Edwards is a Democrat who voted for a 2002 resolution giving President Bush authority to invade Iraq. He has since apologized for the vote. He said Friday he had believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that President Bush should have been given the authority to make the invasion decision. “On both [...]
Yglesias: The Classified NIE
One issue that came up in the debate was whether or not reading the classified version of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq would have given Hillary Clinton and/or John Edwards a better perspective on the war. Years later, and in the heat of a primary campaign, it’s a bit hard to look objectively at [...]
Who read the Oct 1 2002 NIE?
Ben Smith on The Politico is updating his accounting of 2008 candidates, apparently Senators only, who actually took the trouble to read the full version of the National Intelligence Estimate before voting for or against the IWR.
I seem to remember Rep. Dennis Kucinich saying he had read it, but have not confirmed. It is said [...]
Edwards didn’t read Oct 1 2002 NIE
The Intelligence Test: John Edwards has implied throughout his campaign that one thing that makes him a better candidate than Hillary Clinton is his admission that his vote to authorize the Iraq war in 2002 was a mistake — Clinton has said she would not vote for the war knowing what she knows now, but [...]
“Blood is going to be on your hands”
The cafe format permitted a lengthier explanation than in the debate’s 90-second answer, so I discussed the classified intelligence contrasted with unclassified at the time of the Iraqi war vote in October 2002, when Sen. Bob Graham begged his colleagues on the floor of the Senate to read the 90 page classified NIE on WMD [...]
Sen. Bob Graham: “What I Knew Before the Invasion”
In the past week President Bush has twice attacked Democrats for being hypocrites on the Iraq war. “[M]ore than 100 Democrats in the House and Senate, who had access to the same intelligence, voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power,” he said.
The president’s attacks are outrageous. Yes, more than 100 Democrats voted to authorize [...]
“Fantasy” clashes with reality over Iraq policy
In the fall of 2002, Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, dismayed that President Bush appeared intent on invading Iraq without fully vetting the complicated issues involved, demanded that the Central Intelligence Agency produce a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) assessing the dangers posed by Saddam Hussein. The document was a highly politicized one that [...]
Doubts, Dissent Stripped from Public Version of Iraq Assessment
Published on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 by Knight-Ridder
by Jonathan S. Landay
WASHINGTON - The public version of the U.S. intelligence community’s key prewar assessment of Iraq’s illicit arms programs was stripped of dissenting opinions, warnings of insufficient information and doubts about deposed dictator Saddam Hussein’s intentions, a review of the document and its once-classified version shows.
As [...]
Judis and Ackerman: “The Selling of the Iraq War: The First Casualty”
The Senate Intelligence Committee, in fact, was the greatest congressional obstacle to the administration’s push for war. Under the lead of Graham and Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, the committee enjoyed respect and deference in the Senate and the House, and its members could speak authoritatively, based on their access to classified information, about whether Iraq [...]
Source: Global Research
September 24, 2002: Tenet Briefs Senate Intel Committee on National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq
In a classified session, George Tenet and other intelligence officials brief the Senate Intelligence Committee on the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq (see October 1, 2002). In his summary of the document, Tenet reportedly says that Iraq attempted to obtain [...]
