Senate panel to release new prewar Iraq reports

[Barrett808]

Senate panel to release new prewar Iraq reports
By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel on Thursday voted to release two newly declassified reports on prewar Iraq intelligence, including one examining the role of an Iraqi exile group that spread allegations, later proved false, about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

The 15-member Senate Intelligence Committee voted unanimously at a closed business meeting to release the reports, which consist of 300 to 400 partially redacted pages of previously classified material.

A second report compares U.S. prewar intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism with findings made by military and intelligence officials after the March 2003 invasion.

The documents are expected to be released on Friday via the committee's web site at intelligence.senate.gov.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060907/ts_nm/iraq_usa_intelligence_dc

[wakeme2008]

1. finally :)

hopefully they are as good as we hope them to be.

[Robbien]

2. Want to bet the MSM will ignore this

Just as it ignored Corn's scoop that Valerie Wilson was indeed a covert CIA agent working on finding WMD's in Iraq.

[leftchick]

3. why would roberts cave now?

hmmm and rockefeller seems pleased.

<snip>

The committee's top Democrat, West Virginia Sen. John Rockefeller (news, bio, voting record), told reporters the administration decided to invade Iraq in part on the basis of information that had been rejected by U.S. intelligence.

"After reading the reports, I believe you will find that the Bush administration's case for war was fundamentally misleading," Rockefeller said.

"The administration pursued a deceptive strategy of using intelligence reporting that the intelligence community had already warned was uncorroborated, unreliable, and in some critical circumstances, fabricated," he said.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. The wheels seem to be coming off the war wagon. Years too late

to do anything about. This looks like good evidence for use in an impeachment and/or war crimes trial tho.

[rodeodance]

5. "Phase 2" comments here:

The committee, which approved classified versions of the same documents last month, published a scathing summary of U.S. intelligence missteps on Iraq in 2004 and agreed to purse a "Phase 2" investigation in five specific areas including those covered by the forthcoming reports.

The main segment of Phase 2 was supposed to examine whether administration officials exaggerated intelligence on Iraq, but has become bogged down in partisan squabbling.

The reports surface at a time of escalating political rhetoric over Iraq in the runup to November midterm elections.

Aides said Republicans and Democrats were likely to differ over whether the INC and its former leader, Ahmad Chalabi, wielded undue influence over the Bush administration.

The group had strong support from officials like Vice President
Dick Cheney who were pushing for war. However Republicans believe Chalabi had little actual influence.

The committee's top Democrat, West Virginia Sen. John Rockefeller (news, bio, voting record), told reporters the administration decided to invade Iraq in part on the basis of information that had been rejected by U.S. intelligence.

"After reading the reports, I believe you will find that the Bush administration's case for war was fundamentally misleading," Rockefeller said.

[HuffleClaw]

6. so whats stopping bush from slapping a new 'top secret' label on this

stuff?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. friday news toilet dump.

I can't wait to see the lack of reaction in MSM.

[maddezmom]

8. kick

:kick:

The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, said the report will confirm that "the Bush administration's case for war in Iraq was fundamentally misleading."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060908/ap_on_go_co/iraq_report_4;_

[Lasher]

9. List of Roadblocks the Senate GOP has Put Up re: Iraq Investigations

List of GOP roadblocks through 2005 is contained in this DU thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5232989