A U.S. government panel quietly released a newly declassified summary of an Oval Office joint interview conducted with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney about the September 11 attacks. The interview, carried out by members of the 9/11 Commission, was not recorded and the summary document constitutes the only known official record of the meeting. The meeting took place on April 29, 2004. One of the most striking aspects of the declassified document is the apparent absence of even a glimmer of self-awareness by Bush about the significance of the death and destruction he was unleashing with his global war. Bush comes off as almost childishly simplistic in his insights and analysis. The lack of any sensitive information contained within the document should spur questions as to why it took more than 18 years to be made public. One of the 9/11 commissioners "asked if the President or the Vice President had been involved in permitting planes carrying Saudi nationals to leave after 9/11. No, the President said. He had no idea about this until he read about it in the papers." Several 9/11 commissioners raised the issue of the infamous Presidential Daily Briefing from August 6, 2001, titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US." That document cites foreign intelligence indicating that Osama bin Laden "wanted to hijack US aircraft." It also stated that the FBI had information "that indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings."
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