[fogarty]

Good point, the President wages war. The Congress does have the responsibility to raise and support Armies - of which part of their jurisdiction is to know the readiness of the forces at hand. The point I was trying to make is that these officers are before the duly elected representatives of the US Congress - are they supposed to lie about readiness levels? Would we not want Congress to know if our ammunition supplies were dangerously low?

As for the public/private issue, I sincerely wish Rummy had done this in private. Now the media will be ever more interested in covering this issue.

[DSHambone]

I think an answer of ,"Sir/Ma'am I don't believe you have the security clearance for us to discuss this matter!" would have been great..

[uncbob]

The point I was trying to make is that these officers are before the duly elected representatives of the US Congress - are they supposed to lie about readiness levels? Would we not want Congress to know if our ammunition supplies were dangerously low?

Poor boobs probably thought now that Bush was president it was safe to tell the truth to congress and not risk their careers.
I guess they should have continued the lies like Sheldon did when he was telling congress every thing was rosey during Clinton's years

[mystery-ak]

They are not supposed to lie.....there is an option called *closed door session* so the media isn't informed, and assuming the Congresscritter can keep his/her mouth shut.......Rummy is right!