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           URGE OPEN INVESTIGATION INTO IRAQ INTELLIGENCE

URGE AN OPEN INVESTIGATION INTO IRAQ INTELLIGENCE:  On July 9, Secretary
of Defense Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee
that the Administration did not pursue war against Iraq because it had
any new evidence of banned weapons or weapons programs, but rather
because it viewed existing and even dated intelligence differently after
September 11, 2001.  Secretary Rumsfeld's testimony marks the latest
change in a series of revisions of the Bush Administration's case for
invasion and occupation of Iraq.  Ten weeks of post-combat searches by
the U.S. and UK have revealed no evidence of proscribed weapons in Iraq,
and several intelligence claims specifically cited by the Administration
to justify war have been discredited. 

Concern over the quality and representation of U.S. intelligence claims
is growing among members of Congress. Many members are calling for a
more open process of investigation than has been provided through
closed-door hearings by the intelligence committees.  Legislative
initiatives urging the creation of special committees of investigation
or independent commissions are now being introduced.  However, some key
leaders in Congress still claim further investigation is not needed and
appear ready to disregard mounting public concern.

ACTION: Write or call your members of Congress.  Urge them to support
legislation for an open, public process of investigation into the
Administration's use of intelligence in the lead up to the war on Iraq.
The Administration must be held accountable to Congress and the U.S.
public.  The credibility and reliability of our government's statements
and the future of U.S. foreign policy would be served by a thorough,
open review of the justifications used by the Administration for its
"preemptive" war on Iraq.

WRITING TO YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IS EASY:  Start with the sample
letter posted in our Legislative Action Center, personalize the
language, then email or fax your message directly from our site.  You
can also print it out and mail it.  To view the sample letter, click on
the link below, then enter your zip code and click <Go> in the <Take
Action Now> box.  Here is the link:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=2801421&type=CO 

BACKGROUND:  Ten weeks after President Bush declared major combat in
Iraq over, U.S. troops face daily attacks and growing Iraqi public
resentment that basic services have not been restored and no clear plan
has been described for reconstituting a legitimate Iraqi government and
rebuilding the country.  Meanwhile, despite wide searches, no evidence
of proscribed weapons has been found.  During the July 9 committee
hearing with Secretary Rumsfeld, senators on the Armed Services
Committee raised serious concerns about the current situation in Iraq,
as well as the Administration's use of intelligence to make its case for
a so-called "preemptive" invasion.

Secretary Rumsfeld did not have answers for many of their questions, but
eventually told the committee that current military operations in Iraq
cost $3.9 billion per month, a figure which is nearly double previous
estimates and which does not include reconstruction costs or
humanitarian assistance.  On the issue of intelligence, Rumsfeld
asserted, "The coalition did not act in Iraq because we had discovered
dramatic new evidence of Iraq's pursuit [of weapons of mass
destruction]. . . .We acted because we saw the evidence in a dramatic
new light - through the prism of our experience on 9-11."  In response
to Rumsfeld's testimony, Rep. Tauscher (CA) noted, "It is deeply
troubling that Congress would be asked to vote on something as serious
as sending American troops into harm's way and then be told after the
fact, 'there's nothing new.'"

In the months leading up to military invasion of Iraq, the
Administration made strong claims, based on what they said was "solid"
classified intelligence, that Iraq was clearly in possession of weapons
of mass destruction and was continuing to develop its nuclear weapons
program. The President said before the General Assembly of the United
Nations last September that "right now, Iraq is expanding and improving
facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons. . .
. Iraq has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum tubes
used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon."  In his State of the Union
Address in January of 2003, President Bush stated, "The British
government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant
quantities of uranium from Africa."  In the early days of the war,
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said that "[w]e have seen intelligence
over many months that [the Iraqis] have chemical and biological weapons,
and that they have dispersed them and that they're weaponized and that,
in one case at least, the command and control arrangements have been
established" (3/24/03, Face the Nation).

Further investigation has shown these and other such claims were based
on ambiguous or, in the case of the alleged uranium trade with Niger,
fabricated information.  On July 9, a retired State Department official
who left his post of director of the strategic, proliferation and
military affairs office in the bureau of intelligence and research told
the press, "I believe the Bush administration did not provide an
accurate picture to the American people of the military threat posed by
Iraq. . . . Some of the fault lies with the performance of the
intelligence community, but most of it lies with the way senior
officials misused the information they were provided."

As these revelations continue, public concern over the quality of U.S.
intelligence, and the integrity with which it was reported to the
public, is mounting. According to a recent poll by the Program on
International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), a majority of Americans believe
that the U.S. government was stretching the truth (52%) or presenting
evidence they knew was false (10%) in its arguments for going to war
with Iraq. Sixty-three percent believe that Congress should investigate
the intelligence agencies' performance in providing intelligence on
whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (PIPA poll,
http://www.pipa.org/). In the face of this level of public skepticism, a
full reckoning on questions of U.S. intelligence and its use by
officials is needed.

Some have asked FCNL why we are actively supporting a public
investigation into the Administration's use of intelligence.  What
constructive purpose could it serve?  In fact, intelligence is never
purely objective.  It has often been bent towards strategic or political
ends. However, if the Bush Administration knowingly manipulated or lied
about intelligence related to weapons and weapons programs in Iraq in
order to justify military invasion and occupation, this is a violation
of public trust of the greatest magnitude. The collection and use of
intelligence must be thoroughly investigated not only to hold the
Administration accountable and restore the integrity of government, but
also to ensure that the doctrine of preemptive war is exposed as
illegitimate and is never enacted again.

For further information, see Col. Dan Smith's "Ethics in Public Service:
Questions About Iraq, Intelligence, and Integrity" at
http://www.fcnl.org/issues/int/sup/iraq_smith_intelligence.htm.

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CONTACTING LEGISLATORS

Capitol Switchboard: 202 224 3121

Sen. ________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Rep. ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Information on your members is available on FCNL's web site:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq 

CONTACTING THE ADMINISTRATION

White House Comment Desk: 202-456-1111
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-MAIL: president@whitehouse.gov 
WEB PAGE: http://www.whitehouse.gov 

President George W. Bush
 
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
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"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected 
swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the
side." - Corsair