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| Roberts says Dem strategy memo undermines 9-11 inquiry | ||
| 2003-11-05 | ||
| Update to last night’s Post Republican Sen. Pat Roberts said Democrats have undermined the inquiry he is leading into Iraq prewar intelligence by drafting a memo aimed at discrediting the Senate Intelligence Committee’s work. The Kansan is chairman of the committee. The memo was written by Democratic committee staff and wasn’t finalized or circulated among members of the committee, said the panel’s senior Democrat, West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller. Never saw it, nope, nuh huh.... Rockefeller acknowledged the document after news reports quoted excerpts from it. The memo spells out steps to make the committee’s inquiry irrelevant by setting up an independent commission, and in the process attempt to "castigate" majority Republicans. It suggested "pulling the trigger" on the plan "probably next year." Roberts said the memo stunned him. someone that naive shouldn’t be in politics
I like the "comfort to terrorists" counterpunch... maybe he isn’t that naive... Roberts and Rockefeller have been overseeing an often rocky review of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction that the White House used to justify the war on Iraq. The two men met Tuesday after Roberts learned of the memo. In a statement he issued afterward, Rockefeller dismissed the memo as "likely taken from a waste basket or through unauthorized computer access." nice effort Jay - about as good as your FoxNewsSunday interview effort He added: "The draft memo was not approved, nor was it shared with any member of the Senate Intelligence Committee or anyone else. it was a secret, in fact nobody wrote it... it wrote itself "Having said that, the memo clearly reflects staff frustration with the conduct of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and the difficulties of obtaining information from the administration."
I seem to remember a couple votes you participated in, asshat Democrats and Republicans alike have complained the White House, the CIA, the Pentagon and the State Department have been slow to respond to requests for interviews and documents. The White House missed a Friday deadline for complying, and while Roberts announced over the weekend the White House agreed to cooperate, he subsequently backed away and said he spoke too hastily. Roberts called on committee Democrats to repudiate the strategy outlined in the memo. "It’s a purely partisan document that appears to be a road map for how the Democrats intend to politicize what should be a bipartisan, objective review of pre-war intelligence," he said. "Instead, we should be focusing on how to make our country safer and how to improve our intelligence capabilities." Agreed, and the White House needs to turn over all documents that don’t endanger efforts at improving nat’l security. The Dems will be on their heels with this memo, don’t help them out | ||
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #12 And it's damn hard trying to stay on message when we drift over to typography. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-5 8:22:23 PM |
| #11 By God NMMs right. This country can't even afford a third column much less a fifth since the Reagan spending cuts. Fonts are just too damn expensive for the little people who are trying to squeeze by on a 20 pica column with a small sidebar. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-5 8:21:30 PM |
| #10 "the active 5th column for the terrorists" "The Dems would be just fine with the Islamofascists winning" Rex Mundi- If you truly believe this idiocy you've written I suggest you take yourself to the gynechiatrist! |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-11-5 5:32:17 PM |
| #9 Rockefeller dismissed the memo as "likely taken from a waste basket or through unauthorized computer access." Not even trying to deny the memo is authentic. Unusual tactic. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-11-5 3:34:08 PM |
| #8 Both party's want to point fingers at who let the fox in the hen house. Both would not hesitate to use it for political gain. The Dems are just stupid enough to write it down and sent it out. Look for a low-level clerk to get axed over this. NMM, Rex has some good advice please take it. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2003-11-5 12:37:23 PM |
| #7 I spent 26 years in Air Force imagery intelligence, from 1966 through 1991, with a short break in the middle. One of our most hated tasks was briefing Congressional delegations and their 'representatives'. We knew that if we said anything definitive about ANYTHING, it would be all over ABC, CBS and NBC two days later. The entire Congress (and their enormous staff) has a hard time keeping their pie hole shut about classified matters. I'd be very cautious about sharing anything really sensitive with them, too. Their reputation is the reason for that, not the fear of "exposing the President". To far too many elected officials, national security and national secrets are fair game in the day-to-day partisan one-upmanship that passes for statecraft in Washington. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-5 12:34:29 PM |
| #6 NMM: Smear tactic? What's to smear? The Dems paint themelves for all to see as the active 5th column for the terrorists and you think this a good thing. The Dems would be just fine with the islamofascists winning as long as they got to be in charge of the gulag. Pull your head out...it's not good for the posture. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-11-5 12:05:35 PM |
| #5 Is this committee that is looking at the 9-11? If so they are looking at some interesting stuff. I was intrigued by the post last week: In first, U.S. voices assessment of WMD to Syria from Alaska Paul. The Middle East News article that was linked was incomplete unless you held a subscription so I wrote the issue off as Debka fodder. The I saw it echoed By Mark Alexander in townhall.com. So I looked at the person that was doing the testimony: LtGen(ret) James Clapper. I found a more complete article: Official suggests Iraq hid weapons in Syria from the IHT (off of the NYT.) To demonstrate Clappers credibility I found two items: 1. a Mipt Link of Testimony that he made as Vice Chairman, Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction in March 2001. 2. And a Rand link to minutes from the July 8th 2000 Panel to Assess the Capabilities for Domestic Response to Terrorist Acts Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction Clapper may be the real McCoy and he seems to have held positions of authority with respect to prevention of terrorist activity at least into the Clinton Administration. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-5 11:59:03 AM |
| #4 "I think this will give comfort to terrorists" Classic GOP smear tactic--if you question the administration--you're in bed with Osama. "Bipartisan"?! This from the party whose muse Ann Coulter compared bipartisanship to date rape?! |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-11-5 11:28:36 AM |
| #3 So much for splitting committees more or less evenly. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-11-5 11:02:36 AM |
| #2 Roberts said the memo stunned him. This guy is so moronic I can't believe he's a senator. When Roberts showed up to denounce alleged White House stonewalling in photo ops with Rockefeller, who's been partisan as all-git-out through the post-September 11 era, I wondered if he was a Democratic plant in the Senate. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-11-5 9:53:37 AM |
| #1 Remember, Rockefeller claims that his vote last October was influenced by the President's State of the Union speech from last January. In other words, Rockefeller's a lying sack of excrement and a Democrat. (But I repeat myself.) |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-11-5 8:57:02 AM |