From the UK's Independent, this article by Mary Dejevsky fills in details about Dr. Condoleezza Rice's ascent to prominence as Pres. Bush's national security advisor, a position which will thrust her into the limelight this week on the occasion of her public, sworn testimony before the 911 Commission.

No televised testimony has been so eagerly awaited in Washington's corridors of power since Monica Lewinsky was questioned about her relationship with Bill Clinton. And while the witness who will raise her hand before the cameras on Thursday and swear to tell the truth and nothing but could hardly be more different from Monica, in one respect they are similar: her evidence, too, has the potential to cripple a president.

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Dr. Rice has been walking point for the Bush administration's national security failures on Black Tuesday. In that capacity, the national security advisor has been taking heat for her remarkable statement that nobody could have predicted the used of hijacked airliners as suicide weapons, a critical point that has been the keystone of the administration's argument that it was blindsided by the 911 terrorist attacks.

In advance of her sworn testimony, Dr. Rice has recently privately approached the 911 Commission in hopes of "revising" her 5-16-2002 statement about the potential danger of hijacked jetliners on suicide missions.

Meanwhile, FBI translator Sibel Edmonds says she saw reports which made it clear the bureau was aware of the terrorist's plot by early 2001 - at the same time FBI higher-ups were rejecting urgent warnings from the field about these very terrorists.

After the Commissioners receive Dr. Rice's testimony, it would be in accordance with the commission's mandate - and in the best interests of truth and justice - to question the FBI supervisors about their actions.

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