Senate Dems to hold oversight hearings on pre-war intelligence...

[marmar]

SENATE DEMOCRATIC POLICY COMMITTEE WILL CONDUCT OVERSIGHT HEARING ON IRAQ PRE-WAR INTELLIGENCE
Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2006-06-22 23:43. Congress
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced on Wednesday that the Senate Democratic Policy Committee will conduct a special oversight hearing on pre-war intelligence relating to Iraq on Monday, June 26. The hearing will take place at 1:30 PM in Room 192 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Former high-ranking State Department and CIA officials who were involved in coordinating pre-war intelligence during the Bush Administration are among those who will testify at the hearing. Other witnesses include a former senior weapons inspector, the journalist who first reported the existence of the “Downing Street Memos,” and a leading expert on weapons issues who has compared the intelligence that existed prior to the invasion with public statements made by Administration officials. The hearing will be the first time the witnesses have testified before Congress about pre-war intelligence.

“If we're going to get things right when it comes to Iran, North Korea, and other national security threats, we need to learn what went wrong in the case of Iraq,” Dorgan said. “Clearly we need good intelligence, but that's not the end of the discussion. The American people also need to know that their elected leaders are using intelligence in good faith and making sound judgments.”

Details follow:

WHO: Senators: U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman; U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), U.S. Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN), and others.

Witnesses: Lawrence Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, 2001-2005; Paul Pillar, CIA official responsible for coordinating intelligence on Iraq, 2000-2005; Carl Ford, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, 2001-2003; Wayne White, State Department principal Iraq analyst, 2003-2005; Rod Barton, Senior Advisor to the Iraq Survey Group, 2003-2004; Michael Smith, reporter for the Sunday Times of London, and the first to report the existence of the so-called “Downing Street Memo”; and Joseph Cirincione, co-author of WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications.

WHAT: Senate Democratic Policy Committee oversight hearing on pre-war intelligence relating to Iraq

WHEN: 1:30 PM, Monday, June 26, 2006

WHERE: Room 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC

WHY: To conduct oversight on pre-war intelligence relating to Iraq and its use by U.S. officials.

[Thickasabrick]

1. Awesome! I wonder if C-Span will cover it?

[Senator]

16. They Will if We Flood Them with Demands -- Let's get busy n/t

[flpoljunkie]

19. Email C-Span at [e-mail] and urge them to cover this hearing.

[e-mail]

[JudyM]

22. Thanks for the link -- I just emailed C-Span.

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. I can see the headline now...."Cut and Run Dems to hold meaningless

hearing."

[marmar]

3. LOL...

Probably.

[spartan61]

4. Will they have to hold the hearing in a basement room? eom

[jwirr]

5. Sen. Dayton? What does he care? He voted against ending the

way today.

[Rose Siding]

6. Oh, my. I thought it said Powell would be there

Had a little heart attack. Rockefeller had better be there. He's the one who went bust against Roberts.

[marmar]

7. Not Powell himself, I think...but Wilkerson, his No. 2 guy....

:hi:

[Rose Siding]

8. Got it. Thanks

I almost fainted :hi:

[Hippo_Tron]

13. Wilkerson was great on CNN's "Dead Wrong"

He said that Powell's WMD speech to the UN was the lowest point of his life.

[Hippo_Tron]

14. Dupe n/t

n/t

[AtomicKitten]

9. In the basement again? Will C-SPAN cover it?

[marmar]

11. There's probably a good chance it will be back in the basement...

And C-SPAN's Monday sked is not set on the website. I would imagine they'll at least record it to show later.

[Doctor_J]

10. When will the basement be available?

[orleans]

12. lower basement, no windows, no chairs, no pictures on wall

bring your own flashlight, camping lantern, cassette tape recorder


(let's hope not!)

[Hippo_Tron]

15. I think that they can get a decent hearing room in the senate

Conyers can't get one because the House is run like a dictatorship by the majority leadership. In the Senate the minority party has some negotiating power and generally they have some good relations with people on the other side. That said, they don't have subpoena power and can't make people testify under oath so the people who testify are there willingly. It will be good to hear this testimony, but it won't be nearly as effective as if we could force Condi, Rumsfeld, Perle, Wolfowitz, Cheney, etc. to testify under oath.

[RedTail Wolf]

17. Good idea, but with no power , what good is it?

[babylonsister]

18. The Dems need to keep bringing the war up, as often as possible.

While they're at it, they have to keep hitting the points regarding how much of a failure Il Dunce has been. Dems need to say it loud, say it often.

[Rose Siding]

21. It's always good when they do their job

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

[Senator]

20. keek