DUers, Senator Levin says "You Need to Stand With Us Today"

[Rose Siding]

If you want to know how the Bush Administration exaggerated and distorted intelligence before the war in Iraq, then you need to stand with Senate Democrats today and demand the truth.

http://www.dscc.org/demandthetruth

As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I have studied the statements and arguments made by the Bush Administration prior to going to war. Too many of those statements and arguments were exaggerated or were not supported by the assessments of the Intelligence Community at the time they were made.

For example, during their drive to war, representatives of the White House repeatedly claimed that Iraq provided Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, al Qaeda, with chemical and biological weapons training. But Bush Administration officials knew at the time that claim was based on information from an informant that the Defense Department's own intelligence agency had concluded was probably intentionally misleading us.

Bush Administration officials also said before the war that there was a confirmed report that the lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi intelligence officer met in Prague before the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our country. Vice President Cheney, for example, said that this meeting "was pretty well confirmed," but our own Central Intelligence Agency doubted the meeting ever occurred.

What other Administration statements and arguments for war exaggerated or distorted the intelligence? That's what Senate Democrats want to find out. Please stand with us on behalf of the American people as we demand the truth.

http://www.dscc.org/demandthetruth

If you have a specific question that you'd like to see the White House answer, let us know so Senate Democrats can insist on answers to questions of the American people. We are pressing the Republicans who control the Senate to fulfill their constitutional oversight duty and carry out an investigation of whether intelligence was distorted by the Bush Administration officials in their determination to lead us to war.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid asked me to serve on the bipartisan panel negotiating the terms of this investigation and I assure you we won't settle for anything less than full accountability.

So I hope you will stand with Senate Democrats and demand the truth.

Sincerely,

Carl Levin

P.S. Our leaders must be held accountable to ALL Americans. Please forward this message to your friends and family and ask them to stand with us Senate Democrats and demand the truth about how we were lead to war in Iraq.

[mazzarro]

1. Great!

I am very glad that Democrats are standing firm on this issue. I hope that they will continue to do so on this and other issues as we will do our part in galvanizing support for them.

[Rose Siding]

2. Here's what I asked:

The CIA concluded that if Saddam had WMD, he was only likely to use them if he were invaded. Why didn't that analysis carry as much weight as the rest?

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Done. Submitted the question of when, before or after taking the

oath of office, did he (W) give into to PNAC.

[Rose Siding]

5. Oooo, good! They should get in to that

There are lots of reports about bush lusting for Iraq early on. :thumbsup:

[Just Me]

4. I stand united!!! Strike while the iron is HOT!!!

I submitted my questions!!!

Now, let's go get those lyin' sons of a bitches!!!

[Junkdrawer]

6. Yep. Call their bluff. You say we're rewriting history? Let's examine..

the history...

The Downing Street Memos...

The Niger Yellowcake claims...

Screwball...

The White House Iraq Group...

The Office of Special Plans...

All of it.

[Justice Is Comin]

7. We've already got similar questions

for submission on the research forum for Dick Durbin. Perhaps someone could forward that to him.

[Rose Siding]

8. Yes! Here's a link to that. Any question from there could be selected

There are 18 good ones, so far.

There are good questions here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=358&topic_id=387

[Just Me]

9. This is exactly how democracy is supposed to work:

allow "the people" to submit questions and play an active role in their governance.

:patriot:

Compare to BusCo/neoconsters who conceal their every plan and motivation from the American people; who lie and betray and exploit the American people; who bolt the doors of democracy on the American people!!!

[UrbScotty]

10. He does a great job for Michigan and all of America. (nt)

[EstimatedProphet]

11. Done

[Vidar]

12. Proud to claim Levin and Conyers from my state.

[bostonbabs]

13. done ...love Levin..he voted no on the war n/t

[countryjake]

14. Here's my question:

Who exactly produced the unclassified White Paper that was presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee on October 4, 2002, after they had requested a declassified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs and WHY did it contradict the original NIE?

Differences Between the Classified NIE and the Unclassified White Paper (pdf file)
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB129/part10-whitepaper.pdf

[happydreams]

15. My question:

Question: Mr. President you have claimed that the Congress recieved all of he intelligence that your adminstration recieved on Iraq's weapons capabilities leading up to the war. If so why don't you allow the Congress to see ALL of the records the Whitehouse has on this issue? Since they are, as you claimed equal.

[creeksneakers2]

16. I asked about Powell

Larry Wilkerson says that mountains of faulty intelligence were presented to Colin Powell for use in his speech to the UN. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reported that the State Department's intelligence unit found 36 objections to that same intelligence.

Colin Powell knew our prewar intelligence was deeply flawed, and that Cheney was leading the president toward a decision for war based on innaccurate information.

I want to know what Powell told the president about the intelligence problems. Did Powell stand silently by knowing the president was deceived? Was Powell willing to stay silent knowing that at least some of the information the nation was receiving wasn't verified? If Powell did tell the president, shouldn't Bush admit that he knew before the war that much of the intelligence he was receiving from Cheney was faulty? Why didn't Bush ask for a review of the intelligence, and look further into the State Department objections, and demand to know how faulty information was getting into the intelligence mix?

[Roland99]

17. Since Iraq was born of 9/11...here's my question >>>>

Why did John Ashcroft and the Dept. of Justice retroactively classify documents and put a gag order on Sibel Edmonds so that she cannot discuss the problems with the translations of alleged terrorists?

[Roland99]

18. Heck, I had to ask a second question!!! >>>>

Why were Ahmad Chalabi and the INC brought back into the U.S. intelligence community (to the tune of $40 million) after the CIA had found, back in 1996, that Chalabi and the INC were not credible and were filled with hucksters and liars?

[texpatriot2004]

19. Thank you Sen. Levin I want to know. I will stand with you. nm

[Hubert Flottz]

20. I asked...

Now that the truth is known, do you feel any remorse about the killing that has taken place, because of your ineptitude?

Why should we believe you about Iran, or any other country, being a threat, now that we know that you probably still depend upon your "faulty intelligence?"

You want to hold the school children of America "Accountable" for their performance of their duties in school, so why then do you believe yourself above the same standards of accountability regarding the past performance of your duties?

Are you somehow better than the most innocent Americans,(the school children)if so explain how?

[texpatriot2004]

21. My message

Thank you Sen. Levin, Sen. Reid, Sen. Durbin, and to any and all US Senators who are seeking the truth about US intelligence regarding the war in Iraq. I cannot thank you all enough. The American people do deserve to know the truth. We deserve more than repetitive campaign type rhetoric, endless "spin" and PR statements from the Bush Administration. I DEMAND THE TRUTH NOW.

I have one problem, my US Senators and my Congressman all tow the GOP Party line. They are loyal to their political party to death, not their own deaths mind you, but to the death of innocent people and to the death of this country. They fail to provide the oversight that is warranted now; thus they fail to uphold the oath that they took and they definitely fail me (and many of my fellow Americans). Here in Texas, my Senators and my Congressman STOPPED REPRESENTING ME AND MY INTERESTS LONG AGO, CHOOSING INSTEAD TO REPRESENT BIG BUSINESS, CORPORATE WELFARE AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS. I write them to no avail but I write them nonetheless. It is futile. I get only form letter responses that spew their party rhetoric and do not address my concerns. Pardon me, I digress, however, I want you to be aware of the fact that I have no representation from these Federal Officials.

That being said, it is vitally important to me to get the truth regarding the war, and the lead up to the war. The way that I see it, Bush, Cheney and their Administration wanted to go to war and they made a case for it to Congress and to the people of the United States, even to people around the world, like England for instance. They repeatedly (and to this day) claim that what happened here on Sept. 11, 2001 was connected to Iraq...IT WAS NOT! This Administration paid attention and gave credence to only information which made their case for war. I believe that they deliberately misled the US Congress, Americans and others. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. If it is true, and I believe that it is, IT IS AN IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE. For the Congress to fail to investigate, and I mean an intense, thorough investigation not some partisan whitewash is a travesty. THESE ARE NOT PARTISAN ISSUES. THESE ISSUES AFFECT US ALL AND THEY HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR US ALL.

Why do Bush, Cheney and this Administration continue to lie to us? Why do GOP loyalists in the Senate and the House put Bush, Cheney and their Administration before the interests of America and Americans? Why does the "cover-up Congress" fail to investigate these serious matters? Why do they (the Bush Administration and their followers) talk of "supporting the troops" but fail to give them a plan for success? "Staying the course" IS THE WRONG THING TO DO. IT IS PAST TIME FOR REAL SUPPORT OF THE US TROOPS.

I think that the Bush Administration wants war without end. I think they want war and they don't care about the troops (their actions regarding the troops make this quite clear). This attitude, this approach that the Bush Administration has is deadly.

I demand that the truth and I want it now, not a year from now, not when it's convenient, NOW!

[Catrina]

22. Before the war

1) Several Administration officials said that the war would take 'months, weeks maybe'. Whose assessment was that and on what was it based? Did they have strategy then, and if so, did it fail?

2) When asked about the cost of the war, the Administration claimed that 'Iraq's oil resources would pay for reconstruction'! How much reconstruction has been paid for by Iraq's oil resources and what happened to the missing $9 billion dollars of Iraqi money?

3) Larry Lindsey was fired after he contradicted the administration's claim that the war would cost 'about $40 billion dollars'. Lindsey said it would cost at least $200 billion. Why has the administration not been held accountable for that lie? Again whose assessment was that, and has that person been fired?

4) What role did the Office of Special Plans (OSP) and the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) play in providing false information to support the Bush administration's claims about 'terror connections' and 'WMD' and did the CIA see the information supplied by them before it was disseminated to the public as fact (which we now know most of it was not) by Bush and his administration?

5) Is it Constitutional to allow an administration to set up what amounts to a secret government populated by unelected 'officials' without oversight from Congress?

Btw, since the Bush administration is quoting Democrats about Saddam and WMDs before the war, I think that Democrats need to compile a list of Administration officials' statements before the war and ask them to explain why nothing they predicted has happened!!

The ones pertaining to the length and cost of the war would be good to start out with.

[SomewhereOutThere424]

23. I'd ask this, but I'm not brave enough ;)

so I'll just post it instead.

My question would be: "Why was it never shown that war games had taken place during september of the eleventh, 2001?".

Of course it has no true relation to the iraq part of it, but I think that it's something that has been feverishly deflected and needs to come to light.