Posted on 11/01/2005 11:40:50 AM PST by LisaFab
Harry Reid just made a motion, that was seconded, to send the Senate into closeed session.Schumer, Rockefeller and Durbin are before the press asking for a Senate Intelligence investigation into the Plame affair
FNC just reported its never been done before... ever.
This is what the DUmmies want. They had a letter writing campaign to their favored Congresscritters going on yesterday to shut the government down. An added benefit in their minds is a shutdown would shut the money flow off to our troops in Iraq and they would have to come home.
("Denny Crane: Gun Control? For Communists. She's a liberal. Can't hunt.")
CSPAN 2 is going to replay Reid making the motion shortly.
What phase 2???
Wait, i thought Fitz was a "prosecutors prosecutor" and above reproach and all that?
Schumer should have kept his mouth shut. too late.
Why the President was justified — David Kay or not
http://www.jewishworldreview.com | It may well be that weapons of mass destruction will never be found in Iraq. They may have been destroyed after the first Gulf War in 1991, or were buried in the desert or shipped out of the country.
David A. Kay, who was appointed by President Bush to search for these weapons, recently said, according to The New York Times, that, "the C.I.A. and other intelligence agencies did not realize that Iraqi scientists had presented ambitious but fanciful weapons programs to Mr. Hussein and had then used the money for other purposes." If this is true, we were not the only ones duped by the Iraqis.
The United Nations Security Council passed its Resolution 1441 which unanimously threatened Iraq with serious consequences if it did not account for its weapons of mass destruction, based on the assumption that Saddam Hussein failed to destroy those weapons after the first Gulf War. Hussein's refusal to demonstrate to U.N. weapons inspectors in the weeks leading up to the second Gulf War that he had eliminated his prohibited weapons led to the assumption that he still was in possession of such weapons.
In my view, it was not necessary for President Bush to wait for absolute proof that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction to take action against him. If the President believed, based on, at the time, credible intelligence provided by the C.I.A. and the British, that Iraq had such weapons, and Saddam Hussein declined to prove he had destroyed them, that was enough to justify war. As the President stated in his 2003 State of the Union address, "Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent…If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions would come too late."
President Bush was not alone in reaching this conclusion. His predecessor, President Bill Clinton, took the same position, stating in August of 1998, "Saddam's ability to produce and deliver weapons of mass destruction…threatens the safety of his people, the stability of his region and the security of the rest of us."
In other words, the U.S. did not go into Iraq because we knew for certain that Saddam still had weapons of mass destruction — a reasonable assumption under these circumstances. We went into Iraq because we believed he may have such weapons. And after 9/11, we could not take the chance that he might use these weapons or give them to terrorists.
It continues to puzzle me that so many Americans oppose the U.S. liberation of Iraq. The anti-war camp is comprised of at least three groups. The largest is made up of those who simply hate President Bush, as their counterparts in the 1980s hated President Ronald Reagan.
The second group is aligned philosophically with the "America First" isolationist movement of 1940, which was led by hero aviator — and anti-Semite — Charles Lindbergh. Isolationists were largely responsible for keeping America neutral while Hitler conquered Europe and committed genocide against Jews, gypsies, Communists, Socialists and other minorities.
The third group consists of pacifists who believe no war under any circumstances can be defended. During the Cold War that group's views were epitomized by the slogan, "Better red than dead."
Fortunately, most Americans believe in New Hampshire's slogan "Live free or die." Today, fundamentalist Islamic terrorists are demanding as part of their Jihad (holy war) that the U.S. and other Western countries abandon democratic ways, convert to Islam and abandon their friendships with Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. These terrorists want to replace the pro-Western governments of our Muslim allies with fundamentalist regimes. Of course, they also want us to end our support of Israel. When the Allies of yesteryear were led by FDR and Winston Churchill in World War II, they knew the choice was victory or defeat. The same is true today.
The Times article by James Risen, which quotes David A. Kay, provides the best assessment of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program. To summarize it would not do justice to his analysis, so I am setting forth a number of conclusions described in his own words.
What follows are excerpts from The New York Times of January 26, 2004
"'I'm personally convinced that there were not large stockpiles of newly produced weapons of mass destruction,' Dr. Kay said. 'We don't find the people, the documents or the physical plants that you would expect to find if the production was going on.
"'I think they gradually reduced stockpiles throughout the 1990's. Somewhere in the mid-1990's, the large chemical overhang of existing stockpiles was eliminated.'
"Regarding biological weapons, he said there was evidence that the Iraqis continued research and development 'right up until the end' to improve their ability to produce ricin. 'They were mostly researching better methods for weaponization,' Dr. Kay said. 'They were maintaining an infrastructure, but they didn't have large-scale production under way.'
"He added that Iraq did make an effort to restart its nuclear weapons program in 2000 and 2001, but that the evidence suggested that the program was rudimentary at best and would have taken years to rebuild, after being largely abandoned in the 1990's.
"While he urged that the hunt should continue in Iraq, he said he believed '85 percent of the significant things' have already been uncovered, and cautioned that severe looting in Iraq after Mr. Hussein was toppled in April had led to the loss of many crucial documents and other materials. That means it will be virtually impossible to ever get a complete picture of what Iraq was up to before the war, he added.
"But Dr. Kay said the C.I.A. missed the significance of the chaos in the leadership and had no idea how badly that chaos had corrupted Iraq's weapons capabilities or the threat it raised of loose scientific knowledge being handed over to terrorists. 'The system became so corrupt, and we missed that,' he said.
"In addition, Dr. Kay said, it is now clear that an American bombing campaign against Iraq in 1998 destroyed much of the remaining infrastructure in chemical weapons programs.
"The former Iraqi officers reported that no Special Republican Guard units had chemical or biological weapons, he said. But all of the officers believed that some other Special Republican Guard unit had chemical weapons.
"'They all said they didn't have it, but they thought other units had it,' Dr. Kay said. He said it appeared they were the victims of a disinformation campaign orchestrated by Mr. Hussein.
"As a result, virtually everyone in the United States intelligence community during both the Clinton and the current Bush administrations thought Iraq still had the illicit weapons, he said. And the government became a victim of its own certainty.
"Dr. Kay said he was convinced that the analysts were not pressed by the Bush administration to make certain their prewar intelligence reports conformed to a White House agenda on Iraq.
"'All the analysts I have talked to said they never felt pressured on W.M.D.,' he said. 'Everyone believed that they had W.M.D.'
"'The only comment I ever had from the president was to find the truth,'" Dr. Kay said. 'I never got any pressure to find a certain outcome.'
What all this means is that if Saddam Hussein had acted rationally, he could have avoided war. But he was not the rational leader of a nation. He was a sadistic despot who tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people and invaded other countries. He used poison gas against the Kurds and the Iranians. He set fire to more than 700 oil wells in Kuwait, creating an environmental catastrophe. The world is surely better off without him. Let's hope the effort to create a free and democratic state in Iraq is successful.
If the C.I.A. failed in its intelligence gathering responsibilities prior to the war, as is now charged by Dr. Kay, Bush's opponents should remember that the C.I.A. director, George Tenet, is a holdover from the Clinton administration. A congressional inquiry is now underway and Tenet will testify. Let the chips fall where they may.
WHILE THEY HAVE A QUORUM, shouldn't they EXPEL traitor Kerry?
This is a MASSIVE disruption of the Senate.
Thank you, "Protect..." I have already written him.
I'm sick and tired of our leaders not fighting back!! It's time to take the gloves off and beat them to a pulp! We need to be more vocal so they'll get the message LOUD AND CLEAR.
I think they mean it's never been done without notifying the other side in advance before.
the senate intell comm has already been holding hearings on this matter... just not to the satisfaction of the dems
Will he be so kind as to express what "getting his way" consists of?
BTW, this is another form of filibuster - the use of a tactic for purposes of delay.
They (cspan2) are going to reshow Reid's remarks from the Senate Floor earlier
There are two ways to combat this.
#1. Have the RNC run an ad using the following quotes.
#2. Have freepers e-mail the following quotes to Reid and all the Democrats.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998
"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998
"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
"Hussein has chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999
"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies." Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, Dec, 5, 2001
"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them." Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002
"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..." Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002
"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years . We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002
"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do" Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002
"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime . He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction . So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ..." Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003
Dems like closed doors...
Especially if there is a blue dress involved.
Frist needs to rip Harry's lungs out! (figuratively speaking)
What the ???
Jumbo Shrimp?
If the Demo/Commies keep this up, the only suitable way to fight it is that as soon as the Senate comes out of closed session, a couple of Republicans need to call for and second a motion to go into closed session to investigate the damage done to national security by the Rockefeller scheme to politicize the Senate Intelligence Committee, or the damage done to national security by Kerry revealing the name of a covert agent on the floor of the Senate (or, was it in a hearing?) in open session.
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