t r u t h o u t WMD COMMISSION: 'Iraq Intel Probe a Political Smoke Screen Sat Feb 7 21:39:42 2004 64.140.158.30 The Intelligence Commission The New York Times | Editorial Saturday 07 February 2004 http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804A.shtml President Bush's new commission to review why the intelligence on Iraq misfired looks more like an effort to deflect attention until after the election than a genuine attempt to get to the bottom of the Iraq fiasco. Though dignified and bipartisan, the members lack the technical expertise to really unravel what was wrong with American intelligence and suggest how to fix it. And Mr. Bush withheld the mandate to get at the big political question they could answer: Did the administration hype intelligence to increase support for the war? The co-chairmen are appropriately of opposite parties: Charles Robb, a Democrat who married Lyndon Johnson's daughter and went on to be elected as governor and senator in Virginia, and Laurence Silberman, a Republican and retired appeals court judge who was a Reagan appointee. The other five members include Senator John McCain, a maverick Republican known to speak his mind; Lloyd Cutler, who was legal counsel for two Democratic presidents; Richard Levin, president of Yale University; and Patricia Wald, a liberal who was chief judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The only appointee with a deep knowledge of intelligence gathering is Adm. William Studeman, a former deputy director of central intelligence. This group lacks the stature and name recognition that would give its findings commanding credibility. Worse yet, it looks as if Mr. Bush, who chose not to allow a truly independent panel, will limit its mandate to a review of intelligence gathering and analysis. He has given the panel the authority to examine why the prewar estimates of Iraq's weapons stockpiles differ from what has been found and to evaluate intelligence on weapons programs in other countries. Mr. Bush did not ask the panel for an unfettered look at how his administration had presented the intelligence in making the case for war. By dodging that, the president leaves voters to find their own answers. t r u t h o u t | 02.08 The New York Times | 'Iraq Intel Probe a Political Smoke Screen' http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804A.shtml Ray McGovern | Still Smoke and Mirrors http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804B.shtml Scott Ritter | Not Everyone Got it Wrong on Iraqi WMDs http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804C.shtml Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804D.shtml The Lie Factory http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804E.shtml Paul Krugman | Get Me Rewrite! http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804F.shtml Republicans Begin Effort to Rewrite Species Act http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804G.shtml Liberation | The Anti-Bush http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804H.shtml Democrats Now Lead in the Presidential Race Against Bush http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804I.shtml Germans Blame U.S. for Al-Qaeda Acquittal http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804J.shtml Cheney's Staff Focus of CIA Leak Probe http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704A.shtml Bush Will Pick McCain to Probe Case For War http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704B.shtml GOP Staffer Forced to Resign in Hill Spying Probe http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704C.shtml U.S. Plan to Transfer Power In Iraq May Shift Drastically http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704D.shtml Group Seeks Release of Jailed Journalists http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704E.shtml A Bush Covert Operative Takes Over Al Sharpton's Campaign http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704F.shtml Bush's Bench Choice Irks Environmentalists http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704G.shtml Liberation | "An Unjustified Policy of Following the United States" http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704H.shtml Bush's Approval Rating Continues to Drop http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704I.shtml The Los Angeles Times | Scalia's Blind Eye http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704J.shtml Tenet Directly Contradicts White House on "Imminent Threat" http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604A.shtml New Rate of 1 U.S. Soldier Death per Day in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604B.shtml Scalia Was Cheney Hunt Trip Guest; Ethics Concern Grows http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604C.shtml Bush Reverses Position on 9/11 Commission Deadline http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604D.shtml Justice Department Finally Launches Probe of Halliburton Misconduct http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604E.shtml Blair Pressured to Prove WMD Claim of Iraq's 45-Minute Deployment Capability http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604F.shtml The Parking Lot Effect on Climate Change http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604G.shtml Le Figaro | Bush Prepares His Electoral War Machine http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604H.shtml U.N. Inspectors Had Most Accurate Intelligence Assessments of Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604I.shtml Bush Budget Slams the City of San Francisco http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020604J.shtml
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