BUSH LIES, Graham Implies in Florida
A "Nixonian stench."
miami.com
BubbaFred,
This could get really interesting. Concurrent Congressional inquiries into the 9/11 cover-up and the WMD exaggerations. Bush is looking distinctly vulnerable at this juncture...
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Bush trying to hide 9/11 information, Graham says
BY PETER WALLSTEN
pwallsten@herald.com
U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, looking for traction in a crowded Democratic presidential field, accused the Bush administration Sunday of overzealous editing of the public version of a report on the causes of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Citing proposed changes in several sections of the report -- which was based on the congressional investigation he helped oversee as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee -- the Florida senator said on CNN's Late Edition that the administration was trying to hide information submitted in open session and, in some cases, reported in the media.
''That's not being done for any legitimate national security reasons,'' Graham told CNN. ``It's being done because they don't want the American people to see a coherent narrative of what happened.''
EARLIER STATEMENT
Graham did not offer specifics during the brief segment, but the criticism came two days after his office issued a statement pledging to confront the White House about the proposed deletions and accusing the administration of axing ''two key sections'' and all but eliminating a third one.
Graham's comments Sunday fit into a broader campaign theme he is carving out as he builds a campaign for the Democratic nomination: attacking the White House on secrecy.
In recent days, he has used unusually strong words to accuse President Bush of hiding information on topics ranging from the Sept. 11 report to the economy to the war in Iraq -- talking about a coverup and referring, as he did in a conference call with reporters last week that was reported by the Associated Press, to a ``Nixonian stench.''
Republicans wave off Graham's accusations as attention-grabbing conspiracy theories by a candidate lagging in a field of nine. They say Bush remains popular because people like and trust his leadership.
''[Graham] is getting more outrageous every day,'' Republican National Committee spokesman Chad Colby said in a telephone interview Sunday. ``That's not a recipe for success.''
Still, Graham and his campaign aides say Bush's credibility with the public is a legitimate issue -- especially when U.S. investigators have been unable to locate the nuclear and chemical weapons in Iraq cited as justification for the removal of Saddam Hussein.
CALL FOR INQUIRY
Graham on Sunday welcomed the call from other Senate leaders for a congressional inquiry into the intelligence that led to the widespread belief that Hussein's regime had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction.
If those weapons are not found, Graham said on CNN, ``that will indicate a very significant intelligence failure or the attempt to keep the American people in the dark by manipulating that intelligence information.'' |
