What Will Condi Say?

Next Thursday or Friday, Condi Rice will testify publicly and under oath to a congressional commission investigating terrorism in the United States, and the search for Al Qaida. She will have to answer to published charges by Richard Clarke, that the administration did little to nothing prior to 9/11 about Al Qaida, and that the $200B, 600 American lives and 3500 casualties invasion of Iraq was pushed by Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz as an end to itself, not a logical requirement of rooting out Al Qaida, as the invasion of Afghanistan was (does anyone know what that cost in treasure and lives?).

This means that Condi: (1) must describe what the administration did, and it has to be more than what Clarke says, since if it is no more than receiving Clarke's Jan 24 2001 memo, and futzing around until Sept 4 to install it, then that's going to look bad; (2) singlehandedly and convincingly justify the war in Iraq in front of people who are ready to take the administration down in a political sphere -- not comfy little journalists who give her the pass on the veracity of her statements, just to get her to be on the record.

I expect this will be a major dressing down - of historic proportions. My prediction is that she will take 100% responsibility for all pre-9/11 planning, and as being a major force behind the war in Iraq. Her testimony will be calibrated to make it seem like she did it all -- pushing the war in Iraq as the most important and worthy goal in the war against terrorism. She will make as strong a case for it as she can, but her major goal will simply be to set herself up as 100% responsible for that war.


This is meant to have 2 effects: (1) to increase her political stock among conservatives, and more importantly (2) to set her up as the lightning rod on the issue. If the Dems are going to take anyone down on it, it will then have to be her -- not Rummy or Wolfowitz -- and she gets martyr status. Sure, she'd resign in a month or so, taking the controversy with her. And she'd likely not get a job in a WII administration. But, she'd be there in 2008 for Powell presidency, with major conservative chops. And, if she survives the onslaught next week, she wins big time among conservatives as the architect of the Iraq war.