Rice Stands Fast but Fails to Defuse Debate

Summary

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WASHINGTON -- When Condoleezza Rice took the national stage on Thursday morning, her task was to defend President Bush against the charge that he was inattentive to terrorism before attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and to defuse a debate that threatens his re-election campaign.

She mounted the defense vigorously, but in the hours after she returned to the White House, it was evident that she had not defused the arguments.

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Rice Stands Fast but Fails to Defuse Debate

At every turn in her three hours of often contentious testimony, she stuck to the White House script: Everything that could have been done to prevent the attacks had been done.

She was unwilling to...

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