Kerry Press Release: Campaign Reaction to Report on Iraq Intelligence

[Skinner]

For Immediate Release
July 9, 2004

Kerry Spokesperson Reaction to the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq

Washington, DC – Kerry Deputy Press Secretary for National Security Mark Kitchens made the following statement today in response to the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq.

“Nothing in this report absolves the White House of its responsibility for mishandling of the country’s intelligence. The fact is that when it comes to national security, the buck stops at the White House, not anywhere else. It’s disturbing that the White House continues to lay blame for intelligence failures solely at the steps of the intelligence community, yet takes no responsibility for its own failings. They tell us that reforms need to be made in the intelligence community yet they have done little to make any real changes.

“The Bush administration’s intelligence budget request for next year contains less than one third of the additional counter-terrorism funding that our intelligence agencies say they need to fight and win the war on terror. The Administration has gravely neglected the intelligence reforms vital to national security -- ignoring even the recommendations of the President's own internal review led by General Scowcroft.

“Americans deserve answers, not politics.”

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