Commission to quiz Rice on anti-terrorism policy

WHEN she testifies publicly before the September 11 Commission, Condoleezza Rice will be making an election-year defence of the Bushs’ administration’s anti-terrorism policy prior to the 2001 attacks.

"We want to understand the nature of the decision-making in the highest levels of government," commission chairman Thomas Kean said after the White House reversed course on Tuesday and agreed to let Ms Rice, President George W Bush's national security adviser, testify publicly.

"We want to hear about the transition," he said yesterday. "What did she learn from the Clinton people about terrorism? What they knew. Then what kind of policy did the Bush people have that was different from the Clinton administration? What did they know about al-Qaida and (Osama) bin-Laden?"