Today the Senate Intelligence Committee released its REPORT ON THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY'S PREWAR INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS ON IRAQ. Senator Durbin (D - Ill.) said, "... the report tells only half of the story." In an election year when one party controls all three branches of government this should not be a surprise to anyone:

What's missing is the ways intelligence was used, misused, misinterpreted or ignored by administration policymakers in deciding to go to war and in making the case to the American people that war with Iraq was necessary. The intelligence committee leadership chose to defer these issues to a second report -- one that will not be released until after the November elections.

That's what is missing from the report and probably what will be missing from the reporting in the media. Here is what the ranking Democrat on the committee said:

...the Senate would not have voted overwhelmingly in 2002 to approve the war if it had known how deeply flawed the intelligence was.

"The administration at all levels, and to some extent us, used bad information to bolster its case for war. And we in Congress would not have authorized that war, we would not have authorized that war, with 75 votes, if we knew what we know now," he said.

Rockefeller said the Iraq war left the United States less safe and would affect national security for generations.

That's pretty devastating and comforting too. I'm also sure that the good Senator and all those others in Congress that would have switched their vote will be sending their apologies to all the dead Iraqis, American soldiers and their families. You would think that the Republican chair would be in agreement. Well, think again:

The committee chairman, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, said the intelligence community suffered from "collective group think" in reaching the unwarranted conclusion that Iraq was actively pursuing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs.

"This 'group think' caused the community to interpret ambiguous evidence, such as the procurement of dual-use technology, as conclusive evidence of the existence of WMD programs," he said.

Nope just groupthink. Didn't have anything to do with the Office of Special Plans, Cheney making "multiple" visits to the CIA and how this all ties together with Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress (INC). Of course the Democrats are a little upset:

The report absolved the Bush administration of charges that it had pressured analysts to reach pre-set conclusions on Iraqi programs. But some Democrats dissented from that conclusion.

"The committee's report does not acknowledge that the intelligence estimates were shaped by the administration," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat. "In my view, this remains an open question that needs more careful scrutiny."

Over Democratic objections, the committee decided to delay a report on how the Bush administration used the intelligence it received until after the Nov. 2 presidential election.

Scrutiny!? This information needs to be aired before the election. Isn't that what the committees job is supposed to be? This is another sign of the death of our Democracy. Two parties neither wanting to get at the truth. They just want to have investigations that look like they are doing something and put all the blame on the guy that is leaving. That is exactly what the 9/11 Cover-up Commission will do in a few weeks,
pile on Tenent. 19 guys that had never flown a plane before were responsible for the biggest terrorist attack on America? But anyway back to this report. Will anyone care what the "other half" of this report says after November? We will either have a new President or be on our way to 4 more years of the same and either way it will be too late to make a difference.

Here is a report on this report from the Guardian
Iraq errors were CIA's fault, says Senate
What the Republican said, a lie
Saxby Chambliss said flawed assessments were passed to Mr Tenet and found their way into the official National Intelligence Estimate in October 2002, which accused Saddam Hussein of stockpiling chemical and biological arms while developing nuclear ones.

"There were a number of situations where unreasonable conclusions were reached," Mr Chambliss told the Knight Ridder news agency. His office said yesterday he stood by his remarks, in which he argued the White House could not be blamed for believing intelligence it received from the CIA.

The truth
Vincent Cannistraro, a former chief of operations in the CIA's counter-terrorist unit, said Mr Chambliss's conclusion was not supported by the facts. "People would have to forget an awful lot of history to make that wash. It ignores the fact that [the Bush administration] had already taken a strategic decision to go to war, before they asked for the intelligence."

Saddam's still got it
Saddam’s TV Appearance Brings Popularity Surge
"Despite his crimes, he's still likeable. No one could govern the country like him," said Nihad Kadhem, a Shia who works in the media. "If he ever had a chance to talk to the public, he could talk his way back into power again.”

This should make you feel confidant about the upcoming election. This is the company that my county (Williamson, Texas) has bought its voting machines from.
Documents detail more voting machine flaws
As state and Miami-Dade County election officials work to approve software that will clear up a nagging problem with touch-screen voting machines, a Herald review of internal election department documents has found that there are a host of other flaws that have never been publicly acknowledged and are not expected to be fixed by the new programming.

- posted by Mom/Dad @ 7:28 AM