***Official Thread - Senate Intelligence Committee Phase II press conference at 11 AM EDT***

[Lasher]

You can watch on CSPAN 2 here: http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan2_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS2

Press Release of Intelligence Committee

Senate Intelligence Committee Unveils Final Phase II Reports on Prewar Iraq Intelligence

Contact: Wendy Morigi [phone]
Thursday, June 5, 2008

Washington, DC -- The Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, and a bipartisan majority of the Committee (10-5), today unveiled the final two sections of its Phase II report on prewar intelligence. The first report details Administration prewar statements that, on numerous occasions, misrepresented the intelligence and the threat from Iraq. The second report details inappropriate, sensitive intelligence activities conducted by the DoD’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, without the knowledge of the Intelligence Community or the State Department.

“Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the Administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence,” Rockefeller said. “In making the case for war, the Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent. As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed.”

“It is my belief that the Bush Administration was fixated on Iraq, and used the 9/11 attacks by al Qa’ida as justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein. To accomplish this, top Administration officials made repeated statements that falsely linked Iraq and al Qa’ida as a single threat and insinuated that Iraq played a role in 9/11. Sadly, the Bush Administration led the nation into war under false pretenses.

“There is no question we all relied on flawed intelligence. But, there is a fundamental difference between relying on incorrect intelligence and deliberately painting a picture to the American people that you know is not fully accurate.

“These reports represent the final chapter in our oversight of prewar intelligence. They complete the story of mistakes and failures – both by the Intelligence Community and the Administration – in the lead up to the war. Fundamentally, these reports are about transparency and holding our government accountable, and making sure these mistakes never happen again,” Rockefeller added.

The Committee’s report cites several conclusions in which the Administration’s public statements were NOT supported by the intelligence. They include:

Ø Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa’ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa’ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence.

Ø Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information.

Ø Statements by President Bush and Vice President Cheney regarding the postwar situation in Iraq, in terms of the political, security, and economic, did not reflect the concerns and uncertainties expressed in the intelligence products.

Ø Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community’s uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing.

Ø The Secretary of Defense’s statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information.

Ø The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed.

More here: http://intelligence.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=298775

Still more here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3338345&mesg_id=3338345

[AndyA]

1. And why is it that impeachment isn't underway?

Is this not abuse of power of the Executive Branch?

What the f*ck, Congress! DO YOUR JOB!!

[Lasher]

2. Hold on, this might be the beginning of just that.

Tune in right now, they've started early.

[Lasher]

3. Wow, Jay's calling the Bush administration a pack of liars!

This was worth waiting for.

[Lasher]

4. Kick.

Need two more votes

[crikkett]

5. #5 - and thanks

[Lasher]

6. Are you watching this?

Jay is distinctly a moderate but he is blasting the administration, including Bush and Cheney!

[Lasher]

7. Undertaking Phase II was a unanimous decision by the Committee

Jay is preparing for the GOP whining soon to follow.

And here it comes.

[Supersedeas]

22. Repigs squeal

[Lasher]

8. Specter is up now.

Complaining about the 'gridlock' concerning federal judge confirmation, as the Judiciary Committee Ranking Member.

OK this is not the 11 AM press conference starting early as I had thought. This is an open session of the Senate. Jay was addressing the Senate Looks like we're still on for 11.

Now Sheldon Whitehouse is up, talking about the final Phase II reports. "For years evidence has mounted this administrations for war was a sham."

[laststeamtrain]

10. K & R- Thanks for the heads up. n/t

[AndyA]

13. Why would we want any more federal judges picked by Bush?

He's a liar. He cannot be trusted. This report proves that.

There should be no further confirmations from this lying, untrustworthy President.

[Lasher]

16. True that. Junior has had plenty of judges confirmed compared to Clinton.

Specter's just repeating talking points, trying to load up on judges before January.

[Lasher]

9. Whitehouse: President said 'we know Iraq has produced chemical weapons'

The report concludes statements by the pres and VP did not reflect intelligence community's uncertainty as to whether production was ongoing. Might as well go ahead an call them liars.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. Am I missing something? The Sentate is on session on C-Span 2 and I cannot find the conference

on any of the other c-span channels.

[Lasher]

18. I called Jay's office to see WTF is going on.

What's on CSPAN is an open session of the Senate, during which there have been comments about Phase II. The press conference started at 11 AM as planned, but it is not being televised at all. Jay's staff said it's being taped and will be shown later.

Not very good planning on the part of Jay's PR staff, IMO. This important event should have been timed so that the presser would have been covered at least on CSPAN.

Earlier Jay and Whitehouse did make some scathing observations on the Senate floor, regarding Phase II.

[global1]

12. Is It My Imagination Or Are The Repugs Ignoring This Report?.....nt

[Lasher]

19. Not your imagination.

On the Senate floor, at least, they are trying to change the subject. Think I'll google the MSM to see how many are picking this up so far.

[seafan]

14. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: "The Bush Administration took this country into an unnecessary war."

(paraphrased remarks from Whitehouse)

The President used these claims of a link between the Iraqi gov't and al Qaeda to justify his desire to attack Iraq. Our intelligence agencies did not find these links. But those findings were ignored by this administration.


The President of the US told these things to our people and to the world, and they were false.


Bush told us in Oct 2002: 'We can hope that Saddam won't give weapons to terrorist groups, but this is a hope against all evidence.'

These statements were fabrications.


This administration told the American people that we would be greeted as liberators, the war would be short, that the cost would not be great. These statements were untrue.


The intelligence was twisted to suit this administration's ends.


This will be seen as one of the darkest times in our government that we have ever witnessed.


It our hope now, that the new administration will not again break the compact of trust with the American people.

----------------------------


IMPEACH THESE BASTARDS NOW.

[Lasher]

15. I just talked to Jay's office. The 11 AM presser is not being broadcast.

No CSPAN, no audio feed, no nothing.

They say it will be shown later today. :-(

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

17. Thanks for the update. I went to their site to look. I hope c-span does air it, but what are the

chances that it is going to be reported on my MSM???

[Lasher]

21. I just briefly checked the news channels on TV and nothing was on right then.

Please advise if you find out when the presser will be on TV. I'm gonna check too. Looks like three outlets have picked this up so far: Mother Jones, Huffington Post, and TPM, NY. I scooped everybody yesterday in DU LBN but that doesn't show up in a google news search.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

25. I'm going to forward a link to the Intelligence site to Keith Olbermann. Who knows if he'll pick-up

one of the most important news stories of our lifetime.

[Lasher]

28. Pat Roberts sure did his job.

If he hadn't buried this until after 2004, Kerry would be president right now.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

39. Did you see Kit Bond's press release at the Intel site? He's still covering up and saying

that the release of the report is Political Theater!

http://intelligence.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=298783

Press Release of Intelligence Committee

Bond: Phase II Report is Political Theatre

-- Senator Criticizes Democrats for Using Committee to Score Election-Year Points --

Contact: Shana Marchio [phone]
Charles Chamberlayne [phone]
Thursday, June 5, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Kit Bond, Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, today admonished Democrats for playing politics with the final reports on prewar Iraq intelligence to score election-year points.

“It is ironic that the Democrats would knowingly distort and misrepresent the Committee’s findings and the intelligence in an effort to prove that the Administration distorted and mischaracterized the intelligence,” said Bond.

Today, the final sections of the Phase II report on prewar intelligence were released by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Bond pointed out that the partisan report not only violates the Committee’s nonpartisan principles but also rejects the conclusions unanimously reached in previous reports.

In July 2004, the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Iraq report, adopted by a unanimous vote, makes clear that flawed intelligence – not Administration deception – was the basis for policy maker’s statements and decisions. The report released today completely ignores this key finding.

Bond also called attention to the Democrats’ hypocrisy in excluding any of their own statements in this final report. Democrats in the Senate examined the same intelligence as the Bush Administration, and they too characterized Iraq as a growing and dangerous threat to the United States. Bond pointed to the public record, which is replete with examples of statements by Democrat Senators making the same characterizations regarding Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction and links to terrorism.

Key problems with the report include:
· The minority was entirely cut out of the process and that the report was written solely by Democratic staffers – For example, Republican amendments, including those of the Vice Chairman, were not even given a vote;
· The Democratic staff who authored the report twisted policy makers’ statements and cherry picked intelligence in order to reach their misleading conclusions, often leaving out pertinent intelligence;
· The report does not review any statements of Democrats, only Republican administration officials;
· The Democratic staff did not seek to interview those whom they accuse;
· The Rome report violates the Democrats’ own criteria for the Phase II report and should have been excluded.

Bond stressed that this type of partisan gamesmanship is beneath the Senate Intelligence Committee and takes away from the important national security issues the Committee should be focused on. Congress has failed to pass a terrorist surveillance bill, or intelligence authorization act, both of which are critical to improving the intelligence community. These failures are a result of injecting partisan politics into the Committee’s oversight responsibilities, emphasized Bond. With this final Phase II report now complete, Bond concluded that it is critical the Senate Intelligence attempts to move forward in a nonpartisan manner.
###

He needs a prison cell along with the other aiders and abettors.

[Lasher]

44. No, I hadn't read that yet but I saw the same whining from him in the actual reports.

Looks like all the things he's whining about were used against Democrats until January 2007. Earth to Bond: You're not in the majority anymore.

I would be fun to pick this apart line by line but I don't have time right now.

[oldskool]

20. Impeachment then

Straight to The Hague.

[bdamomma]

23. unbelieveable.

it's disgusting how this Congress is just waiting for another administration to come in and move on, these thugs will get off scott free, this Congress remedy has always been when we get our New President, it just does not work like that.

[Lasher]

24. Bill Clinton moved on and forgot about the past.

And we saw how Republicans thanked him for it.

I'm afraid you're right, that next year they'll all just want to forget about it. But I am surprised that Jay would release such scathing reports this late in the game.

[bdamomma]

27. any president who has committed a crime was just let go.

this has got to stop, or there will be more psychopaths in the office.

[Lasher]

29. Reagan did with Iran/Contra

Gerald Ford invented the pre-emptive blanket pardon for Nixon and his gang and Poppy followed suit. I have no doubt whatsoever that Junior will the same for himself and his junta just before leaving office. I don't know how it could be stopped.

[global1]

26. I Have Yet To Hear Anything About This On CNN & MSNBC But I Have To Admit.......

I have been listening to CSPAN for awhile.

This report to me is "BREAKING NEWS" and yet when we watch the cable news channels - everything else is "Breaking News" - fires in LA; bad weather; car chases; etc - and yet this to me is one of the most important breaking stories of the *CO administration and it is not being covered.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

30. One of the most impt. pieces of news in our lifetime will not be covered by MSM. Or if they do, they

will let it slip into oblivion in short order.

[Lasher]

32. OK here we go, the MSM is picking up on it now.

Senate Panel Finds Iraq Intelligence Exaggerations

WASHINGTON — In a report long delayed by partisan squabbling, the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday accused President Bush and Vice President Cheney of taking the country to war in Iraq by exaggerating evidence of links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda in the emotional aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“The president and his advisers undertook a relentless public campaign in the aftermath of the attacks to use the war against Al Qaeda as a justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein,” Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, the committee’s Democratic chairman, said in a statement accompanying the 171-page report.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/washington/05cnd-intel.html?hp

Looks like about 70 articles so far. Think I'll put up an OP in LBN and hope the mods won't combine it with the one I did yesterday.

Edit: Slipslidingaway already did that. Hope they let it stand, it's better front page material than the sketchy OP I offered yesterday.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

34. This is good, but if the American people are not informed by their teevees, this means nothing.

[Lasher]

37. Well we do what we can.

I am so proud of traditionally 'moderate' Jay Rockefeller for taking this stand. I have looked forward to this day ever since I realized in 2006 that we were going to have a majority in the Senate, meaning Jay would take chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee from Roberts.

I just asked the mods not to combine slipslidingaway's LBN OP with mine from yesterday. Now let's go give that one a K&R, OK?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3339853

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

40. I just posted and recommended your thread at LBN, asking others to

keep it kicked.

[Lasher]

31. I haven't yet donned my tinfoil hat.

But I've got it ready.

If we have some big event all of a sudden that will distract people's attention, I'm going to suit up.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

33. Lasher!!!!!

:rofl:

I have to get those for my kitties (what a gorgeous kitty in the pic!)!!!!!

Pssssst ....I don't have to worry for me though..I had a super duper operation a few years ago and had a tinfoil hat built in. It got too tiresome to keep waiting for it to dry off after showering and would fall off while I slept....

[Lasher]

35. Ha ha, I love that pic!

Found it on the internet and I put it up here from time to time.

[SpiralHawk]

38. "Be prepared." - That's the Boy Scouts' Marching Song

[Lasher]

42. Tee hee, that's good.

Maybe I'll make one myself and upload to PhotoBucket.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

36. This is an interesting item from the press release. I wonder if it's connected to the Niger forgery.

Additionally, the Committee issued a report on the Intelligence Activities Relating to Iraq conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. The report found that the clandestine meetings between Pentagon officials and Iranians in Rome and Paris were inappropriate and mishandled from beginning to end. Deputy National Security Advisor Steve Hadley and Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz failed to keep the Intelligence Community and the State Department appropriately informed about the meetings. The involvement of Manucher Ghobanifer and Michael Ledeen in the meetings was inappropriate. Potentially important information collected during the meetings was withheld from intelligence agencies by Pentagon officials. Finally, senior Defense Department officials cut short internal investigations of the meetings and failed to implement the recommendations of their own counterintelligence experts.

I have read elsewhere that Ledeen was involved with those forgeries.

This is an Excellent article from gasp! The American Conservative Magazine
http://amconmag.com/2005/2005_11_07/feature.html

[Lasher]

41. Lots more will come to light as these two reports are digested.

I've barely had time to skim through the first one so far and won't have much time for that the rest of today. My son's coming over to get my Harley and I need to work on it. Here again are the reports:

http://intelligence.senate.gov/080605/phase2a.pdf

http://intelligence.senate.gov/080605/phase2b.pdf

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

43. Please kick this to keep it at the top!!!

[countryjake]

49. okay!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

50. Thanks!

[underpants]

45. 935 LIES

http://buzzfeed.com/buzz/935_Lies

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

46. CBS News and CNN have the story but buried it away from their main pages.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/05/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4156400.shtml

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/05/senate.iraq/index.html

[countryjake]

47. kick!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

48. .....

:kick: