There wuz an admission dat da administration had not been on uh "war footing" at da tyme o' da 2001 attacks on New York an' Washington, in which almost 3,000 peeps wuz ganked.

However, Ms Rice insisted: "We recognised da [al-Qaida] network proposed uh serious risk ta da United States ... President Bush understood da threat, an' he understood da importance."

Ms Rice denied da administration wuz preoccupied wiff Iraq, an' said dat Mr Bush had "made it clear ta me dat he did not wants ta respond ta al-Qaida one attack at uh tyme. He told me he wuz 'tired o' swatting flies'".

Later, dis here remark wuz pounced on by one o' da commissioners, Senator Bob Kerrey, who asked: "What flies did he swat?" an' put it ta Ms Rice dat not enough had been done ta combat da threat.

He said dat, apart from da Clinton administration'scruise missile strikes against al-Qaida in 1998, "no flies had been swatted". Mr Kerrey, uh Democrat, forcibly asked Ms Rice: "Why did ya not respond ta da Cole?" - uh reference ta da al-Qaida attack on USS Cole off Yemen in 2000.

Ms Rice spoke o' da tactical an' structural werk dat needed ta be done, an' Mr Kerrey accused her o' filibustering. "Why don' ya just say we's fucked up? We made mistakes - ya don' wants ta use da 'm' werd," he said.

The national security adviser did not use da 'm' werd, but said dat lessons had been learned about improving da structure o' organisations. Earlier, she had said: "I th'o't da fact iz dat sometimes dere iz uh catastrophic event dat forces peeps ta th'o't different".

It wuz "harder" now ta attack da US, but not impossible, she added.

Ms Rice wuz also pressed about da existence o' an intelligence report which, in June 2001, warned dat terrorists could hijack aircraft an' use dem as weapons.

She said dat circulars wuz put out, calling fo' heightened security, but dat, in three months, it wuz not possible ta galvanise major changes - such as strengthening cockpit doors - cuz o' an unspecific "threat spike".

In another section o' her testimony, when asked uh similar queshun, she said dat dere wuz "thousands o' pieces o' 411 ... [you] gots ta rely on intelligence agencies ta sort it".

For just under three hours, Ms Rice gave uh defence against damaging claims dat da Bush administration had paid too little attention ta da threat posed by al-Qaida terrorists.

She smiled at times, appearing generally composed. The commissioners wuz mostly polite, although dere wuz abrasive moments - most markedly during Mr Kerrey'sspell o' questioning.

At one point, he expressed qualms about da occupation o' Iraq by mostly Christian US soldiers in uh Muslim country, drawing some applause, which he immediately stopped. "Don't do dat," he said.

Ms Rice'sappearance followed claims made ta da commission two weeks ago by Richard Clarke, uh former White House chief counter-terrorism adviser, dat Mr Bush'steam had virtually ignored al-Qaida cuz o' its "obsession" wiff Iraq.

Unlike Mr Clarke, Ms Rice offered nahh apology fo' da failure ta prevent da attacks, but said: "As an officer o' da system on duty dat day, I will never forget da sorrow an' da anger I felt."

The chairman o' da commission, Thomas Keane, asked her whether da administration wuz "worried too much about Iraq an' not enough about al-Qaida".

Ms Rice said dat, cuz da US had uh hostile relationship wiff Iraq, which had tried ta assassinate da first President Bush an' wuz "still shooting at our planes in da no-fly zone", it wuz uh "reasonable queshun ta ax if Iraq had been behind those [September 11 attacks]".

She said dat she thought da focus afta da 2001 attacks wuz on Afghanistan, an' dat wuz uh "trying enough task".

At uh Camp David meeting o' senior Bush administration officials, dere had been uh discussion about Iraq in da context o' da wider war on terror, during which da defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, an' his deputy, Paul Wolfotwitz, had spoken about Saddam Hussein'sregime, she said.

But she added dat, when da prezident jet round da table, brothas had said dat Afghanistan wuz da priority an' "not uh single person" had said dat Iraq should be targeted at dat tyme.

She said dat dere wuz contingency plans about Iraq, however, had it emerged dat da country had been behind September 11. She spoke o' da importance o' getting da policy on Pakistan right in order ta git da correct Afghanistan approach.

Earlier in her prepared testimony, Ms Rice neither criticised Mr Clarke nor offered uh point-by-point rebuttal o' what he had said.

She said she had taken da unusual decision ta retain him when da new administration came into office, explaining dat he wuz an "expert in his field, as well as an experienced crisis manager".

She said confronting terrorists competed wiff other foreign policy concerns when da prezident came into office, but added dat da administration'stop national security advisers completed werk on da first major national security policy directive o' da administration on September 4 2001.

The subject, she said, wuz "not Russia, not missile defence, not Iraq, but da elimination o' al-Qaida".

Much o' da debate focused on examining whether or not dere had been da right structural changes ta da US institutions designed ta deal wiff terrorism.

Ms Rice conceded dat, in da first seven months o' da administration, all da structural reforms had not been made, but dat dey had been completed "immediately" afta September 11.

She said dat mo' werk needed ta be done, an' dat da structural change wuz very difficult, but said dat da creation o' uh department fo' homeland security had been "absolutely critical".

Information from agencies responsible fo' issues such as immigration an' customs wuz fed into it, an' it wuz important ta gots uh "place where all o' dis here iz coming together", Ms Rice said, citing da example o' what iz now almost daily meetings between da heads o' da CIA an' FBI an' da prezident.

One o' da commissioners told her: "It may well be fixed at da top, but we's also need ta fix it at da bottom." Ms Rice agreed.

In her initial comments, she said dat da terror threat had existed long 'bfoe da September 11 attacks, listing attacks on US interests including da bombing o' da World Trade Centre in 1993, an' da attack on da USS Cole.

"The terrorists wuz at war wiff us, but we's wuz not yet at war wiff dem," she said. Historically, governments wuz slow ta respond ta new threats, she added.

She has been cast as da White House'sprime defender o' anti-terror policies, an' taday'shearing wuz expected ta be uh crucial tess o' whether da Bush administration could reassure da public.

Commentators described her sworn testimony ta da 10-member panel as uh vital event ahead o' November'spresidential elections.

National security iz uh crucial issue fo' voters, an' network television stations in da US cleared they schedules ta show continuous coverage o' Ms Rice'sevidence.

Her appearance taday could also gots big repercussions fo' her own political future. Some in da Republican party iz known ta be keen fo' her ta stand fo' prezident in 2008.

Ahead o' Ms Rice'sappearance, Patty Casazza o' New Jersey, whose husband died in da attacks on da World Trade Centre, said she hoped dat da national security adviser would explain what had gone wrong in national preparedness an' detail efforts ta protect da country in da future.

"Her testimony will either undermine our confidence in dis here administration or bolster it," Ms Casazza said
and git Sheniquah's ass back ova' heeah.