The Pointless Commission issues its report

SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER: There is simply no question that mistakes leading up to the war in Iraq rank among the most devastating losses and intelligence failures in the history of the nation. The fact is that the administration, at all levels -- and to some extent us -- used bad information to bolster its case for war. And we in Congress would not have authorized that war -- we would not have authorized that war with 75 votes if we knew what we know now.

Which is what the blogosphere knew then. There's no excuse for Congress not knowing.

ROCKEFELLER: That's not to say that there aren't areas of disagreement; there are, especially on the question of whether the administration pressured the intelligence community to reach predetermined, in my judgment, conclusions.

And I have to say, that there is a real frustration over what is not in this report, and I don't think was mentioned in Chairman Roberts' statement, and that is about the -- after the analysts and the intelligence community viewed an intelligence product, how is it then shaped or used or misused by the policy-makers?

...So again there's genuine frustration -- and Chairman Roberts and I have discussed this many times -- that virtually everything that has to do with the administration has been relegated to phase two. My hope is that we will get this done as soon as possible.

But not before November, eh? And if BushCo stay in the White House....well, Senator, stay out of small airplanes.

Now check this out:

ROCKEFELLER: The central issue of how intelligence on Iraq was, in this senator's opinion, exaggerated by the Bush administration officials was relegated to that second phase, as yet unbegun, of the committee investigation, along with other issues.

We've done a little bit of work on the number three guy in the Defense Department, Douglas Feith, part of his alleged efforts to run intelligence past the intelligence community altogether, his relationship with the INC and Chalabi, who was very much in favor with the administration wanting them to come on in. And was he running a private intelligence failure, which is not lawful.

Is Feith going to be the fallguy? Because if he is, then he may get to be the fallguy for the Valerie Plame outing as well. Why not? Limit the fallout to one guy.

QUESTION: Given the 800 American G.I.s who have lost their lives so far, thousands have had serious injuries, lost limbs, all on the basis of false claims, as much as the American taxpayers have had to kick in almost $200 billion, doesn't the American public and the relatives of people who lost their lives have a right to know before the next election whether this administration handled intelligence matters adequately and made statements that were justified -- before the election, not after the election?

SENATOR PAT ROBERTS: Well, as Senator Rockefeller has alluded to, this is in phase two of our efforts. We simply couldn't get that done with the work product that we put out. And he has pointed out that that has a top priority. It is one of my top priorities. It's his top priority, along with the reform effort.

Good question. Nice deflection.

ROBERTS: Now, we have 20 legislative days. We want to have hearings from wise men and women in regards to the reform effort, and we will proceed with staff on phase two of the report. It involves probably three things -- or at least three.

One is the prewar intelligence on Iraq, which is what you're talking about.

Secondly is the situation with the assistant secretary of defense, Douglas Feith, and his activity in regards to material that he provided with a so-called intelligence planning cell to the Department of Defense and to the CIA.

And then the [last] one -- what is the last one? What's the third one? Help me with it.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Well, that's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

There is a third one, and I don't know why I can't come up with it right now. But, anyway, it is a priority.

Excuse me? I guess I have a hard time remembering my priorities sometimes, too. Okay, then.

ROCKEFELLER: Can I make a comment? I find it interesting that we have -- neither Chairman Roberts nor myself, except through the use of the word "Al Qaeda," have said anything about the war on terrorism for approximately one hour here. And that was always and remains, was, is and will be our threat.

Yes, I think it's terrific that Saddam was taken down, brought out of a hole. Has it changed things in Iraq for the better? I'm not sure it's made any difference. I'm not sure the jury is in on that but I don't, so far, see any huge difference.

Dammit, Jay. You've obviously not been listening to the Little King. What jury? We have a freaking king. We don't need a jury. And he has told you over and over and over, and is still telling you, every time he makes an appearance, that, not just Iraq, but the whole world is better off with Saddam Hussein in a cell.

ROBERTS: Now, the debate over many aspects of the U.S. liberation of Iraq will likely continue for decades. But one fact is now clear: Before the war, the U.S. intelligence community told the president, as well as the Congress and the public, that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and if left unchecked, would probably have a nuclear weapon during this decade.

Well, today we know these assessments were wrong. And, as our inquiry will show, they were also unreasonable and largely unsupported by the available intelligence.

...The committee has looked behind the intelligence community's assessments to evaluate not only the quantity and quality of the intelligence upon which it has based those assessments, but also whether or not those assessments themselves were reasonable.

The report contains a detailed and a meticulous recitation of the intelligence reporting and the evolution of the analyses.

It would appear that Senator Roberts is saying the intelligence community lied to the pResident and Congress. So now, I guess we wait for part 2, as Kennedy suggested, to hear that the pResident wanted to be lied to.

But, not to fear, the Committee didn't hang the "intelligence community" out to dry alone....

ROBERTS: While we did not specifically address it in our report, it is clear that this group-think also extended to our allies and to the United Nations and several other nations as well, all of whom did believe the Saddam Hussein had active WMD programs. This was a global intelligence failure.

Nothing to do with US bribes and threats, I'm sure. Just a whole bunch of people all over the globe unable to correctly gather and interpret intelligence.

One of the suggestions of the Committee is that we should have a "red team" whose job it is to question everything the intelligence analysts come up with. This could get really wild.

Read the transcript. They rip the CIA, and George Tenet just left. Yesterday, wasn't it?

ROBERTS: Assessments were built or were based on previous judgments without carrying forward the uncertainty of those judgments. This is what we have termed the intelligence assumption train.

Sort of like the press and the American public, when it comes to what the White House tells us?

Just turn off your engines and crack open a good book. This train is gonna be a long one.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.