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Durbin kept silent on prewar knowledge
THE WASHINGTON TIMES ^ | April 27, 2007 | Sean Lengell

Posted on 04/27/2007 7:54:02 AM PDT by 3AngelaD

The Senate's No. 2 Democrat says he knew that the American public was being misled into the Iraq war but remained silent because he was sworn to secrecy as a member of the intelligence committee.

"The information we had in the intelligence committee was not the same information being given to the American people. I couldn't believe it," Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, said Wednesday when talking on the Senate floor...

"I was angry about it. [But] frankly, I couldn't do much about it because, in the intelligence committee, we are sworn to secrecy...."

The White House responded by saying Congress had access to the same intelligence and voted overwhelmingly to go to war.

"We all understand today that there were intelligence failures, but there was no effort to mislead either members of Congress or the American people," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Mr. Durbin yesterday said there was no "ethical" way to notify the public of specific misleading information being touted by the Bush administration because it would have required revealing top-secret information being provided to the intelligence committee...

Congress authorized the 2003 use of armed force against Iraq by votes of 296-133 in the House and 77-23 in the Senate. Five of nine Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted for the measure as did all eight Republicans.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office circulated an e-mail...(saying)Mr. Durbin's comments were inconsistent with the words of other Democrats on the committee, including Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia and Carl Levin of Michigan...

A congressional official familiar with the information about Iraq that was provided to the intelligence committee in 2002 said it did not differ from what the administration was saying publicly...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: duplicity; durbin; iraq
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To: RC2

Exactly, what changed that allowed him to speak now?


41 posted on 04/27/2007 10:43:59 AM PDT by Honcho
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To: 3AngelaD
Hmmmm.... "The information we had in the intelligence committee was not the same information being given to the American people. I couldn't believe it,"
If Classified information wasn't being given to the public wouldn't that be good?
Isn't it convenient that he can't tell us what the classified information is either, after all it is classified!
42 posted on 04/27/2007 10:51:42 AM PDT by missnry (The truth will set you free!)
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To: 3AngelaD

Since those intelligence reports were never declassified, isn’t telling us this today STILL the same violation of ethics as it was in 2003?

On the other hand, his argument is stupid. He could easily have stood up in the Senate before the war and said “The American People are being lied to about the war”, without revealing WHAT the lies were. Actually, he could have revealed what things were lies without telling us the truth that he says was classified.


43 posted on 04/27/2007 10:52:08 AM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: 3AngelaD
Mr. Durbin yesterday said there was no "ethical" way to notify the public of specific misleading information being touted by the Bush administration because it would have required revealing top-secret information being provided to the intelligence committee.

You just know that as soon as a democrat begins to talk about ethics he's lying.

44 posted on 04/27/2007 10:53:37 AM PDT by highlander_UW (I don't know what my future holds, but I know Who holds my future)
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To: 3AngelaD
Why would some people on FR care what he says.

The only things that matter is if he’s pro-abortion, pro-gun control and if he’s been married more than once.

45 posted on 04/27/2007 10:56:08 AM PDT by muleskinner
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To: 3AngelaD

Surely it is no longer a secret that many on Capital Hill are sleeping with the MSM (politically speaking, of course!) They have the same agenda, and they hate the American way of life - freedoms, private property, industry, and sovereignty. It is LONG past time for the American people to wake up, and do something about it.


46 posted on 04/27/2007 11:02:08 AM PDT by Paperdoll ( Duncan Hunter '08)
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To: Brilliant
Why’d he vote for it then?

He voted NAY. Still, he's a liar regardless.

47 posted on 04/27/2007 8:26:22 PM PDT by Carling (It's Danny, Sir)
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To: sappy

He voted against the war.

He’s a liar nonetheless, and the Tenet interview is a part of the plan. Watch this meme expand over the next month or so until we get serious calls for impeachment.

President Bush should have fired Tenet on taking office, or if not then than for sure immediately after 9/11.


48 posted on 04/27/2007 8:29:12 PM PDT by Carling (It's Danny, Sir)
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