LIEBERMAN BOASTS: KERRY WONT ALTER BUSH'S IRAQ POLICY
source: Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, April 20]
During the hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday,
Sen. Joseph Lieberman tripped all over himself lavishing praise
on Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who had just
given one of the most disgusting performances possible.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, just minutes earlier, had blasted
Wolfowitz for coming to the hearing and trying to justify the
Iraq war by describing what a bad person Saddam Hussein was,
human rights violations and all, when the Administration's case
for war had been based on the alleged threat of Saddam giving
nuclear weapons to Al Qaeda.
Kennedy called Wolfowitz's statement to the committee "disingenuous,"
in that Wolfowitz didn't say one word about weapons of mass destruction.
But Lieberman had nothing but agreement with everything Wolfowitz had said,
and he said that the emphasis should be on looking forward, not back.
"I haven't heard anybody in a responsible position --
certainly no one on this committee -- call for a withdrawal or a
retreat from Iraq. And whether that is because we feel, as I do,
that the war was a necessary and noble undertaking in pursuit of
our values, our security, or whether some feel that because we're
there now, departing hastily would cause chaos in Iraq and the
region, endanger American security, embolden the terrorists --
everyone in a position of authority in American government,
regardless of party, wants to win in Iraq."
Lieberman said that everyone, including "our enemies in
Iraq," should understand that, despite the debate that goes on,
the country is united "in a quest for victory."
"I was very pleased that Senator Kerry, in a statement last
week, made quite clear that no one in the world should be under
the impression that the outcome of the American election this
November will alter the basic thrust of American policy in Iraq."
Lieberman added that "the debate now is not over [whether] to
withdraw troops, it's how many troops to add to secure the situation."
[source: Fed News Transcript]
SEN. LEVIN INTERROGATES WOLFOWITZ ABOUT WHAT HE KNEW
-- AND WHEN -- THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL PLANS'
AND DOD'S SECRET BRIEFINGS TO CHENEY AND WHITE HOUSE.
Using the fact that Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith
failed to deliver to Sen. Levin the promised documents,
memos and slide show on the links between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein,
which were given in briefings to the White House
and NSC staff in Aug.-Sept. 2002,
Levin demanded that Wolfowitz GET the documents released.
Levin also took the opportunity to interrogate Wolfowitz
and ask questions {on the record} about other matters
that are being investigated by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
This is the SECOND time that Levin has put Feith's stiffing Congress into the record.
``I still have not received the documents that he promised,
and I would ask that you intervene and get me those documents, with him,'' Levin told Wolfowitz.
Next, Levin demanded to known whether Wolfowitz had been
``aware of,'' the briefing being given without the knowledge of the CIA.
Wolfowitz, who was evading all questions of substance,
said he didn't remember if he knew, and argued that these
briefings to the White House by the DoD were being blown out of
proportion by Levin, since it is ``normal'' to have ``different
staffs discussing material,'' and that the ``same'' briefing had
been given to the CIA, except for ``only'' one slide.
There Wolfowitz was caught in a lie: Levin said that since
he was being denied the documents from Feith, who promised them
in February, he had to rely on ``published sources.''
However,
these show that ``many charts that are added for the NSC staff
and for the White House ... perhaps 40 differences ... in the
briefings.'' Levin said on the record, the Senate WANTS those documents.
As to this being ``common'', Levin also wanted ``for the
record,'' a question, that slammed Wolfowitz for the evasion.
Levin said, ``I would ask you for the record, do you know of any
similar intelligenc briefing by a group inside the DoD with the
Office of the Vice President or the staff of the NSC on
intelligence matters? This was a very structured, perhaps
30-slide briefing handled by the Feith office without the knowledge of the CIA.''
Levin hit him with a list of questions ``for the record,'' including:
-- any other example of a formal, structured intelligence
presentation to the Office of the Vice President and the NSC
staff by the Defense Dept. outside of CIA channels;
-- asked Wolfowitz to himself ``present that evidence''
which had been presented ``about CIA intelligence to those two
very high-level offices.''
-- asked Wolfowitz, ``were you aware of the classified
letter from ... Feith to the Senate Intelligence Committee, dated
October 27, 2003, providing answers to questions for the record,
that was then leaked to the Weekly Standard.''
Levin warned Wolfowitz that the leak of the Feith letter
about Al Qaeda was ``a very major leak and a very major document,
allegedly,'' because the Vice President later said, on Jan. 9,
2004, that the document was `` `Your best source of information'
-- to use the Vice President's words -- ``on the relationship
between Iraq and Al Qaeda.' '' |
