Gee, Big Surprise here....PUBLICANS BLOCK WMD SCANDAL INQUIRY!!!
House Rejects Deeper Probe on Iraqi Arms
By Ken Guggenheim
The Associated Press
Thursday 26 June 2003
WASHINGTON -- The House on Thursday rejected two attempts by Democratic lawmakers for
additional inquiries into the handling of intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs.
Democrats sought to include the inquiries in a bill authorizing 2004 intelligence activities. That
bill, whose details are mostly classified, was expected to be approved late Thursday or early
Friday.
Democrats have questioned whether prewar intelligence was inaccurate or manipulated to back
up President Bush's push for war. Republicans have said there is no sign of wrongdoing and have
accused Democrats of raising the issue for political reasons.
Reviews of administration assertions of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction already under way
by the House and Senate intelligence committees and the Senate Armed Services committees.
But some Democrats said they don't go far enough.
An amendment proposed by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas to require the U.S. comptroller
general to study U.S. intelligence-sharing with U.N. inspectors was defeated 239-185.
By a 347-76 vote, the House rejected an amendment by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio to
require the CIA's inspector general to audit all telephone and electronic communications between
the CIA and Vice President Dick Cheney relating to Iraq's weapons.
Kucinich, a presidential candidate and outspoken opponent of the war, cited a Washington Post
story in which unidentified intelligence analysts said they had felt pressured by Cheney to make
their assessments meet administration policy objectives.
In debate Wednesday, Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., called Kucinich's proposal the "cheap shot
amendment of the year."
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jane Harman of California, also
opposed Kucinich's proposal, saying his concerns could be examined by the committee's review
of prewar intelligence.
Harman said the early stages of that review found that the administration ignored doubts about
Iraq's chemical and biological weapons capability. But Harman said she still believes Saddam
Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction that could now be in the hands of
anti-American fighters in Iraq or terrorists elsewhere.
She said the early stages of her committee's review has made clear that Iraq once had
chemical and biological weapons and that these weapons were easy to hide -- but administration
officials "rarely included the caveats and qualifiers attached to the intelligence community's
judgments."
"For many Americans, the administration's certainty gave the impression there was even
stronger intelligence about Iraq's possession of and intention to use WMD," she said.
Harman said the committee was reviewing whether intelligence agencies "made clear to
policy-makers and Congress that most of its analytic judgments were based on things like aerial
photographs, Iraqi defector interviews -- not hard facts."
Harman also said that intelligence linking al-Qaida to Iraq "is conflicting, contrary to what was
claimed by the administration."
Harman said the committee's review would be thorough and that Chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla.,
has told her he will hold open hearings, which she hopes will begin in July. But she also said the
investigation had to be "mindful of the burden the intelligence agencies are carrying."
"Our nation is best served by an effective intelligence community, not one hobbled by
risk-aversion and finger-pointing," she said.
The intelligence authorization bill would pay for programs aimed at improving intelligence
sharing among agencies, increase training of state and local agencies, modernize an aging
satellite network, strengthen human espionage and improve counterintelligence efforts.
The bill's cost is classified, but has been estimated at $40 billion. Goss said that level would
meet Bush's request. It will have to be reconciled with a version being considered by the Senate.
Go to Original
Waxman Seeks WMD Commission
By John Bresnahan
Roll Call
Monday 23 June 2003
With the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq continuing, top Democrats on Capitol
Hill are wrestling with how far to push President Bush on the issue and what political gains, if
any, they can garner from such efforts.
Although both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have already begun hearings on
Iraq, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) wants to introduce legislation to create an independent
commission to look into what the Bush administration and U.S. intelligence agencies knew about
Iraq's WMD programs before the war started and how that information was presented to
Congress and the American public.
The panel would be set up in similar fashion to the commission that has Center and Pentagon,
including having the power to subpoena witnesses and documents.
Another option under consideration is to try to attach an amendment to the fiscal 2004
intelligence authorization bill creating an independent commission on Iraq WMD programs.That
bill is usually debated under an open rule, potentially giving Democrats venue to press the GOP
leadership on the issue.
Waxman, who voted for the resolution authorizing Bush to use military force in Iraq, declined to
comment on his latest proposal. But Democrats sources say that he has informed Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of his plans.
Waxman has been quietly circulating a draft copy of the initiative to colleagues over the last
several days, and is seeking support from high-profile Democrats who backed the Iraq war but
now have doubts about what they were told by the White House. Waxman has been particularly
vocal about the claim by Bush and other senior administration officials that former Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium from the African nation of Niger for nuclear weapons. The
charge, included in the president's State of the Union address last January, has been shown to
have been based on forged documents.
"The thing I have been trying to focus on is the whole question ... of Iraq becoming a nuclear
power,"said Waxman, who added that he based his own vote for the Iraq resolution on the
possibility of Hussein acquiring nuclear weapons.
Waxman, ranking member on the Government Reform Committee, has repeatedly demanded
that the White House turn over whatever information it has on the Niger incident, although so far
the administration has not responded to his requests.
Waxman is one of 81 House Democrats, along with 29 Senate Democrats, who backed the Iraq
war but are now to beginning to question the wisdom of that vote. While most Hill Democrats
have refrained from criticizing Bush, several candidates for the party's presidential nod in 2004,
including Sens. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and John Kerry (D- Mass), as well as former Vermont
Gov.Howard Dean (D), have stepped up their rhetoric.
Kerry, who voted for the Iraq resolution, charged last week that Bush "misled" him and the
country about the seriousness of Iraq's WMD capability in order to justify the war, although GOP
officials quickly slammed him for hypocrisy, pointing out that just days before the Massachusetts
Democrat had said it would be "irresponsible" to make that allegation at this point.
House Democratic leaders have been distracted by the ongoing legislative struggle over
Medicare and prescription drugs, and they have yet to reach agreement on how best to exploit
the opening some now see on Iraq.
Many Democrats believe time is actually their biggest ally on this issue. If there are no
discoveries of WMD caches in Iraq during the coming weeks and months, then questions about
Bush's credibility are certain to increase, according to Democratic insiders.
"Time is on our side," said a House Democratic leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
"The longer this goes on, the more it will hurt Bush. And the press is on top of this, and they
aren't going to let Bush and [Vice President] Cheney off the hook."
A senior House Democratic staffer pointed out that Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), who backed
the Iraq war, has been pushing for an open inquiry into the WMD issue by the Intelligence
Committee, where she is the ranking member.
Although Intelligence Chairman Porter Goss (R-Fla.) rejected that request, the committee has
begun closed- door hearings on the issue. Waxman's plan for an independent commission could
collide with Harman's efforts, and at least one senior House Democratic staffer sees a "turf
problem" for Waxman as he tries to find backers for his proposal.
Pelosi, who strongly opposed the Iraq resolution, has refused to get drawn into a public debate
with the White House on the WMD issue. "I have concerns that the weapons have not been
found, not because of who said what and when, but because if they are so convinced that they
were there, where are they?" Pelosi told reporters last week. "And are they still - do they still
pose the danger that some thought they did?"
House Republicans leaders have continued to state unequivocally that the Iraq invasion was
justifiable, especially in light of the atrocities committed by the Hussein regime that have been
discovered in recent weeks by U.S. forces.
But some GOP insiders also grumble that the White House has not done enough to quell the
growing chorus of complaints coming from Democrats on Iraq, and fear that continued casualties
there could undermine what has so far been a triumph for Bush.
Across the Capitol, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.),vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, has repeatedly called for an open inquiry into the Iraq WMD threat, but has been
blocked by Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.). While neither Roberts nor Rockefeller
has a reputation as a partisan warrior, the two have clashed repeatedly on this issue, and
Rockefeller has threatened to use Intelligence Committee rules to spur a full-blown investigation.
Rockefeller, though, declined to force a vote on an open inquiry during a contentious,
closed-door meeting of the full Intelligence Committee last Wednesday, although the West
Virginia Democrat had claimed he might do so beforehand.
Rockefeller knew he would lose that vote, according to several Senators from both parties who
serve on the committee, and didn't want to look like he was being overtly partisan on a panel that
has traditionally sought to operate in a bipartisan manner.
"There was no way [Rockefeller] could win, so he took what he could get. It was smart," said a
GOP Senator serving on Intelligence.
Following that meeting, Rockefeller and Roberts announced that there would that no limits have
been placed on what topics can be raised and which witnesses can be called, including Bush
administration officials. The two Senators also said a public report may be issued by the panel at
some undefined future time, and suggested there would be at least one public hearing on the
topic ofWMDs.
Senate insiders say that Rockefeller is under heavy pressure from some of the more outspoken
Democrats on the committee, including Sens. Carl Levin (Mich.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.), to press
for more concessions from Roberts.
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