Outgoing National Security Advisor “Sandy Berger, who felt the first President Bush had failed to arrange adequate transition briefings on national security for the incoming Clinton team, vowed to run a handoff of the sort he would have wished to receive. The ‘number one’ issue on his agenda, he recalled [in his September 19, 2002 testimony to the Joint Inquiry Committee], ‘was terrorism and al Qaeda. …We briefed them fully on what we were doing, on what else was under consideration, and what the threat was.’ Later, in the West Wing of the White House, Berger told his successor [Condoleezza Rice, in January 2001], ‘You’re going to spend more time during your four years on terrorism generally and bin Laden specifically than any issue.’ The warnings did not register.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Steve Coll, Ghost Wars, Page 546