Intelligence Panel Will Cast Net Beyond Iraq

[kskiska]

By Dana Priest and Dana Milbank

Tuesday, February 3, 2004; Page A01

The commission that President Bush will appoint to investigate the failures of prewar intelligence on Iraq will also review the CIA's misjudgments about weapons programs in Iran, Libya and North Korea, administration officials said yesterday.

President Bush said the nine-member panel -- which White House officials said would include current and former officials with experience in intelligence matters -- will "look at our war against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, kind of in a broader context."

Although the secret weapons programs of Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea and Pakistan have long been a top concern of U.S. national security officials, the intelligence agencies have missed critical weapons developments in each country. Administration officials have found themselves surprised at recent disclosures about nuclear weapons programs in Iran, Libya and North Korea. And the intelligence community was caught off guard when Pakistan tested a nuclear device in 1998.

(snip)

The administration has already contacted some people it hopes will serve, and it is waiting for acceptances, officials said. They declined to provide names but spoke admiringly of former senator Bob Kerrey, a Nebraska Democrat who now is president of the New School University, as the sort of nonpartisan statesman they are seeking. He is a member of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. Other names floated by officials were William H. Webster and James Woolsey, both former CIA directors. Woolsey said in an interview that he had not been contacted.

Congressional Democrats, who had demanded an independent commission to assess the prewar claims about Iraq, criticized Bush for deciding to make all the appointments to the panel himself.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6915-2004Feb2.html

[ScrewyRabbit]

1. The "broader context" is just a means of diverting attention

away from the real issue, which is how the administration cherry-picked intelligence to hype the threat of Iraq. Read this all as a wide-ranging attempt to pin all blame on intelligence and not the political forces that shaped the case for going to war.

Disgusting.

[The Stranger]

6. Exactly correct.

Instead of the panel being commissioned to find out why the Bush Nazis cherry picked and fabricated intelligence to mass murder, maim and steal, it is becoming another front in the "weapons of mass destruction" facade.

[AndyTiedye]

2. Isn't that what Valerie Plame Used To Do?

> will "look at our war against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction,

[aquart]

3. Rendering it deliberately useless.

George, you are so predictable.

[daleo]

4. They will discover a slight mistake about Iraq

But a huge mistake about North Korea, Iran, Syria, etc. where it turns out they have much more weapons of mass destruction than the intelligence agencies ever considered, and pre-emptive war is more necessary than ever. Whew, that was close.

[DrRang]

5. Non-slanted poll--jump in!

Lou Dobbs on CNN actually has a poll question that allows criticism of * -- "Do you think a panel chosen by Bush to investigate WMD intelligence can be truly independent?" (Sorry, can't link.)

[reprobate]

7. Here's the link. Now at 84% no.

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/

[Briar]

8. How else can they ensure it will take a year to report?

Keeping this issue out of the political arena till after the election is obviously the main motive behind this whole charade...