Please read and rec this!
Today, June 5th, 2008, Senator Rockefeller has released the long, long overdue "Phase II" report on how the Bush Administration used intelligence to make the case for war in Iraq.
I had pretty much given up on the Phase II ever coming out, or if it did come out, it would be a whitewash.
Here is the stunner: The Phase II is out, and judging by the press release, the Phase II report is NOT a whitewash.. I am shocked at how strong the language is. Read below for some quotes.
Quotes from the Phase II press release:
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
I'm at work right now and can't give this the attention and detail it fully deserves, but if this get's rec'd up, we can get the community aware of this development. I heard the afternoon host of Air America talking about it, and then went to the Senate Intel website to check it out.
Reading through the press release, there's a lot of meat in there. Go read it. Read it right now.
Here are my thoughts though. Will there be any open hearings? Will Congress have hearings with any of the whistle blowers who have come forward, such as Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson? The report is firm in its conclusions...so will there be any attempt to hold the Administration accountable? What is the appropriate punishment for a President and Administration that deliberately mislead the country into a war that should never have been fought? Censure? Impeachment? Impeachment plus a conviction in the Senate? To Nancy Pelosi I would ask, does this put Impeachment back on the table? What are the benefits, if any, to letting Bush off the hook at this point?
Most importantly, what do our soldiers deserve? The women and men who volunteer to put their lives on the line for our country...what do they deserve? To the members of our Democratic leadership, like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama, what are you willing to do about it when a President lies to start a war?
[Updated: Linked video now works]
There is at least one Republican from high up in Bush's own White House who was a witness to the runup to war who has been on national television calling for an Impeachment investigation. He's Marine Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who was Colin Powell's chief of staff. Probably many of you are not aware of this. In this clip, Wilkerson talks about his involvement in preparing Powell's famous speech to the UN just before the war started:
I've almost given up on Impeachment, although I care deeply about holding Bush accountable. I drove around with this bumper sticker from late 2005 (after the Downing Street Memos came out) to mid 2008. I finally removed the sticker (home made) just a week ago. Perhaps Impeachment is still possible?
Note: I just shortened the title to make sure the "Not a whitewash" part is visible as we scroll down the diary list.
Update: McClatchy is covering it, the article is titled "Senate committee: Bush knew Iraq claims weren't true" (wow!), and so is TPM. Emptywheel is on the case, and has a link to Sheldon Whitehouse's barnburner speech "It rots the very fiber of democracy". Atrios gives a brief mention.
Update: Holy Toothtastical Thursdays! I've made the Rec list! Thanks everybody!