>From Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 Posted: 9:28 PM EDT (0128 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Breaking ranks with his party and reversing his earlier
stance, a senior retiring Republican lawmaker said Wednesday the military
strike against Iraq was "a mistake," and he blasted a "massive failure" of
intelligence before the war.
The unexpected four-page statement came from Rep. Doug Bereuter of Nebraska,
who until earlier this month was the vice chairman of the House Intelligence
Committee -- a panel that reviewed much of the evidence the administration
cited before going to war.
"I've reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate
intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things
being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action,
especially without a broad and engaged international coalition," Bereuter
wrote in a four-page letter to his constituents.
"The cost in casualties is already large and growing, and the immediate and
long-term financial costs are incredible."
Bereuter was particularly critical of the pre-war intelligence, which
described an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But no such
weapons have been found since the U.S.-led invasion.
Bereuter voted in support of an October 2002 resolution authorizing the use
of force in Iraq, but he said that vote was based on what he had been told
about the WMD threat from Iraq.
"Left unresolved for now is whether intelligence was intentionally
misconstrued to justify military action," Bereuter said.
After 26 years on Capitol Hill, Bereuter is retiring next month, and will
become the president of Asia Foundation.
Congressional Republicans were surprised and angry at Bereuter's comments.
Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Illinois, a member of the intelligence committee,
described Bereuter as "very bitter" for having been passed over in recent
years to head both the intelligence and international relations committees.
He suggested Bereuter's comments were a parting shot to House GOP leaders
and President Bush.
An aide denied Bereuter was motivated to write the letter because he didn't
get the appointments.
Rep. James Gibbons, R-Nevada, who is also on the intelligence panel, said
Bereuter's new conclusions are wrong.
"The facts don't change. Iraq was a dangerous place," Gibbons said. "Mr.
Bereuter is entitled to his opinion."
Bush officials tired to downplay the congressman's statement.
"He is not an opinion maker or someone who has taken a leadership role. I
don't think you can take this as a sign his comments are a barometer of
other Republican thinking," one Bush political aide said.
Bereuter's critique of the administration on Iraq was sharp.
He said the administration was wrong to disband the Iraqi army -- because so
many of its members joined forces with the insurgents -- and was wrong to
rely on the Defense Department instead of the State Department to spearhead
reconstruction and the interim government.
He also said the administration was wrong to ignore military leaders who
warned many more troops would be needed in Iraq to maintain the postwar
peace.
"Now we are immersed in a dangerous, costly mess and there is no easy and
quick way to end our responsibilities in Iraq without creating bigger future
problems in the region and, in general, in the Muslim world," Bereuter said.
Bereuter said it was important for both the executive and legislative
branches of government to learn from the "errors and failures" relating to
the war in Iraq and its aftermath.
Some Democrats see Beureter's comments as a political plus in part because
he argued the president should have gone to war in Iraq with a broader
international coalition, as Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential
nominee, has said.
But Bush aides pointed out a key difference between the two that could
benefit the president politically: Kerry, answering a direct challenge from
Bush, said recently he does not regret voting to authorize war.
Bush officials said they are in constant contact with congressional
Republicans. They said they want to to keep them engaged in the president's
campaign, and behind his argument that even knowing what he knows now, war
in Iraq was the right thing to do.
CNN's Dana Bash contributed to this report.
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