DeLaWho? DeLaWhat? DeLaWhere?

I caught the tail end of Dr. Condaleezza Rice's testimony to the 9/11 Commission. SIDE BAR: here is the text of Rice's testimony. I was very impressed with the portion of the testimony that I saw. She didnt deny the fact that the federal gov't was not prepared for the attacks upon the nation. She offered straight, clear, and precise answers. Obviously, I am not a fan of the current administration, however, I found some of her answers to be refreshingly un-Bushlike (sorry, gratuitous Bush statement was too tempting). If you take a look at her prepared testimony you can find many of the rhetorical figures that we have covered in this class. I found the following portion of her testimony to be very interesting:

"Long before that day, radical, freedom-hating terrorists declared war on America and on the civilized world. The attack on the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983, the hijacking of the Achille Lauro in 1985, the rise of al Qaeda and the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the attacks on American installations in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996, the East Africa embassy bombings of 1998, the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, these and other atrocities were part of a sustained, systematic campaign to spread devastation and chaos and to murder innocent Americans.

The terrorists were at war with us, but we were not yet at war with them. For more than 20 years, the terrorist threat gathered, and America's response across several administrations of both parties was insufficient. Historically, democratic societies have been slow to react to gathering threats, tending instead to wait to confront threats until they are too dangerous to ignore or until it is too late."


She seemed to give the excuse, however valid, that the bush administration was just as irresponsible as previous administrations. I dont know what to think about it. The one thing I do know, is that you can always second guess someone after the fact. I dont question the bush administration about the 9/11 attacks. I have questions for them about the Iraq war and their fixation with Hussein.....(i am having trouble bringing this post to a conclusion...The end).