Question of pressure splits panel

[JoFerret]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=716&e=27&u=/latimests/20040711/ts_latimes/questionofpressuresplitspanel

WASHINGTON — Friday's Senate report on prewar intelligence drew a new battle line in the presidential campaign by failing to settle a politically volatile question: Did the White House pressure the CIA (news - web sites) to concoct reasons to invade Iraq
The question split the Senate Intelligence Committee's otherwise bipartisan unanimity on the intelligence failures in Iraq, with Democrats saying they had a "major disagreement" with Republicans over the issue.

Republicans noted in the report's conclusion that no intelligence analysts had said they were pressured. But Democrats objected, saying there was ample evidence that top Bush administration officials had intimidated analysts to twist their judgments about whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

In the end, the committee decided to put off consideration of the Bush administration's use of intelligence, all but guaranteeing the issue a prominent role in the campaign.

"The committee's report fails to fully explain the environment of intense pressure in which the intelligence community officials were asked to render judgments on matters relating to Iraq when the most senior officials in the Bush administration had already forcefully and repeatedly stated their conclusions publicly," said Sen. John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV (D-W. Va.), the committee's ranking minority member.

Standing nearby, Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record) (R-Kan.), the committee's chairman, shot back: "I do not think there is any evidence of undue pressure on any analyst."

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[mrdmk]

1. Cover-Up, Cover-Up, Cover-Up

Repeat a story enough and it becomes the truth. Oh, this is the truth and probably will not work here. To bad!

This story was on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. Unfortunately the best part of the story was on page 15, the front page part of the story was B.S.

What we really need to do is put a few elected officials in the unemployment lines. Maybe more than a few. This will be a start in fixing some of our problems.

[keopeli]

2. I wonder what part of this Paul Wellstone found out about?

Tongue in cheek, but fun to think about.

[section321]

3. I dub this scandal.... "WHITEWASH"

.

[section321]

4. Josh Marshall has been putting out some good analysis of the report.

It generally doesn't say what the talking heads says it does. It details a lot of the back and forth that indicates the pressure that was coming down and how parts of the CIA (NESA) were left out of the report. It just doesn't draw conclusions about why.

see

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com