The Failures of the "Conservative Movement" (9)

Bush and Cheney should be held accountable, but I don't know how. You've already seen this, I hope. A bipartisan majority (10-5) of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the final two sections of its Phase II report on Iraq pre-war intelligence. According to a news release from Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Committee's investigation disclosed that:

* Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa’ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa’ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence.

* Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information.

* Statements by President Bush and Vice President Cheney regarding the postwar situation in Iraq, in terms of the political, security, and economic, did not reflect the concerns and uncertainties expressed in the intelligence products.

* Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community’s uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing.

* The Secretary of Defense’s statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information.

* The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed.

This war has cost more than 4,000 loyal American soldiers and sailors their lives. The total bill for the war is expected to reach $3 trillion, money Bush said we couldn't afford to make sure we have full Social Security for the next 75 years. But think of the lives. Think of the maimed. Think of all you've seen about soldiers returning with PTSD. Now read that summary again.

These people should be held accountable. These are not white lies. This is betrayal.

Update: Dan Froomkin has more on the report here.