12.6.03
Republicans reject open, transparent public review of Iraqi "intelligence"
GOP congresspeople have rejected calls for a public review of the Bush regime's "intelligence" on Iraqi WMDs that formed the justification for the war. They are afraid that the issue will become "political":Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, cited concern that open hearings would devolve into partisan sniping. "I will not allow the committee to be politicized or to be used as an unwitting tool for any political strategist," he said.The Bush team has clearly assembled a team of yes-people to obstruct any kind of real investigation. And now wanting to get the truth - even after the fact, after the damage has been done - is "hypocritical".
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Roberts suggested that some of the recent criticism is hypocritical and potentially detrimental to national security.
Saying a risk-averse culture contributed to the CIA's failure to anticipate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Roberts said, "Now there seems to be a campaign afoot by some to criticize the intelligence community and the president for connecting the dots."
Add the charge of obstruction to lying when the time for an impeachment motion comes - that is, if Democrats have enough nerve to really challenge Bush:
These Democrats [those who supported the war] face conflicting pressures. From one side, anger is growing among party activists: Half of Democratic partisans in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll said they believed that Bush deliberately misled the country. But the candidates who supported the war are reluctant to take positions that would leave them vulnerable if weapons are found, or to revisit their vote for a conflict that ended so quickly and with such strong public support.The thinking among Democrats seems to be that they cannot influence public opinion - it's just there and there's nothing one can do about it - and that they have to play the Bush game to attract voters. This is why, in my opinion, they will lose the next presidential election. Even though it is beyond doubt at this point that the Iraq WMD claims were, at best, greatly exagerrated, there is still a lack of political will to take on Bush. This is not opposition politics.
