US President George W.Bush on Friday said he would have tried to foil the September 11 attacks had he known such a threat was possible. He was reacting for the first time to increasing pressure over his handling of intelligence ahead of the hijacked hits. ‘‘The American people know this about me and my national security team and my administration. Had I known the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the people,’’ Bush said at a White House Rose Garden event. Bush spoke after revelations on Wednesday he was warned in August 2001 of the possibility Al Qaeda could attempt a hijacking, which prompted calls by Democrats and some Republicans for an investigation into likely intelligence failures ahead of the attacks which killed 3,000 people. Cheney raises spectre of worse attack * US Vice-President Dick Cheney on Thursday raised the spectre of a new terror attack and said Democratic Party criticism of the White House’s handling of pre-Sept 11 warnings was “thoroughly irresponsible”. * John Walker Lindh’s trial should be dismissed because the US Govt has created a ‘‘poisoned atmosphere’’ with statements that will prevent the American Taliban fighter from getting a fair trial, his lawyers said on Thursday. * With the removal of an empty flag-draped stretcher, recovery work at the ruins of the WTC will come to a symbolic close on May 30, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Thursday. (Agencies) ‘‘You know what’s interesting about Washington? It’s a town, unfortunately it’s the kind of place where second-guessing has become second nature,’’ Bush told US Air Force Academy football team members who were at the White House to receive a trophy. On Thursday, key US Congress members demanded to know if the Government had enough information to head off the attacks. The White House said intelligence given to President Bush was too general to act. Pressure was also building in Congress for an independent blue-ribbon commission to investigate what the government knew in advance and whether there was a failure among federal agencies. Democratic leader Richard Gep-hardt said on Friday inquiries into how much warning the Government had would include members of Congress and White House. ‘‘We need to find out who knew what and when.’’ the House of Representatives minority leader told CNN. ‘‘We need to know what the White House had, we need to know what went to intelligence committees.’’ The White House admitted Bush received advance warning only after CBS News revealed it on Wednesday night. (Reuters)
