Dayton says Congress is being deceived on Iraq

[katinmn]

Posted on Fri, Jan. 07, 2005
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/10584960.htm

Dayton says Congress is being deceived
Military's upbeat reports on Iraq don't match reality, senator says
BY TOM WEBB
Washington Correspondent

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.

--snip--

"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."

--more--

[hippiechick]

1. No, really ?

:shrug: Whod'a guessed ? Bush/Cheney, lie ? Wow.



:hippie:

[Wright Patman]

2. Dayton is too reality-based

The administration is creating its own reality. And to think he closed his offices based on one of those "alternate reality" reports. I hope he's learned his lesson.

[sueh]

3. Yes, I hope he learns his lesson AND

demands accountability on what is taking place in Iraq - from the top down.

[dflprincess]

4. He was demanding accountability Thursday morning.

I saw him on CSPAN then (before the Ohio vote) and he was on fire. He said it was time for the administration to stop lying. He actually said "lying" - how often does someone actually say that out loud when discussing Bush (besides us, of course).

That's why his performance in the afternoon is so hard to understand, it was like he'd been replaced by an evil twin.