Harman wants House inquiry into pre-war Iraq intelligence

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http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/regstate/articles/1853431.html

South Bay Democrat complains the Republicans are refusing to investigate reports of information gathering flaws.

By Toby Eckert
Copley News Service

WASHINGTON -- South Bay Rep. Jane Harman, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, criticized committee Republicans on Thursday for halting an investigation into intelligence claims used to justify the Iraq war.

In unusually blunt language for the normally bipartisan panel, Harman accused Republicans, who control the committee, of reneging on a June 2003 agreement to study the "quality and objectivity" of pre-war intelligence. The investigation was stopped after the disclosure of an interim report that was critical of the Bush administration's intelligence claims, she said.

"I just think that this issue is too important," said Harman, D-El Segundo. "We've been trying to get it done for 2½ years and I felt we had to mark the spot."

The dispute mirrors a recent spat in the Senate. Last week, Democrats forced the Senate Intelligence Committee to renew a wide-ranging look at whether the Bush administration distorted intelligence about Iraqi weapons and ties to terrorism to win support for the war.