TPM is reporting that the Senate Intelligence committee has released their Phase II report on pre-war intelligence. The report confirms what has long been suspected by the “unpatriotic” liberal blogoshpere, that many of the assertions of the administration were not consistent with intelligence data. Here’s a sample from the Senator Jay Rockefeller’s press release:
–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.
–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.
–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.
–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.
–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.
–The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed
Can we start the indictments now?
The Reports:
Wether Public Statements by US Government Officials were substantiated by Intelligence Information
Intelligence Activities related to Iraq Conducted by the Policy Counter-terrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy