Oh, this is almost embarrassing -- lord help us all.

Bush says he'd have acted quicker against al-Qaida if he knew attack was coming
04:30 PM EST Mar 23

WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush said Tuesday he would have acted quicker against al-Qaida if he had information before Sept. 11, 2001, that a terror attack against New York City was imminent.

"We have been chasing down al-Qaida, ever since those attacks," Bush said. In his first direct response to criticism raised in a new book by his former counterterrorism adviser, Bush denied that he ignored Osama bin Laden and the threat of the al-Qaida terror network before the terror attacks while rushing to blame Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

"The facts are these, George Tenet briefed me on a regular basis about the terrorist threat to the United States of America, and had my administration had any information that terrorists were going to attack New York City on Sept. 11th, we would have acted," Bush said. Tenet is the CIA director.

© The Canadian Press, 2004

Gee, no kidding, eh?