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Republicans Hindering Probe of Intelligence
Republicans Limit Probe of Iraq Intelligence I lean toward Andrew Sullivan's view on this as expressed here: LET THEM INVESTIGATE: The Republicans are dumb and paranoid to try and stop a full-fledged investigation into the intelligence findings that provided the basis for one of the main arguments for the war against Saddam. It's important that any flaws in intelligence are fully explored; and any hype that might have been added to the data should be fully exposed and examined. If the administration has nothing to hide - and I doubt it has - let the light in. These Republicans are acting like, er, well, the Clintons. http://www.andrewsullivan.com/ WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in Congress on Wednesday rebuffed calls by Democrats for a full-blown investigation into whether the Bush administration misread or inflated the threats posed by Iraq before going to war. But they agreed to hold oversight hearings and review documents on U.S. intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The Bush administration justified the invasion of Iraq largely on the imminent threat it said such weapons posed, but since the war none has been found. Senior Republicans dismissed as political gamesmanship demands by some Democrats for a full-scale probe into whether the United States was misled into going to war. The Dems better be pretty crafty on this or they will end up burning themselves. "There seems to be a campaign afoot by some to criticize the intelligence community and the president for connecting the dots, for putting together a picture that seemed all too obvious," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, of Kansas. The Republican chairmen of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee joined Roberts in rejecting calls for an investigation. The White House has stood by its position that Iraq was pursuing banned weapons, but officials have begun to talk of finding weapons "programs" or "capabilities" instead of the weapons themselves. 'HYPED' INTELLIGENCE? Some Democrats say the administration appears to have "hyped" the intelligence, drawing the most dire conclusions from the available information in a push for war to oust President Saddam Hussein. If this is true, then I want to know it and let the chips fall. Democrats on the two Senate committees that oversee intelligence operations called for a formal joint investigation of the administration's case on Iraq's weapons and alleged links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. "We've got to make sure that the CIA does not embellish or distort in any way the intelligence information in order to advance a policy of any administration," said Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the Intelligence Committee's ranking Democrat, called the Republicans' plan for oversight hearings "entirely inadequate and slow-paced." "I'm not sure whether they really want to get to the crux of what really happened," he said, adding that he would keep pressing for a broad inquiry. But Roberts said he was seeking all relevant documents from the administration and would proceed "in a very deliberate and bipartisan manner" starting with a closed hearing next week. With media reports of unnamed officials saying they felt pressured to slant intelligence, Roberts said he has "yet to hear from any intelligence official expressing such concerns" and urged anyone in that position to tell the committee. Senate Armed Serives Committee Chairman John Warner of Virginia said the evidence he has seen "does not rise to give the presumption that anyone in this administration has hyped or cooked or embellished such evidence to a particular purpose." Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-06-12 |
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