After weeks of stonewalling, the White House has agreed to allow National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to testify in public under oath before the 9/11 commission. In addition President Bush announced that he and Vice President Cheney would meet together with the 10 commissioners and testify in secret not under oath.

While the move was widely described as the White House backing down, it was made on a series of conditions which may limit the extent the 9/11 commission can investigate what led to the Sept. 11 attacks.

As part of the deal, the 9/11 Commission agreed not to seek public testimony from any more White House officials.

The Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Independent Commission criticized the commission for agreeing to this measure. In a letter they wrote “[This] is of particular concern because decisions made by those officials on the day of 9/11 are critically important to provide a full accounting to the American public.”

But regardless of what Rice says under oath, no more White House officials can be sought to testify.

The New Republic described the deal like this: “The White House is, in effect, trading a Rice appearance for a guarantee that the administration’s two leading men won’t be dragged down with her.”

In addition the New Republic also notes this means Bush will never meet with any of the commissioners without Cheney by his side. Originally Bush was scheduled to meet alone with the commissioner’s two chairmen.

On his website TalkingPointsMemo.com, journalist Josh Marshall writes “The White House does not trust the president to be alone with the Commission members for any great length of time without getting himself into trouble, either by contradicting what his staff says, or getting some key point wrong, or letting some key fact slip. And Cheney’s there to make sure nothing goes wrong.”