Exclusive: Kerry letter on Downing Street leaked ... Developing

[Goldeneye]

www.rawstory.com

[Broken Acorn]

1. No offense...

but Raw Story is so full of sh*t.

*yawn*

[wicket]

2. why do you say that?

[Goldeneye]

3. dupe.

[Goldeneye]

4. They are extremely reliable.

Why don't you go ahead and explain what you mean.

[Lerkfish]

5. are you serious?

one of the writers for rawstory posts here regularly and is a wonderful contributor as far as I I can tell.

Put simply, I must disagree with you assessment.

[Bleacher Creature]

6. Not trying to start any trouble, but . . .

who cares?? People have been talking about Kerry's planned response for 2 weeks. In the meantime, people like John Conyers have been woring their tails off trying to get some traction on this.

John Kerry is wonderful at what he does b/c the Senate is designed for deliberate and rational voices. But that's where it ends.

[Mass]

7. Here is the letter

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/


June 22, 2005
The Honorable Pat Roberts, Chairman
The Honorable John D. Rockefeller, IV, Vice Chairman
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
SH-211
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Roberts and Senator Rockefeller:

We write concerning your committee's vital examination of pre-war Iraq intelligence failures. In particular, we urge you to accelerate to completion the work of the so-called "Phase II" effort to assess how policy makers used the intelligence they received. Last year your committee completed the first phase of a two-phased effort to review the pre-war intelligence on Iraq. Phase I-begun in the summer of 2003 and completed in the summer of 2004-examined the performance of the American intelligence community in the collection and analysis of intelligence prior to the war, including an examination of the quantity and quality of U.S. intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the intelligence on ties between Saddam Hussein's regime and terrorist groups. At the conclusion of Phase I, your committee issued an unclassified report that made an important contribution to the American public's understanding of the issues involved. In February 2004-well over a year ago-the committee agreed to expand the scope of inquiry to include a second phase which would examine the use of intelligence by policy makers, the comparison of pre-war assessments and post-war findings, the activities of the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG) and the Office of Special Plans in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and the use of information provided by the Iraqi National Congress. The committee's efforts have taken on renewed urgency given recent revelations in the United Kingdom regarding the apparent minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and his senior national security advisors. These minutes-known as the "Downing Street Memo"-raise troubling questions about the use of intelligence by American policy makers-questions that your committee is uniquely situated to address. The memo indicates that in the summer of 2002, at a time the White House was promising Congress and the American people that war would be their last resort, that they believed military action against Iraq was "inevitable." The minutes reveal that President "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

The American people took the warnings that the administration sounded seriously-warnings that were echoed at the United Nations and here in Congress as we voted to give the president the authority to go to war. For the sake of our democracy and our future national security, the public must know whether such warnings were driven by facts and responsible intelligence, or by political calculation. These issues need to be addressed with urgency. This remains a dangerous world, with American forces engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other challenges looming in Iran and North Korea. In this environment, the American public should have the highest confidence that policy makers are using intelligence objectively-never manipulating it to justify war, but always to protect the United States. The contents of the Downing Street Memo undermine this faith and only rigorous Congressional oversight can determine the truth. We urge the committee to complete the second phase of its investigation with the maximum speed and transparency possible, producing, as it did at the end of Phase I, a comprehensive, unclassified report from which the American people can benefit directly.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

Co-signers: Sens. Tim Johnson, Jon Corzine, Jack Reed, Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Boxer, Edward Kennedy, Thomas Harkin, Jeff Bingaman, Richard Durbin

[Goldeneye]

10. 10 Senators...not too bad.

There should be more in my opinion, but 10 is a good start.

[Mass]

14. Disappointing

Except Johnson (and his son was in Iraq), those are the names that could be expected.

I am not surprised. Given the silence of Boxer and Kennedy, it was clear that there was something blocking in the Senate.

[OzarkDem]

13. Needs more co-signers

Is he still collecting them? Shall we contact our senators and ask them to sign on?

[deutsey]

15. I guess Durbin is already preparing to apologize for signing this

Sorry. I'm still a little sore that he apologized.

[flpoljunkie]

18. Unfortunately, only John Corzine is a member of the Intelligence Committee

From Taytay's earlier post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1882348&mesg_id=1882375

Rule 6. Investigations

No investigation shall be initiated by the Committee unless at least five members of the Committee have specifically requested the Chairman or the Vice Chairman to authorize such an investigation. Authorized investigations may be conducted by members of the Committee and/or designated Committee staff members.

The members of the Committee, from whom five sigs are needed are:

REPUBLICANS
And I understand that at least five member are required to request an investigation.

REPUBLICANS
Pat Roberts, Kansas Chairman
Orrin G. Hatch, Utah
Mike Dewine, Ohio
Christopher S. Bond, Missouri
Trent Lott, Mississippi
Olympia J. Snowe, Maine
Chuck Hagel, Nebraska
Saxby Chambliss, Georgia

DEMOCRATS
John D. Rockefeller IV West Virginia, Vice Chairman
Carl Levin, Michigan
Dianne Feinstein, California
Ron Wyden, Oregon
Evan Bayh, Indiana
Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland
Jon S. Corzine, New Jersey

[Mass]

20. Thanks, I was looking for this list

Yes, but as I said, I am not that surprised.

[KoKo]

22. It's a great effort. But, I'm not hopeful that "Part II" will be anything

more than the whitewash Part I was. I remember Rockefeller being angry with Roberts when Part I came out and there was supposed to be some evidence Rockefeller thought should have been added to Party I for the people to know before they began Part II. But Roberts insisted whatever it was be kept out, and it was close to election so it was dropped.

The way they Deep Sixed Part II was always surprising given that Rockefeller seemed so angry with Roberts. However, it could have been all "show." Just politics to throw a bone to us Dems that Rockefellrr pretended anger that wasn't there. :shrug: Who knows anymore...

[Broken Acorn]

8. Sorry...

I think overall they are a service. But I hate when these sources have 'developing stories' which usually never amount to anything.

Such as a few weeks ago: "Kerry will address the DSM on the floor of the Senate Monday..." and nothing happens.


Is that good enough clarification?

[Dr Ron]

12. Kerry never said he would address it on the Senate floor

Kerry said he would raise the issue when he returned to Washington. When he returned he began speaking with other Senators and sought out others to cosign this letter.

A one shot speech would mean little. It is more valuable for Kerry to use the Senate rules to press for a real investigation.

Of course I wouldn't be surprised if he follows up the letter with a floor speech.

[dutchdemocrat]

17. Yes

Yes EDITED...

[shraby]

19. Rawstory never said Kerry would

address the DSM on the floor of the senate. That was put out there by a right-wing site and was considered not true.

[LSparkle]

9. Appears to be just the Senate jumping on the Conyers bandwagon

Nothing new, nothing incriminating, just more of the same. Hopefully this will just help keep the story on the media's radar.

[Mass]

11. The Senate is a lot to say

given the short list of names and the fact that Reid did not sign, it is clear that most people do not want to hear about that.

[LSparkle]

16. Didn't notice that -- you are correct

Maybe after Roveapalooza, more Dems will realize the camel's back is broken and it's time to fight back....

[Broken Acorn]

21. $100 says the WH will ignore this letter too

We are wasting our time here people. I am all for democracy, but we now live in a Fascist country and we need to act accordingly.


Why can't we get out a PR campaign actually TALKING about it?