Richard Burr, a newly elected Repuke Senator for our state (NC), responded to a letter I sent about the DSM in the following fashion:
Thank you for contacting me concerning the controversy over intelligence regarding the War on Terror, including such information as the so-called "Downing Street memo." I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue.
I believe that it is necessary to make sure American intelligence is as accurate as possible. The men and women of our intelligence community and the intelligence officers who work with our friends and allies around the world are dedicated professionals engaged in the difficult and complex work of predicting actions before they are undertaken and seeking to know and understand those things that our enemies wish to remain hidden.
There has been much debate recently regarding the details of intelligence available to our government prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. During that time, I served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and I was in a position to examine the intelligence available to our government. I can assure you that the evidence available to us at that time indicated Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and had tied to terrorist groups.
Even before the first Gulf War in 1991, Saddam Hussein employed chemical and biological weapons on both his enemies, such as the Iranians, as well as his own countrymen, the Kurds, as evidenced in the well-documented gassing of thousands of innocent civilians. For twelve years following the end of the Gulf War in 1991, Saddam Hussein engaged in a campaign of deception, falsification, omission, and outright bullying in order to lie about the possible weapons programs he possessed and to conceal them from the United Nations inspectors sent to secure those weapons and monitor their destruction. In many of the reports given to the United Nations Security Council, Saddam Hussein and his lieutenants gave conflicting and misleading information, and even went so far as to completely omit any reference to chemical and biological agents.
It has been painfully obvious that Saddam went to great lengths for twelve years to deceive and obstruct the United Nations inspectors. The intelligence the Administration and Congress possessed prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom was consistent with intelligence President Clinton's Administration possessed. The Clinton Administration also firmly believed Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, and even engaged in an extensive bombing campaign against Iraq because of this belief in 1998. The Clinton Administration initially made regime change in Iraq a United States policy goal. And in 1998, President Clinton signed into law the Iraq Liberation Act which stated that it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove Saddam Hussein's regime and replace it with a democratic government. In the hopes that there would be a future regime change, this law also provided for transition assistance for democratic movements and political parties within Iraq during a post-Saddam Hussein period.
The so-called "Downing Street memo" is actually the notes taken during a July 23, 2002 meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and top officials in the British government. In spite of how many characterize the information discussed during this meeting, it remains true that the Bush Administration was continuing diplomatic efforts to avoid committing troops to military action at that time. It was months later in November 2002 that the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441 to give Saddam Hussein a final opportunity to comply with international law. He failed to do so, and the United States and a coalition of nations took military action. The United States tried to resolve this situation without conflict, but because of Saddam Hussein's lack of cooperation, we committed troops to protect the world against a vicious dictator. After September 11, the United States was no longer in a position to allow an irrational dictator to develop relationships with terrorist organizations while at the same time pursuing weapons programs. I am convinced that the Administration did not want to use our military, but rather saw it as a last resort.
As we continue to move forward in our efforts to fight against terrorism, we must stay ahead of constantly changing intelligence challenges. The stakes for our country could not be higher, and our standard of intelligence gathering and analysis must be equal to that challenge. In order to improve the quality of intelligence analysis, the 9/11 Commission made a number of recommendations to Congress. In December 2004, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 which included many of the 9/11 Commissions proposals. One of the key creations of the Act was the establishment of a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to manage the national intelligence effort and serve as the principle intelligence advisor to the President.
Unfortunately, intelligence is rarely an exact science which provides specific details. Rather, most intelligence provides only warnings and implications. In this case, the so-called "Downing Street memo" reflects only one conversation about the intelligence used to make the decisions regarding the possible weapons programs in Iraq. Simply put, after reviewing the best information our government officials had at that time, I firmly believe the United States took proper action in Iraq. America is safer today with Saddam Hussein in prison. He and his regime retained the knowledge, the materials, the means, and the intent to produce weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was a unique threat, a sworn enemy of our country and a state sponsor of terror. In a world after September 11, he was a threat we had to confront and could no longer hope to simply contain.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Should you have further questions about this or any other issue, please do not hesitate to ask or visit my website at
http://burr.senate.gov.Sincerely,
Richard Burr
United States Senator
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
