What is going to happen 2 weeks from now is that it is going to be "discovered" that the inadequate text retrieval systems at the FBI led to the failure to detect the al Qaeda sleeper cells. (BTW, Lee Hamilton mentioned this problem briefly yesterday).

It wasn't the barriers between the CIA and FBI that led to the failure, even those they were a problem, and a serious one at that. What the real problem was was that the FBI itself could not even find the data for itself.

That being the case, the only way to find the data was by human search, and that required an active and interested AG. This worked while Reno was in charge, and there were meetings at the Whitehouse. But Ashcroft's nomination was held up, he had little interest in the problem, and Rice had cancelled the Whitehouse meetings.

My bet right now is that if Rice thinks she is not going to testify publicly, and under oath, she is mistaken. Same goes for Ashcroft.

ep