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.
First Opinion Journal and now Investors Business Daily mention this. A lot of closet FR surfers out there these days?
Evan Bayh is hard to figure sometimes. Once in awhile he does something good, but most of the time I'm just disappointed in him.
Simple, the democrat party was hijacked long ago by socialists (communists) who call themselves progressives (Marxists) whose main purpose is to bring down the government as we know it, and change it into the Marxist utopia that they failed at in other nations. This time they think they will succeed. This is treason pure and simple, and it is time people wake up and see what is really going on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.