The "Iraq Commission" Whitewash Report by Ralph Nader & Kevin Zeese

[Itsthetruth]

Democracy Rising
March 29, 2005

Iraq Commission Issues Report on Massive Iraq Intelligence Failure
But No One is To Blame and Role of White House in Manipulating Intelligence is Not Examined
Written by Ralph Nader and Kevin Zeese

A commission appointed by President Bush to analyze intelligence failures will be releasing its report tomorrow, Thursday, March 31. According to The New York Times the report "includes a searing critique of how the C.I.A. and other agencies never properly assessed Saddam Hussein's political maneuverings or the possibility that he no longer had weapon stockpiles." But despite its criticism the report really served to protect the Bush administration.

Laurence McQuillan, of the Iraq Commission staff, told reporters early in the process that the Commission would not be blaming any individuals for intelligence failures, but instead would look to the future. This, of course, was a recipe for a whitewash. Whatever happened to official responsibility - a focus of Bush's 20000 presidential campaign rhetoric? Did the Commission ask about White House influence over intelligence estimates? This is not just a simple investigation into inaccurate intelligence; it should have been an investigation into why the United States was misled into a costly quagmire of an congressionally undeclared war and occupation.

This February, John Dean, President Nixon's White House Counsel, described the Commission as a "sham" because it "simply ignores the very reason he was pressured to create it." He explains "Bush established this commission to quiet the public reaction to Congressional testimony by his weapons inspector David Kay." At the time of his testimony "Kay recommended to Congress that an independent investigation be undertaken of this intelligence failure." Dean points out how Bush removed the issue from the campaign by having the Commission not report until after the election and therefore whenever the failure to find WMD came up during the campaign Bush could say his independent Commission was studying it. And, the Commission's focus was not on misuse of intelligence information or White House influence over reporting of intelligence, but rather how do we improve intelligence for the future.

It is now left to Congress to fully investigate this matter. Certainly, the Commission found massive intelligence failures and overstatements by the administration, now a Congress that was cognizant of its Constitutional authority would at least initiate an impeachment inquiry with full subpoena power, testimony under oath and in public so Americans can determine whether they were merely misled into war or whether they were plunged into an illegal war on a platform on fabrications, deceptions and manipulations. Nothing short of accountability of the Presidency is at stake.

http://democracyrising.us/content/view/193/151/