Posted on 11/06/2003 7:01:20 AM PST by Isara
Intelligence: A memo suggests Democrats are trying to undermine a Senate investigation into prewar Iraq intelligence. The reason? Political gain — not U.S. security.
It's inevitable that, even in matters of peace and war, politics will inevitably intrude. But it's rare that one party goes out of its way to obstruct an intelligence inquiry by the Senate, and even rarer that one party schemes to do so for purely political gains — while the U.S. is engaged in a deadly war on terror.
But that's exactly what some Democratic staffers on the Senate Intelligence Committee did in a recent memo.
In it, the staffers strategize about subverting the committee's investigation of prewar intelligence on Iraq. They talk about launching an "independent" commission to counter the Senate's investigation, and to use it to "castigate" the Republicans.
To maximize the political impact, the memo suggests "pulling the trigger . . . probably next year." For the record, that's a presidential election year.
We read the draft of the memo. And what we saw angered us. No mention of a "strategy" for helping out in the war on terror. No mention of trying to find a way to minimize the number of young Americans killed in Iraq.
No, the whole idea was political gain. And scoring on the GOP. The damage is potentially huge.
"No member of the intelligence community wants to come up and testify before a committee that is whipsawed by politics," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "In addition, once this becomes public . . . every intelligence agency in the world will take note of it."
Roberts, a Kansan not known for exaggeration, added, "I think this will give some comfort to terrorists."
We agree. No doubt, those who want the worst for America will be well pleased to see such mischief in the Senate, whose members like to call it "the world's greatest deliberative body."
Something has gone horribly wrong with our system of politics if a political entity charged with investigating national security can be twisted to base political ends — and subverted to undermine the national interest.
But, as bad as it is, the memo really is a symptom of a much deeper problem — the deep, near-pathological hatred for George W. Bush that many on the left hold. For in their hatred, they have become desperate. And in their desire to get rid of Bush, those who hate him have been led to do and say things that are, frankly, despicable.
Why else would a Web site called the Democratic Underground, which bills itself as "fair and balanced," recently run a screed that said, in part, "They (U.S. troops) need to die so that Americans get rid of this deadly scum (Bush)."
We know this isn't typical of the left — or of Democrats. Like all Americans, they have wrestled with their consciences and convictions recently to make tough decisions about the war on terror.
We respect that. But we don't respect those on the extreme left who see war as little more than political blood sport — a real-world adjunct to Washington power politics. All too sadly, they think if Bush goes, the war on terror will end. They're dead wrong.
Do you know whether Rockefeller is associated with a communist party?
Yup, it's called the DNC
You are right!
Has anyone been able to verify this memo, as in who wrote it, and to whom it was sent?
I read from another thread mentioning that Sean said the memo was not obtained illegally and the memo was written at the direction of a Democrat Senator.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1015876/posts Post #5
Perhaps I should have said 'to whom it was addressed'. :) Wasn't implying Fox had done anything wrong by obtaining it, just that even Fox doesn't seem to know much about it.
"...Sean said in so many words that he would love to be "put under oath" so he could tell the truth about who slipped him the memo. "
So many words? Surely Sean didn't suggest that it would take being sworn for him to tell the truth, or that he would give up a source?
If Bush goes, the war of terror will begin again in earnest. Many of us will be dead targets.
Government controls and regulations favor the already large and entrenched, while inhibiting the smaller businesses/entrepreneurs who would potentially compete with the "billionaires".
Bumping and highlighting Roberts' statement, which I had not heard---and I've been following this story closely.
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