Now we are moving to stage 2, where
investigation and questions are branded by the loyalists as “smear campaigns”
against the President. When we
were investigating sex or not
last time around, these same men were insisting it was a search for the truth
that the American public deserved.
Congress, eyeing summer recess, plans for further testimony and
investigations in September.
Bush’s annual month long vacation in August should be interesting this
year. And so it
continues:
Excerpts: Senator Says White House
Wanted Iraq Uranium Claim
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 17, 2003,
Filed at 8:31 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- CIA Director George Tenet told members of Congress a White House
official insisted that President Bush's State of the Union address include an
assertion about Saddam Hussein's nuclear intentions that had not been
verified, a Senate Intelligence Committee member said
Thursday.
Sen.
Dick Durbin, who was present for a 4 1/2-hour appearance by Tenet
behind
closed doors with Intelligence Committee members Wednesday,
said Tenet named the official. But the Illinois Democrat said that person's
identity could not be revealed because of the confidentiality of the
proceedings. ``He (Tenet)
certainly told us who the person was who was insistent on putting this
language in which the CIA knew to be incredible, this language about the
uranium shipment from Africa,'' Durbin said on ABC's ``Good Morning
America.''
``And
there was this negotiation between the White House and the CIA about
just
how far you could go and be close to the truth
and unfortunately those sixteen words were included in the most important
speech the president delivers in any given year,'' Durbin
added.
``The
more important question is who is it in the White House who was hellbent on
misleading the American people and why are they still there?,'' Durbin said
Thursday. ``Being a member of the
Intelligence Committee I can't disclose that but I trust that it will come
out,'' he said. ``But
it should come out from the president. The president should be outraged that
he was misled and that he then misled the American
people.''
Durbin
and other Democrats in the Senate had said earlier the question is not why
Tenet failed to remove the Africa information from the speech, but who
insisted on leaving it in. ``All roads still lead back to 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue,'' Durbin said.
2…
But
Democratic committee members said too much blame was being placed on
Tenet. ``In a sense, I feel a
little badly for George Tenet,'' said Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Ore.
Wyden
said the CIA was not pushing to have the uranium matter included in Bush's
speech, but that the White House was trying to justify its drive to oust
Saddam. ``I believe that there
was if not a battle royal between the CIA staff and the White House staff,
certainly some back and forth,'' he said. ``I believe that in this case, the
White House political staff was looking at every rock, every nook and cranny
to make their case and I believe the political staff prevailed.'' (end of
excerpts)
How will the President address this, if
indeed he is “outraged”? Will he
announce that “I am not a dummy” or “I was not misled”? Will there be more than one scapegoat?
And Tony Blair is due to arrive
shortly. How unfortunate for him;
he must be feeling like Job right now.
Bush could use a good distraction. Let’s see: another aircraft carrier
visit?
KWC
