Senate Dems Force Debate on Iraq War Lies
Harry Reid and Senate Democrats just invoked Rule 21 to force the Senate into closed session.
Reid's immediate demand was for Senator Pat Roberts to complete Phase 2 of the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation of the White House's pre-war manufacture of lies about Iraq.
But Reid's statement went much further - and is well worth reading in its entirety.
Of course, Bill CatMurdererInsideTrader Frist went ballistic and said he won't be able to "trust" Reid ever again. So whatcha gonna do about it Fristie - send Reid to Gitmo?
It looks like Senate Democrats are going to try to expose all of the lies and corruption of the neofascist Bush regime!
This past weekend, we witnessed the indictment of I. Lewis Libby, the Vice President's Chief of Staff and a senior Advisor to President Bush. Libby is the first sitting White House staffer to be indicted in 135 years.
This indictment raises very serious charges. It asserts this Administration engaged in actions that both harmed our national security and are morally repugnant.
The decision to place U.S. soldiers in harm's way is the most significant responsibility the Constitution invests in the Congress.
The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really about: how the Administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions.
As a result of its improper conduct, a cloud now hangs over this Administration. This cloud is further darkened by the Administration's mistakes in prisoner abuse scandal, Hurricane Katrina, and the cronyism and corruption in numerous agencies.
And, unfortunately, it must be said that a cloud also hangs over this Republican-controlled Congress for its unwillingness to hold this Republican Administration accountable for its misdeeds on all of these issues.
Let's take a look back at how we got here with respect to Iraq Mr. President. The record will show that within hours of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, senior officials in this Administration recognized these attacks could be used as a pretext to invade Iraq.
The record will also show that in the months and years after 9/11, the Administration engaged in a pattern of manipulation of the facts and retribution against anyone who got in its way as it made the case for attacking Iraq.
There are numerous examples of how the Administration misstated and manipulated the facts as it made the case for war. Administration statements on Saddam's alleged nuclear weapons capabilities and ties with Al Qaeda represent the best examples of how it consistently and repeatedly manipulated the facts.
The American people were warned time and again by the President, the Vice President, and the current Secretary of State about Saddam's nuclear weapons capabilities. The Vice President said Iraq has reconstituted its nuclear weapons. Playing upon the fears of Americans after September 11, these officials and others raised the specter that, left unchecked, Saddam could soon attack America with nuclear weapons.
Obviously we know now their nuclear claims were wholly inaccurate. But more troubling is the fact that a lot of intelligence experts were telling the Administration then that its claims about Saddam's nuclear capabilities were false.
The situation was very similar with respect to Saddam's links to Al Qaeda. The Vice President told the American people, We know he's out trying once again to produce nuclear weapons and we know he has a longstanding relationship with various terrorist groups including the Al Qaeda organization.
The Administration's assertions on this score have been totally discredited. But again, the Administration went ahead with these assertions in spite of the fact that the government's top experts did not agree with these claims.
What has been the response of this Republican-controlled Congress to the Administration's manipulation of intelligence that led to this protracted war in Iraq? Basically nothing. Did the Republican-controlled Congress carry out its constitutional obligations to conduct oversight? No. Did it support our troops and their families by providing them the answers to many important questions? No. Did it even attempt to force this Administration to answer the most basic questions about its behavior? No.
Unfortunately the unwillingness of the Republican-controlled Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities is not limited to just Iraq. We see it with respect to the prisoner abuse scandal. We see it with respect to Katrina. And we see it with respect to the cronyism and corruption that permeates this Administration.
Time and time again, this Republican-controlled Congress has consistently chosen to put its political interests ahead of our national security. They have repeatedly chosen to protect the Republican Administration rather than get to the bottom of what happened and why.
There is also another disturbing pattern here, namely about how the Administration responded to those who challenged its assertions. Time and again this Administration has actively sought to attack and undercut those who dared to raise questions about its preferred course.
For example, when General Shinseki indicated several hundred thousand troops would be needed in Iraq, his military career came to an end. When then OMB Director Larry Lindsay suggested the cost of this war would approach $200 billion, his career in the Administration came to an end. When U.N. Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix challenged conclusions about Saddam's WMD capabilities, the Administration pulled out his inspectors. When Nobel Prize winner and IAEA head Mohammed el-Baridei raised questions about the Administration's claims of Saddam's nuclear capabilities, the Administration attempted to remove him from his post. When Joe Wilson stated that there was no attempt by Saddam to acquire uranium from Niger, the Administration launched a vicious and coordinated campaign to demean and discredit him, going so far as to expose the fact that his wife worked as a CIA agent.
Given this Administration's pattern of squashing those who challenge its misstatements, what has been the response of this Republican-controlled Congress? Again, absolutely nothing. And with their inactions, they provide political cover for this Administration at the same time they keep the truth from our troops who continue to make large sacrifices in Iraq.
This behavior is unacceptable. The toll in Iraq is as staggering as it is solemn. More than 2,000 Americans have lost their lives. Over 90 Americans have paid the ultimate sacrifice this month alone - the fourth deadliest month since the war began. More than 15,000 have been wounded. More than 150,000 remain in harm's way. Enormous sacrifices have been and continue to be made.
The troops and the American people have a right to expect answers and accountability worthy of that sacrifice. For example, 40 Senate Democrats wrote a substantive and detailed letter to the President asking four basic questions about the Administration's Iraq policy and received a four sentence answer in response. These Senators and the American people deserve better.
They also deserve a searching and comprehensive investigation about how the Bush Administration brought this country to war. Key questions that need to be answered include:
How did the Bush Administration assemble its case for war against Iraq?
Who did Bush Administration officials listen to and who did they ignore?
How did senior Administration officials manipulate or manufacture intelligence presented to the Congress and the American people?
What was the role of the White House Iraq Group or WHIG, a group of senior White House officials tasked with marketing the war and taking down its critics?
How did the Administration coordinate its efforts to attack individuals who dared to challenge the Administration's assertions?
Why has the Administration failed to provide Congress with the documents that will shed light on their misconduct and misstatements?Unfortunately the Senate committee that should be taking the lead in providing these answers is not. Despite the fact that the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee publicly committed to examine many of these questions more than 1 and ½ years ago, he has chosen not to keep this commitment. Despite the fact that he restated that commitment earlier this year on national television, he has still done nothing.
At this point, we can only conclude he will continue to put politics ahead of our national security. If he does anything at this point, I suspect he will play political games by producing an analysis that fails to answer any of these important questions. Instead, if history is any guide, this analysis will attempt to disperse and deflect blame away from the Administration.
We demand that the Intelligence Committee and other committees in this body with jurisdiction over these matters carry out a full and complete investigation immediately as called for by Democrats in the committee's annual intelligence authorization report. Our troops and the American people have sacrificed too much. It is time this Republican-controlled Congress put the interests of the American people ahead of their own political interests.
- Bob Fertik's blog
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Oh yeah baby
Hallelujah..about godamned time. NANCY PELOSI, or any of your people, are you paying attention. Time for Spine, do what we elected you for, represent us. patrickmonk.rn.sf.
about time democrats start acting against this fascist regime
bush needs to be impeached for war crimes committed in afghanistan and iraq, breaking laws from our constitution with the unpatriot acts, use of banned weapons of mass destruction on our troops and the iraqi citizens, lying to america and the world. international crimes have been committed, humanitarian violations here in america with millions of children without healthcare while 750 billion dollars is spent on the illegal war in iraq. this shit with bush getting away with crimes has been happening for way too long. bush shouldn't of been able to step one foot into the white house on how he stole the first election in 2000 and throwing his fucking temper tantrums. impeach the coward, he can't even fight his own battles.
And the biggest act of treason this country has ever seen
Not to mention the mounting (and I mean mounting) discrepancies in THEIR official version of what happened on 911. I think one day in the not too distant future it will be revealed that this administration planned and executed the attacks on 911 killing over 3,000 of their own citizens. I wish we still had public hangings in this country for high officials who practice such barbarism on their own citizens and those citizens of other countries.
About Time
It's about time the Democrats in congress gave the Replublicans a piece of the American peoples' mind!
Lets see this thing through!
Hey, Bill, Dr.Inside Traitor
Do you think that Dr. Inside Traitor (sorry) Trader would have let the Democrats go into closed session if he had known about it? He even sort of admitted that he missed Tom Daschle. Too bad for you Dr. Senator Frist. You Republicans in Senate must have that same Republican disease that is spreading ahead of the bird flu, convenient amnesia. We haven't forgotten any of the former weapons inspectors' exposes and speechs; the Downing Street Memo; the justifications,re-justifications, and re-re-re-rejustifications of the war uttered by Bush, Cheney, Condi, and Rummy; the truth about Niger; Colin Powell's assistant who is now talking; and the most important fact of all that the WMD's were never found. WE DESERVE ANSWERS!!! It's time for the shit to hit the fan.
We want BLOOD !
We want blood, repugnant republican and treasonous fascist blood.
and we want it now!
And we want our beloved home of the Free and the Braves America back, not some barbedwire manufactured-fear jackbooted affront to the very idea of our nation...
Who's "we"? Those who, like me, have add enough of an illegitimate and unelected junta whose crimes are unspeakable and still covered up by its msm accomplices. Who is "we"? Those who, as I, have had enough of tyranny.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson
PS: to secret service... blood in this instance is but a figure of speech, blood here is used in a figurative sense... eventhough the blood your fascist masters have spilled is all too real. Serving to protect a president, even if a fraud and a traitor, I can understand, that is your stated mission. Stepping over the line and intimidating dissenters, thus in effect becoming the traitor's GESTAPO... that is another matter. All the rats are jumping ship... feel the winds shift...
It's about time!
Now, if we can get them to say and spell "AGENDA". That would be nice. Get things together because elections are just a year away. I know a lot can happen in a year.
If the Dems can expose how corrupt, treasonous and incompetent the bu$h regime is, it will ge a merry time in the US. But, if the US voters are going to get a repulikan-lite version of Democrats, it's over for this country. The corruption has taken over the election process. The two parties are in the pocket. They will not be doing the business of the people. It will be the end of the Republic. There will have to be a drastic change in the US goverment.
The Dems better do something with this action.
BUCK FUSH !!!
Re: It's about time!
To everybody celebrating this move: I concur 100%. I almost lost all faith in the Dems... and then Harry Reid pulls this gutsy, brilliant maneuver to hold the Republicans accountable. Bravo. The Dems have a spine after all. And the Republicans that are all pissed off just proves that Sen. Reid did the right thing. The momentum shifts back to the Dems now!
Uzumaki Naruto for President!
Tell Harry Reid
http://reid.senate.gov/email_form.cfm
US Senator Harry Reid for Nevada
Please encourage this behavior!
Mourn not the dead that in the cool earth lie, but rather mourn the apathetic throng, the coward, and the meek, who see the world's great anguish and its wrong, and dare not speak.
Ralph Chaplin
Dear Senator Reid,
Dear Senator Reid,
Please continue to break the silence, until the deep outrage and dismay of the people can never be silenced again. I trust you will bring the truth to light and justice to bear.
Thank you for today,
Justin Bell
Damn Straight
You better believe it's about time! Harry Reid just threw down the gauntlet and Frist scampered away.
The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog
Keep Senator Brownback out of the Whitehouse.
A great couple of weeks to be a Democrat
The Bush White House self destructs, and for the first time in a decade the Democrats in the Senate are smelling blood. I hear on Rush/Hannity, how they want a big political fight on the issues, and I say lets give it to them!!!!! I used the link to tell Harry how happy I was and how such action will greatly speed up the number of my contributions to the DSCC, and I hope you all will do the same. We have an awesome chance at the Senate in 06, and while we shouldn't give up on the House we should concentrate on the Senate first. Whatever the strategy I'll love it if its gutsy like this. Didn't everyone just love seeing Frist all whiny and puffy, I mean GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!! I wanna see as many Republican leaders with that spoiled rotten little brat that didn't get his way look on their faces in the next 12 months as possible, and then send them back where they belong, Halliburton, Atmos Energy, Exxon/Mobile, Sai Pan, etc............
I cheered loudly when I heard
of Reid's gutsy stand against the Repubs.
Our leaders are standing up and being counted.
They are demanding answers!
Damn, we've waited a long time for this!
HOLY SHIT! REID FINALLY DOES SOMETHING RIGHT!
OH MY FUCKING GOD!!! REID ACTUALLY TOOK SOME FUCKING INITIATIVE!! THIS IS GOING TO DWARF EVERY OTHER SHIT-FACED STORY IN TOMORROW'S PAPERS! I'LL BET THOSE ASS-CLOWNS IN THE SENATE DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING.. HELL, I SURE AS FUCK DIDN'T!!!
But really.. as impressed as I was to see that headline in the Times earlier today (and Jon Stewart's interview with Boxer), it's pretty pathetics that it took this long. Maybe the dems have finally realized how many Americans feel isolated. I'm predicting a heavy war over Alito... I'd bet on a successful filibuster. Reid essentially shot the first bullet today. True - partisan bickering turns people away, but sometimes we have to fight fire with fire. This isn't about character assassination or blind party loyalty; it's about exposing the corruption and deceit the White House has embraced and fed (successfully... sadly) to the American people.
Reid finally does something right
"DOUBLE UH HUH" and RIGHT ON !!
You go Harry.........we are tired Democrats of getting "messed" on........
Gave me Chills
Positively gave me chills!!
yet the utter, contemptable hypocrisy of Frist accusing the dems of hijacking the senate, OMG there seems no place low enough for him to go.....
But....Mr. Reid, in the name of every democrat...and every other American who has been shamed by the crimes of the BA and its accomplices in Congress, and beyond....Spit upon your hands and START SLITTING THROATS!!!
Heh...
I just read Michelle Malkin's blog. She called the closed meeting tactic a "temper tantrum". I think it worked! :)
jellcoat- if this tactic was just an attempt to mobilize Democrats to action... it worked. Like I said, the momentum is on the progressives' side
Uzumaki Naruto for President!
Yes, about time
What a surprise! A Democrat has spoken boldly! Admittedly, this does happen occasionally. Kucinich and others have broken ranks with most Dems and dared to speak the truth on behalf of the sane, the non-corporate.
Be still my beating heart!
Be still my beating heart!
Not only a Democratic person...
But I am also a proud Wiccan. I have never stood behind the bu$h Administration in any way, and I have always tried to show how much of an ass that bum was making our beautiful country look like. We have lost most of our allies, and made more enemies in the past 5 years alone than even before the Cold War itself. It is about time someone with enough balls has stood up and demanded the administration take responsibility for its actions. I am also a firm believer, that Nature herself is making a valid point about this bum. I am sure she wants to put him out of his misery herself, but she is making him look bad enough with all the damage she does to our beautiful country with her sheer fury.
I also find it funny how, even in the BA, the ones who tried to speak up for themselves have jumped the ship...case in point, Colin Powell. He had tried to make things right, but nobody wanted to listen to him. As a result, he bailed out when bu$h was "re-elected." I take my hat off to the only Republican who felt he was doing the right thing.
Colin Powell did not bail
Colin Powell did not bail out, he got thrown out because he was a thorn in their side and didn't agree with the administration. Don't you see the pattern?
Good job Harry for shutting down the Senate. I sent him a letter for standing up. I am so sick of hearing the Democrats don't work with the Republicans - WHAT? We have been ignored ever since Dictator Bush was appointed by the Supreme Court. And we are the ones who won't work with Republicans - outrageous!
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security
like it's some kind of federal program."
- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000
so f**king proud of the Dems
got all misty-eyed, and wanted to just hug everybody..I loved it...I am now addicted..I WANT MORE...of this standing up and demanding our Constitutional rights..demanding truth, justice and the American way...more, more, more..!!!Bring it on!!
Cut and Paste
I suggest everybody cut and paste Senator Reid's comments into an email. Send it to everybody in your address book, including and especially Republicans. The mass media will not cover this, or will only echo WH talking points. EVERYONE MUST READ THIS!!!!!!
Saving the world from stupidity
One Republican at a time
Since November, 2004
There's a Slow, Slow Train Coming...
Slow Train
By Bob Dylan
Sometimes I feel so low-down and disgusted
Can't help but wonder what's happenin' to my companions,
Are they lost or are they found, have they counted the cost it'll take to bring
down
All their earthly principles they're gonna have to abandon?
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
I had a woman down in Alabama,
She was a backwoods girl, but she sure was realistic,
She said, "Boy, without a doubt, have to quit your mess and straighten out,
You could die down here, be just another accident statistic."
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
All that foreign oil controlling American soil,
Look around you, it's just bound to make you embarrassed.
Sheiks walkin' around like kings, wearing fancy jewels and nose rings,
Deciding America's future from Amsterdam and to Paris
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
Man's ego is inflated, his laws are outdated, they don't apply no more,
You can't rely no more to be standin' around waitin'
In the home of the brave, Jefferson turnin' over in his grave,
Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
Big-time negotiators, false healers and woman haters,
Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition
But the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency,
All non-believers and men stealers talkin' in the name of religion
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
People starving and thirsting, grain elevators are bursting
Oh, you know it costs more to store the food than it do to give it.
They say lose your inhibitions, follow your own ambitions,
They talk about a life of brotherly love, show me someone who knows how to
live it. There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
Well, my baby went to Illinois with some bad-talkin' boy she could destroy
A real suicide case, but there was nothin' I could do to stop it,
I don't care about economy, I don't care about astronomy
But it sure do bother me to see my loved ones turning into puppets,
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.
Copyright © 1979 Special Rider Music
---------
"Who'll Stop the Rain?..."
Watergate vs Iraqgate
When all has been revealed and the emperor's has no clothes it will overshadow Watergate as just a Birthday Party gone Bad.
-----------
"Who'll Stop the Rain?..."
Give 'em Hell Harry!!
Thank you Senator Reid for your candor. What you have begun may do more than anyone will ever know to save this whole world. The detractors and their groveling pundit mouth pieces are already belittling your efforts and those of Patrick Fitzgerald in the Plame Identity scandal investigation. Don't let this deter you. When one looks closely at those people, listens to their words and reads what they say it’s easy to see that they are scared, know they have been uncovered, and are becoming desperate. Don’t' leave it alone for a minute. Please pursue this to the end. You have the support of true, patriotic Americans behind you.
Send Harry's PAC or the DNC some love
Another way to show our support for this absolutely brilliant tactical move is to send some love ($) his way. I have included links to Harry's PAC and Dean's letter, so that we can make donations. Don't forget to end your donation with .01, to let them know it is from the netroots!
https://www.democrats.org/page/contribute/enoughisenough
http://www.giveemhellharry.com/
And has everyone seen this picture in the WAPO (front page, above the fold)? I don't know how to put pictures into posts, so I have included this link; I hope it works! Check out the symbolism.....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR200511...
American Democracy is Alive Again!
November 2, 2005
Dear Senator Reid:
As a long standing Democrat, a devoted anti-war activist and a person who has donated nationally and fought vigorously at the local level to expose and spread the lies, deceit and corruption of the Bush Administration, I wish to personally thank you for having the gumption to call a closed session and demand, without concession, that the republicans fulfill their Constitutional duty and bring forth the whole truth about leading our country to war. The time is now to illustration for all to see every miss-step, act of incompetence, the criminal activity, the treasonous acts committed, the massive executive failures and breach of their own Constitutional oaths by George Bush, Dick Cheney and their entire staff.
We all know that weapons of mass destruction did not and never did exist. We all know that the entire Bush Administration was determine to sell a false and unnecessary pre-emptive war, that was not in defense of our nation and that Iraq never posed an eminent threat to our country. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell even admitted on national television that the intelligence was wrong and that he erroneously misguided the U.N. into supporting the Iraqi War.
The moment has arrived for all Americans to see the transparencies of the republican lies, the obstructions of justice, the crimes and incompetence that have poisoned our nation and weakened our country under George Bush and his conspiracy of republican cohorts. It is my belief, that we must all band together, become galvanized by your courageous efforts in the Senate and take back America!
Thank You Senator Reid! American democracy is alive again!
"The first casualty when war comes is truth."