agrees with them can you assure us that he will fight with all those figure he has to give them an actor

i can assure you that if the president agrees with at the recommendations and the political hard look at the recommendations were to fight because that the real lesson of september eleventh is that i've the country was not properly structure to deal with that threat that had been gathering for a long period of time i think were better structure today than we ever have and we've made a lot of progress but we want to hear what further progress we can make and because this president considers his highest calling to protect and defend the people of the united states of america your fight or any changes that he bills necessary they could make you cry cry cry might announce to roast a lot especially about the bb presidential daily briefing of august six others has not to do with dr rice but we

have requested the white house that that be declassified because we feel is important the american people get a chance to see it we're waiting an answer on our quest and hoped by next week's hearing that we might have dr rice thank you you're of advanced our understanding of key events we thank you for old timey given us we are few remaining classified matters at some point we liked to discuss with close session of wickedness thank you for that we appreciate very much a service to the nation this concludes i hearing commissioner of next year on april thirteenth and fourteenth and one force when an intelligence committee thank you and there we have the testimony of national security advisor companies to rise she spoke for justified for almost three hours two hours and fifty five point three minutes or something like that that tan commissioners up there were media both tom cane kaine the chairman and now lee hamilton the vice chairman began the

questioning and then i went through each of the other eight commissioners each one was given ten minutes or more and here she is thus far enough to some of the family members of victims of the nine eleven attacks creates i'm here now with mark shields and david brooks mark shields is a syndicated columnist and david brooks is a columnist for the new york times' marco speaking to do rep lee and specifically about substance what did you think was the most important thing that economists are ice at high the most important thing that that she said gm and it was obviously with the wind in the reality that the central theme of president bush's reelection campaign this is a resolute leader and a strong commander in chief and that's his credential and that's what he's running on i don't

was that that there was no silver bullet that debt they did what everything they could make this case before september eleventh that there was really no way they could be home and we avoided that that's the intention that was that there was a recession and before you get a chance to enter the same question david on alert our pbs stations that we're going to talk here for about ten minutes and so you know when to switch us all the love any rate idea what it's like what what would you what would you show horton i think that lack of a silver girl as the one issue where she and the clerk agree on it the court said that the threat assessment i think the big concert hall that will grow out of this as though the six no because it goes directly to the question was how specific was intelligence about using planes of bar she registers of summaries are quotations from she said what the chatter was then that was incredibly vague indeed something big is going to happen but then some of the questioning

especially women minister and bob kerrey and former senator from nebraska said no in this august six gdp this memo to the president from the village was able to really written from the intelligence agencies seem to indicate there something more says she insisted no that memo about petey be was strictly about historical matters and so there's an additional area what we already know what we already knew about a new saint laurent reason things like a morning prayer service will be a debate now for the next however many days about whether the white house should really sit there can be incredibly resistant to the idea of releasing that if they were listening they wish they never do which are big well is it now because in recent weeks anyway so just to get it out of the way if they were to listen to work with who don't really so i would have about a goal in the day that she should testify the same day richard clarke did i mean that it's a one day story today story but there's a big build up to jam it in a strange way the damage and obama carries testimony that's when the reality intruding upon the rule they're what's going

on in a rack right now and at the end the reports of the young shia militants controlling three southern cities and the greens counter attacking and more casualties is you know it is really sort of imports and shaping there's this whole debate because americans are enormously practically are deeply interested what did happen what led up to it whether in fact they've tried overly burnish the president's credentials is as resolute leader or described or whether they're they weren't time's a little messy and what it what they should have done but i think we really know what americans are concerned about is is carrie kahn let me live this for those of you who have not been able to stay up on the news there were seven south koreans kidnapped in iraq and also three japanese who were being held hostage and a few moments ago these seven of south koreans were released unharmed the three japanese are still being of these are civilians and the other being the bright

possum militants with automatic rifles or tape now shown of them and the idea is that they're they say if these if the united states doesn't end its occupation oriented so ways to interact these three japanese will be killed get in and they are they're urging the japanese government to remove what was the japanese troops who are in iraq the japanese government said no way and as one us marine has been killed in in some fighting now and fully job and as mark has said three hour of southern iraqi cities could no jobs and google are now under partial control by i'd the anti shiite anti us shiite militiamen that's the latest on that right now to get to the issue of style and i am not an impact where would you what would you rate another which what did they choose stem the flow and that was started by richard clarke's testimony two weeks

ago the snowfall bad thing that's a really hadn't sure yeah i thought you did accept that the state was accurate and honest with rosalynn on a war footing pre nine eleven there were things that were not done that should've been done and that you know we've just since i think that was the basic thrust stylistically i'd say the longer you watch the more her bureaucratic way of talking now undermine some of that and when bob perry came in talking like history human beings i had to contrast was great nonetheless i think she had almost questions extremely well and really gave an honest accounting of the administration which going back fifteen twenty years we just weren't ready for this when you say let's stop by horrendous me tell my eyes glaze over and they refused to structure was the stomach one more time i mean how many people were tasked today i mean we were casting casting here and these people are using ounces or rejected yeah it is a it is a disease of washington we're too often people in positions of power use language not to eliminate that to obfuscate ii and its and its very inside language if it

is pd bcs season am i fighting dee dickson i don't know what the hell anybody in america understands what's going on in this town and i think it was in a tent really communicate on an organization whether it's the oil business and the newspaper business with all the little words of the people would like an inside look at what the wichita clinic you know inside the national security apparatus but she as she was speaking to america people like i thought that that was a real real calm today i thought her opening statement once it was strong and it was there was some questions in it she did take a little bit off the fastball or couple phrases that were taken back about the clinton administration i thought was fascinating the way she identified so completely with the clinton administration it was call us economy had not only a policy but a per semester which happens to be the truth the fighters reverse the question how did you feel a commissioner at the time commissioners did the day in their questioning i thought they did quite well out there that the questioning was

fair sometimes very hard but i thought it was fair and balanced and six when reagan okay here's i know who would summer democrats and republicans but i was so so tough questions came from some other republicans echoed john lehman former navy secretary mr reagan as some very tough questions about the way that it was working or not working and so i thought the commission detected very well for those with no reagan could say gee i was a cheap shot and i noted that no point day say that you know there were there was anybody who was showing for either side really the tension between our dark horizon well known in his day and carried npr's rob kerry did you think that went over in a line that way it would have been a state a hazard as is said to david or in the questioning his these fees liberated because he doesn't care he's not one of the most popular guy in class i mean and he did he ask questions in a way that if you you know you say gee that's a little tough but i mean that's what he is he's at as a prosecutor he is an investigator and i did it that it

won't overheat ishiguro what we had was a result of two and half hours jam that means she control it's the dialogue she she wants to give one is the london the answer she gives the fuel a question she gets the sport anyone who is in that situation and that's where the nest is that i quite like harry we asked about this one applies she knows the president who's tired of swarming flies pieces how they wanted to be tired since october twentieth nineteen ninety eight united states and anything too and i refer to choose aspiration of open carry question and thompson questioned over thompson from illinois what about the call they declared war on us by bombings in one we ever do that happened in the clinton this tradition carried over to the bush administration where we did not think he's a word structure after what marcus says but were you struck as i was just by if you just put it all together just how dysfunctional our government was on september the eleventh senator that outlet

that there's that there's that incredibly slow policy process of change and everything there's the cia and the fbi not talking so probably the fbi action point for people actually do stuff they don't hear anything because they're too far down the chain of command i guess you really an uncannily is arrested say in fairness it has to do with our history whether suspicion of internal intelligence that analogy she said i had to get a shot or lemon think you're a civilian is your mind of my own stable been appalled and i was the idiot the strength of the executive is the executive is the one place where they are talking about and presumably know that they can tell the cia and the fbi what's going on and in the fbi and the cia very stark reasons when it when the cia was created which it was after world war two following on the opposite wall where says the pictures during world war two and the cia was established know there was a great concern and understandable concern the private markets we don't want them spying inside the country on americans are prohibited by law they remembered by law and the mandate was beyond self you can

understand that historically but you know that that's really what the texas is in the administration any administration you going to tell the fbi you know this is what the cia is doing but then i had to tell the two of you think of birdwatcher and up we're as good as the chairman said as governor kaine said the commercial hold public hearings again next week and they will be about law enforcement the fbi a lot of things that came up in a peripheral way and i will see you tonight on a record time on the newshour until then thank you and thank you david and thank you mara this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to a pbs station and he was like you yankee any this is nice the

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