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THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
< http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1316866&l=16927 >
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BUSH SABOTAGES WMD COMMISSION BEFORE IT STARTS
Over the last two days, President Bush and the White House have claimed that
they are going to establish an "independent" commission to promptly
investigate the over-hyping of intelligence before the Iraq war. But as
details come out about the White House's proposal, it appears the commission
will be neither independent nor prompt.
Specifically, the president will appoint the entire commission himself,
breaking the previous tradition of allowing lawmakers from both parties to
appoint commission members. Although lawmakers have raised objections to the
commission's lack of independence, the White House is moving forward with
its plans.
Additionally, despite the fact that the commission's work will be critical
to national security, the president will only authorize a commission that
produces a report after the election -- so as to minimize any political
fallout for himself. This contrasts sharply to British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, who is putting national security ahead of politics. As the Los
Angeles Times reports, "in contrast to a bipartisan investigating committee
announced by Bush, the British panel is to announce its conclusions by July.
That would put any damaging disclosures for Blair's government well in
advance of parliamentary elections, expected in 2005." It also contrasts
with similar investigations in the United States. In 1983, after the
terrorist attacks on U.S. troops in Beirut, a commission was appointed and
finished its work within 3 months.
As one major newspaper editorial board summed up, "The president's goal is
to delay any objective findings about prewar intelligence until after the
election, leaving him free to decide what the administration knew and didn't
know and who is to blame." And the President's continued misleading on WMD
could come at a price. As Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said, a failure to
convince the public that Bush did not "exaggerate" the case for war "would
put the president in a very bad position. He said people would start asking,
"Do we trust his word? Do we trust him to lead this country?"
Visit Misleader.org for more about Bush Administration distortion. -->
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