by TChris

One question the 9/11 commission will want to ask Condoleezza Rice: Apart from its preoccupation with Iraq, was the Bush administration more interested in implementing its "unproven, money-munching missile defense system" than in protecting the country from Osama bin Laden?

The question arises from a speech that Rice never had the chance to give.

A speech that was due to be delivered on the day planes crashed into the Pentagon, a field in Pennsylvania and the World Trade Center is getting particular attention: The Washington Post reports national security advisor Condoleezza Rice was due to make remarks that day that discussed national security threats, but never mentioned al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden. Instead, the remarks focused on the need for missile defense.

Although the Bush administration contends that the President was privately concerned about bin Laden, CBS reports that none of Bush's speeches or public remarks before September 11 mentioned the al Qaeda threat.