Robbing Peter to Quiet Paul?

First, I'm very glad to see that the President and Vice President will now appear before all members of the 9/11 panel and not just the chair and vice-chair. Hopefully, they'll sit for more than 60 minutes each, as well.

However, one thing not being noticed in all the fury to discuss the fact that Dr. Rice will now testify in public and under oath is that the White House put some strict conditions, including that the 9/11 panel will not request any other White House official to publicly testify. That part bothers me quite a bit. Rice's words the last several weeks have contradicted both earlier words from herself as well as several members of the Bush Administration. It's within the realm of distinct possibility that her testimony could lead to additional questions that can and should be answered by the White House.

Has the panel agreed to this condition? We're supposed to hear them speak on the record shortly. I hope they don't accept Rice with this condition placed. Rice should testify, but it shouldn't be given with total immunity for everyone at 1600 Pennsylvania.