Webb: "Intelligence Manipulated to Support a Political Objective"

By: Lowell
Published On: 2/9/2007 5:06:36 PM

I just received this statement from Senator Webb's office.  I've added bolding to emphasize the most striking parts of this powerful statement.  In sum, this statement totally rocks.  Thank God that Jim Webb is our Senator!

As one who served for five years in the Pentagon, I was actively skeptical and troubled before the Iraq invasion by some of the information that the Department of Defense and others in the administration used to justify going to war. Today's briefing by the Department of Defense's Inspector General was vitally important - not only in retrospect, but also in terms of the health of our society and the continuous functioning of our government.

The independent report of the Inspector General confirms that during the critical time that the Bush administration made the case to the American people and the international community of the need for military action against Iraq, the Department of Defense's Office of the Under Secretary for Policy distributed its own alternative intelligence products, in violation of its charter. These products interpreted Intelligence Community assessments in a way that did not fairly portray some conclusions that were the consensus of the Community. In short, intelligence was manipulated to support a political objective.

I share Chairman Levin's assessment that the Inspector General's review is a devastating condemnation of inappropriate activities by the DOD policy office that helped take our nation to war.  I welcome his announcement that the Committee will hold additional hearings to establish accountability for those responsible for their extremely damaging actions.

Whoa, watch out Bush Administration, Jim Webb's on the warpath! :)

Comments



Cue the "Dragnet", "Rambo" and "Rocky" theme songs... (cycle12 - 2/9/2007 5:25:58 PM)
And, in regard to Jim Croce's song, their "Slim" ain't got a chance against our Jim...

Thanks!

Steve



Hold Hearings? (Teddy - 2/9/2007 5:29:10 PM)
Right away, I hope. How much of this aberrent behavuir is still going on within the sacred walls of the Pentagon? I remember that a (woman) lieutenant colonel, Air Force, wrote and expose of her tour of duty in the Special Group assigned to write up its own intelligence estimates and reports at the behest of Feth and Wolfewitz, the neo-con Inner Group that called itself The Cabal (I am not making this up)... their explicit purpose was to gin up a war with Iraq, to be followed by a war with Syria and Iran, creating a New Middle East that was more in conformance with their view of the world and of history.

These are the same guys who fell for Chalabi and his Iran-linked Iraqi group in exile, he's the one who assured us the Iraqis would greet our invading forces with roses. 

I also recall some hints that Chalabi, once he got himself back to Iraq following the invasion, shipped off a few airplane loads of those pallets of US dollars freighted to Iraq in such vast numbers (just now the government is admitted they "can't find" several billion of that money. And then, I also recall that the CIA invaded Chalabi's Baghdad office, ransacked it, and made off with file cabinets full of his records, to his consternation.

My, my, this should be an extremely interesting set of hearings, especially considering that Webb will have some input. Hahahahaha.



The "I" word (connie - 2/9/2007 6:38:55 PM)
Dare someone say the "I" word?  (Impeachment).