Pat Roberts Knows Iraq is a Lie
There is simply no other way to explain the two year delay in producing Phase 2 of the Senate Intelligence Committee's Iraq Prewar Intelligence Report.
Phase I has been out for 24 and a half months. Roberts has repeatedly said that Phase 2 is on its way, and repeatedly done nothing. He has stalled, changed his story, backtracked, sidestepped, missed deadlines, and delayed the report for not one but TWO election cycles, 2004 and 2006.
He knows something and he refuses to let it see the light of day. Harry Reid even forced the Senate into a closed door session, gaining a 'bi-partisan' agreement to form a 'bi-partisan' group to assess the progress of Phase 2.
What do we have today? Bubkus.
If Roberts were interested in our National Security, he would produce a report. Hell, even if he wanted to whitewash it, he would do it now, while he and the Republican majority can produce something with a tone they can control. Imagine what will happen if the Democrats retake the Senate? Roberts is either supremely confident that won't happen, or he is supremely worried about a report being produced at all.
Why? The only answer that makes sense is that the damage to his party, or to Bush/Cheney in particular, would be extraordinary. That even producing a whitewashed report would reveal so many of the tweaks, cherry-picks and outright falsehoods that led us into Iraq that it would do unimaginable damage. But what the hell could be in the report that would be worse than say, The Deulfer Report? The Conyers Report? Downing Street?
Perhaps it is just a stall tactic. Perhaps Roberts will delay and delay and delay for as many years as he can *possibly* get away with so that the Nation's memory will begin to wilt. Interest will wane. So that little consequence will be felt by the perpetrators of wrongdoings that would *be* in the report.
But make no mistake, this report is necessary. Even if no one is ever held to account for whatever actions the report would detail, the Senate, the House, the country and its citizenry all deserve answers to the questions Phase 2 was intended to address. Was intelligence manipulated, yes or no? Did the legislative branch receive partial or cherry-picked intelligence from the executive? Did Bush know, yes or no? What did they know? When did they know it?
So, I'll ask again. What could possibly be in there that has Roberts so purposely and openly hesitant?
To paraphrase the Freeway Blogger, the war is a lie and Pat Roberts knows it.
progprog
I'm not liberal, I'm just paying attention
Phase I has been out for 24 and a half months. Roberts has repeatedly said that Phase 2 is on its way, and repeatedly done nothing. He has stalled, changed his story, backtracked, sidestepped, missed deadlines, and delayed the report for not one but TWO election cycles, 2004 and 2006.
He knows something and he refuses to let it see the light of day. Harry Reid even forced the Senate into a closed door session, gaining a 'bi-partisan' agreement to form a 'bi-partisan' group to assess the progress of Phase 2.
What do we have today? Bubkus.
If Roberts were interested in our National Security, he would produce a report. Hell, even if he wanted to whitewash it, he would do it now, while he and the Republican majority can produce something with a tone they can control. Imagine what will happen if the Democrats retake the Senate? Roberts is either supremely confident that won't happen, or he is supremely worried about a report being produced at all.
Why? The only answer that makes sense is that the damage to his party, or to Bush/Cheney in particular, would be extraordinary. That even producing a whitewashed report would reveal so many of the tweaks, cherry-picks and outright falsehoods that led us into Iraq that it would do unimaginable damage. But what the hell could be in the report that would be worse than say, The Deulfer Report? The Conyers Report? Downing Street?
Perhaps it is just a stall tactic. Perhaps Roberts will delay and delay and delay for as many years as he can *possibly* get away with so that the Nation's memory will begin to wilt. Interest will wane. So that little consequence will be felt by the perpetrators of wrongdoings that would *be* in the report.
But make no mistake, this report is necessary. Even if no one is ever held to account for whatever actions the report would detail, the Senate, the House, the country and its citizenry all deserve answers to the questions Phase 2 was intended to address. Was intelligence manipulated, yes or no? Did the legislative branch receive partial or cherry-picked intelligence from the executive? Did Bush know, yes or no? What did they know? When did they know it?
So, I'll ask again. What could possibly be in there that has Roberts so purposely and openly hesitant?
To paraphrase the Freeway Blogger, the war is a lie and Pat Roberts knows it.
progprog
I'm not liberal, I'm just paying attention
posted by progprog | 8:29 PM
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