Senate Panel Squabbles Over Inquiry (ck out what Roberts wants to do)

[rodeodance]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-intel5nov05,1,7775046.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Senate Panel Squabbles Over Inquiry
The usually cordial Intelligence Committee is split along party lines on the progress of a report on prewar claims about Iraq's weapons.
By Greg Miller
Times Staff Writer

November 5, 2005

WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats are locked in what a senior GOP congressional aide described as a "fundamental disagreement" over how to proceed with the Senate Intelligence Committee's inquiry into whether administration officials misused intelligence in making the case for war against Iraq.......




...... Duhnke said Roberts' plan called for committee members to evaluate statements without the names of the speakers attached, to guard against partisanship. If necessary, Duhnke said, the committee could hold a vote on each claim to determine whether it appears to have been substantiated by intelligence available at the time. The results would then be presented in a public report that would carry the names of officials and their comments.

Democrats have balked at that plan, saying staff members should make initial determinations on the validity of officials' comments, just as they rendered preliminary judgments on whether the words contained in prewar intelligence reports were warranted. Senators could then endorse or alter the staff's conclusions.

Having committee members wrangle over hundreds of statements "doesn't seem like a productive use of U.S. senators' time," said a Democratic aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing the issue.......

[SpiralHawk]

1. Let's all play Name the Traitors !

And see if we can't shift the blame from the NeoCons to the Dems !

What fun...

[rodeodance]

2. they will be discussing Chalabi also.

......Duhnke said committee staff had all but finished other portions of the Phase II report, including a section on whether U.S. intelligence agencies warned of potential troubles in postwar Iraq. That section could be presented to lawmakers as early as next week, he said.

Other topics still to be addressed include the use by the intelligence community of information and sources provided by the Iraqi National Congress, a group led by former Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi that had ties to senior administration officials and spent years agitating for U.S. intervention in Iraq.

[Rose Siding]

3. I'll take "mushroom cloud", Alex, for 2044.

They are running from this SO fast. Roberts KNOWS that the repubs are screwed if he plays this on the up and up.

[Greeby]

4. OK, call Reid, time for another shutdown

Reid, Harry - (D - NV)
528 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: reid.senate.gov/email_form.cfm