Dayton says Congress is being deceived

[JI7]

<WASHINGTON — A week after returning from Iraq, U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., is angry at being presented with what he calls deliberate misinformation about the military situation there.

"It's just disgraceful that they're intentionally and repeatedly misinforming members of Congress about the facts and the truth there," Dayton said Thursday.

On his recent visit to Iraq, Dayton was told that U.S. forces have trained some 9,500 Iraqi Army troops. Dayton considers that "an indefensibly poor outcome for all this money and all this effort," he told Congressional Quarterly.

Dayton said he was given a far sunnier estimate of Iraqi troop strength at a classified hearing Wednesday, which bore little resemblance to what he heard in Iraq. In addition, Dayton said he was given an upbeat assessment of the situation in post-war Fallujah, which also differed from what he'd heard in Iraq.

On Thursday, Dayton wrote a sharp letter to Lt. Gen. James Conway of the U.S. Marine Corps.

"I do not have the opportunity to travel to Iraq weekly in order to fact-check the information I receive from Administration and military leaders about the situation there," Dayton wrote. "I should not need to do so. I should be able to rely upon the accuracy and truthfulness of that information. I have discovered repeatedly, to my great dismay, that I cannot do so.">

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/10584960.htm?1c

[saltpoint]

1. If Senators are being handed sugar-coated stats --

-- then I don't blame Mark Dayton for being angry.

Seem to recall the military had a knack for that sort of gussying up the facts during Vietnam.

That little project didn't work out so well either.

[radfringe]

2. so? are the Dems going to do anything about it

Dems won't stand up for themselves, so why should I think they will stand up for anyone else? Talk is cheap and the time for action is long overdue

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. It no longer matters

the Repugs control everything. Whatever happens for here on, the Repugs own it. They have no one else to blame for the shit that going to hit the fan during the next four years. They wanted total control so bad, that they rigged the elections to get it. Well good luck suckers, cause no matter what a Dem does from here on, is not going to matter one way or another.

Saving this country will have to be some other way that through party politics.

[Festivito]

4. They ought to charge, convict and teather the liars-to-Congress.

Let them work and sit at home with a felon's shackle around their ankle and think whether it is worth Republic-CONning.

[cornermouse]

5. Why is Dayton surprised?

I'm not in Iraq and even I can tell that they've been lying.

[roguevalley]

6. All I have is a damned tv set and I knew that. Good grief.

[Skidmore]

7. Ya' know, I'm not sympathetic.

WE know that this administration lies at every opportunity that presents itself. WE can figure this out from simply reading the world press. WE understand that the * administration operates on a consistent set of motives, none of them good or honorable and that they are willing to engage in empty rhetoric to satisfy protocol. WE understand that this administration does not give a rat's patooty about the common citizen.

What the hell is wrong with these Dem legislators that they can't arrive at a point at which they can anticipate the next con or screw job coming down the pike? Why would they EVER consider any utterance or information provided by the * junta as trustworthy. How many times do they have to be rolled to get it?

Dayton, stop whining and start ACTING!!! Tell your bunk buddies to do the same.

Keeerist! Damn!!! And many other expletives that would have to be deleted. Once a fool--always a fool!! After yesterday's performances in the Gonzalez hearing and the Electoral College vote count, I have no patience left for this bunch of morally bankrupt, intellectually challenged, double-speaking, double-dealing crap shooters!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I don't feel better either.

[LizW]

8. Does he not have Internet access?

Just kidding, I get his point, and he's right to be angry. But every member of Congress should know exactly what is going on and they should be calling the liars on it every time they get one of these rosy reports. Congress holds the purse strings, and it's their job to get the accurate information they need to make decisions. If the people who report to Congress about the war are lying, Congress should demand that they be fired and replaced with people who will tell them the truth.

[myrna minx]

10. Sen. Dayton was on our local news last night

bringing the truth to Minnesota. It was an opportunity for a Senator to get face time on a local broadcast in order to bring some truth to the public. He is not ignorant about the Iraq situation, he just had an opportunity to express himself in the media. He knows what is going on in Iraq, but when does a Democrat have an opportunity to express the truth in front of a camera?

http://www.wcco.com/topvideo/

[robbedvoter]

9. dear Mr Dayton: you bend over for the voting rights, keep the position

on every single issue - because the first one makes you irrelevant. In perpetuity. Thusly, you learn the hard way that democracy is a real thing , not a demagoguery tool. Now shut up and listen to the shit raining.

[Guns Aximbo]

11. so... what's he going to do about it?

What can he do about it. Thr fascists have a lock on our government. He can raise astink about it but it'll go nowhere. The press really won't report on it. There isn't an investigive reporter in the media any longer so... nothing will happen.

[leesa]

12. I'm sorry. But if Congress is being "deceived" it's only because they

want to be. It is glaringly apparent what is going on in Iraq. It is an amazing feat of denial not to be aware of it.

[bemildred]

13. Dittos.

The Congress is the 800 pound gorilla in the US government, and
if they are being lied to it's because they ordered the lying.