Frances Townsend

When asked if the Bush administration had misallocated resources in the war on terror by shortchanging efforts in Afghanistan, Townsend responded: "It is not just a question of our allocation of forces, remember we've got NATO and coalition forces there. This is a coalition effort. And yeah, we are satisfied. We are satisfied with the effort there. This has been of primary importance [not only] among our military, but also among our intelligence and law enforcement communities as well."

Townsend said she was offended by some of President Clinton's remarks on Fox News Sunday. When asked why she took offense, Townsend responded: "It is not terribly productive at this stage to spend a whole lot of time looking back. We have the 9/11 Commission Report. We have done that and ... the looking back piece I don't find a terribly fruitful topic of discussion. I think it is unfair to suggest, whatever the agreements or disagreements are between the two administrations in terms of their approach,... that anybody doesn't take this threat seriously, doesn't want to stop the next attack. When I say it offends me, it offends me the notion that anybody wants to see that happen again or isn't doing everything that they believe is legitimately within their power to do. It appeared in the heat of the moment that the president was angry, he felt attacked, and he reacted."

When she was asked about reports, which started in the French press, that Osama bin Laden was either dead or seriously ill, Townsend responded: "The world will be a better, safer place without him however he leaves us, whether that is being brought to justice, being killed, or getting sick. I have not seen any evidence or intelligence to suggest the report is true." Later, Ms. Townsend added, "I can't say anything about his health or his demise because it would require me to get into classified information."

Townsend was asked for an update on the alleged terrorist plot to use liquid explosives to destroy planes traveling between the United Kingdom and the US. Her response: "We have felt mightily constrained in our public comments because of British law. There are Pakistani British citizens and Pakistani immigrants in Great Britain who have come up repeatedly, over and over in terms of these cases. Is that a concern to us? Yes, it is and you can imagine it is even a greater concern to our British allies. Based on my own experience, I will be surprised at the end of the investigation if we don't come to find links back to Al Qaeda, given what we currently know."

Townsend's experience – and rapid rise – is due in part to what she has called her "triple type-A" personality. She is the first person in her family to graduate from high school. She went on to graduate with honors from American University with a BA in political science and then earned her law degree at the University of San Diego. Her legal career began in 1985 as an assistant DA in Brooklyn. Three years later, she was hired by Rudolph Giulani in the Manhattan US Attorney's office and focused on white collar crime.

Ms. Townsend returned to Washington in 1993. Early in the Bush administration, she was assistant commandant of the Coast Guard for intelligence. She moved to the White House in 2003 and assumed her current position in May 2004.

Page: 1 | 2