US government declassifies post-9/11 presidential interview

On Wednesday, the US government declassified a summary of an April 2004 interview between then-president George W. Bush and vice president Dick Cheney and members of the 9/11 Commission.

In the interview, Bush and Cheney revealed how they dealt with the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the ensuing war on terror.

Bush began by noting that in months leading up to 9/11, he had received intelligence warning of potential hijackings "for the release of prisoners," but did not recall seeing other intelligence about aircraft as missiles, or about Islamic extremists learning to fly."

The president had been reading "The Pet Goat" to students at an elementary school in Florida when the attack took place, however upon learning that not one, but two planes had hit the World Trade Center, he took a considerable amount of time to act.

"He was collecting his thoughts," the interview summary stated. "He stayed in the event, he thought, for about 4 or 5 minutes. His instinct was to be calm, not have the country see a rattled president in a high moment. The country was under attack. He was trying to understand what that means."

While reading to the kids, Bush saw the press corps on their phones looking concerned, and therefore "felt he should project calm and strength, until he could understand better what was happening" because, as he stated, "people react off me."

The summary revealed that after learning of the attacks, there was chaos as the administration tried to figure out the best course of action. In the end, it was decided that Bush should lay low so as to "protect the continuity of the presidency," while Cheney and other top officials took control.

The two stayed in constant communication, however, while Bush was shuttled around to different air bases before finally returning to Washington, DC that evening.

Tough decisions were made, including giving authority to the Air Force to shoot down potentially hijacked planes still in the sky. While this plan was never executed, there were a number of occasions where Bush believed it had, including with United Flight 93.

Bush also said he "didn't see much point in assigning personal blame for 9/11."

When it came to fighting the ensuing war on terror, Bush noted that, "Killing the terrorists was the best strategy."

He suggested that the US had to "kill them before they kill us," and that, "there would be no negotiations, no peace treaty with these people."

"They are killers, cold-blooded killers who would not hesitate for a moment," he said. "They will kill women and children. They had killed all those commuters in Madrid. If Bin Ladin had weapons of mass destruction he would likely kill more."

Bush also vehemently supported the idea that spreading freedom throughout the world should always be the US' mission.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, the interview was not recorded via audio or video, nor was an official transcript ever made, thus making this summary the only surviving record.