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Mike Hurley

From: Warren Bass

Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 4:59 PM
To: Mike Hurley; Jonathan Stull; Al Felzenberg
Subject: A light polish on Mike's script for Gov. Kean

Good morning.

On behalf of Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton, our fellow commissioners, and our staff, let me welcome
you to the 9/11 Commission's eighth round of public hearings. The focus of these hearings is the
counterterrorism policy of the United States—in particular, how our government responded to the
increasing threat from Usama bin Ladin and his al Qaeda organization in the years leading up to the
September 11 attacks. We will also examine how the war on terrorism is being conducted today and ask
whether we have taken the steps that will make our nation safer in the future.

Over the next two days, we will hear from President Clinton's and President Bush's most senior
policymakers and advisers—the key officials who managed the U.S. response to al Qaeda. Our
witnesses will be former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, current Secretary of State Colin Powell,
former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Director of
Central Intelligence George Tenet, former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger, and former
National Counterterrorism Coordinator Richard Clarke. It is an extraordinary gathering for a set of
hearings—the likes of which I cannot recall in my time in public service.

The Commission invited the current national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to discuss how the
Bush administration coordinated national policy on Bin Ladin and al Qaeda. The Bush administration,
citing separation of powers and executive privilege doctrines, declined that invitation. We are
disappointed with that decision. We believe that the unprecedented circumstances of 9/11 and the
enormity of the national security challenge our country faces both argued strongly for having the White
House find a way to permit a public appearance from a key witness who has already provided us with
valuable private information. Instead, the Bush administration has designated Deputy Secretary of State
Richard Armitage to take Dr. Rice's place for that panel. That is their choice, not ours.

Today's first panel will examine how the U.S. government tried to use diplomacy to disrupt the al Qaeda
network and, in particular, to pressure the Taliban regime to hand over Bin Ladin and his lieutenants or
expel them from their Afghanistan sanctuary. We will then explore the extent to which the U.S. military
was used to confront al Qaeda, an organization that had declared war on the United States.

Tomorrow, we will turn our attention to the CIA's clandestine and covert actions to disrupt al Qaeda
operations worldwide and confront the Bin Laden threat in the Afghanistan sanctuary. Our final panel
tomorrow will focus on national policy coordination—on the strategies the Clinton and Bush
administrations employed against al Qaeda, and on how each administration directed and coordinated
the key instruments of national power.

Let me conclude by offering a personal word of greetings to the many people here who lost family
members and friends on 9/11. We know how important our work is to you, and we hope that you know
how important your participation is to us. We're deeply grateful for all your help and honored to have
you with us today.

3/18/2004
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Mike Hurley

From: Mike Hurley

Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 5:24 PM
To: Jonathan Stull; Al Felzenberg
Cc: Warren Bass; Mike Hurley
Subject: Hearing Script for the Chair

Jonathan/AI:

As a preliminary response to your requests for points for Chairman Kean's opening
statement, please see the attachment.

I forward this draft to you in the interest of time but I want to let you know that my
colleague Warren Bass has not yet reviewed the draft, and he always makes valuable
additons/edits.

Warren will take a look at what I've written and then forward you a revised version
containing his input, at which point you should use that version.

Mike

3/17/2004
To: Al Felzenberg, Jonathan Stull

From: Mike Hurley, Warren Bass

Subject: Hearing Script for the Chair

Date: March 17, 2004

Good morning.

On behalf of Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton, our fellow commissioners, and staff, I
welcome you to the 9/11 Commission's eighth round of public hearings. The focus of
these hearings is on the counterterrorism policy of the United States, in particular how
our government responded to the increasing threat from Usama bin Ladin and his al
Qaeda organization, in the years leading up to the September 11 attacks. But we will also
examine how the global war on terrorism is being conducted today and inquire whether
we have taken the steps, and are on a course, that will make our nation safer and more
secure in the future.

Over the next two days, we will hear from President Clinton's and President Bush's most
senior policy makers and advisers who managed the U.S. response to al Qaeda: former
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, current Secretary of State Colin Powell, former
Secretary of Defense William Cohen, current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the
Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, former National Security Adviser Samuel
Berger, and former National Counterterrorism Coordinator Richard Clarke.

The Commission invited current national security adviser Dr. Condoleezza Rice to
represent how the Bush administration directed national policy response to Bin Ladin and
al Qaeda. The Bush administration, citing separation of powers and executive privilege
doctrines, declined that invitation. We are disappointed with that decision. The Bush
administration has designated current Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to take
Dr. Rice's place for that panel.

The first panel today will examine how the U.S. government used diplomacy as an
instrument of national power to disrupt the al Qaeda network and, in particular, to
influence the Taliban regime to arrest and hand over Bin Ladin and his lieutenants or to
expel them from their Afghanistan sanctuary. We will then explore the extent to which
the U. S. military was used to confront al Qaeda, an organization that had declared war
on the United States. Tomorrow, we turn our attention to CIA clandestine and covert
actions to disrupt al Qaeda operations worldwide and to deal with the Bin Laden threat in
the Afghanistan sanctuary. Our concluding panel tomorrow will focus on the strategies
the Clinton and Bush administrations employed against al Qaeda and how each
administration directed and coordinated the key instruments of national power
responsible for implementing those strategies.