Well, finally! About time the Senate Democrats find their collective cojones and call the neo/cons out on their shameful manipulation and distortion of intelligence data to support their prior agenda of staging a power/oil grab in the Mideast. In leading America into an illegal war with lies and deceptions, Bush and the neo/cons have committed treason and crimes against the American people and all humanity. They've been trying to cover up and divert attention, and it is long past time that a bright light was shone on their evil lies that have brought so much death and destruction.

Democrats Force Senate Into Iraq Meeting

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
16 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051101/...co/senate_iraq

WASHINGTON - Democrats forced the Republican-controlled Senate into an unusual closed session Tuesday, questioning intelligence that President Bush used in the run-up to the war in Iraq and accusing Republicans of ignoring the issue.

"They have repeatedly chosen to protect the Republican administration rather than get to the bottom of what happened and why," Democratic leader Harry Reid said.

Taken by surprise, Republicans derided the move as a political stunt.

"The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership," said Majority Leader Bill Frist. "They have no convictions, they have no principles, they have no ideas," the Republican leader sputtered.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Reid demanded the Senate go into closed session. The public was ordered out of the chamber, the lights were dimmed, and the doors were closed. No vote is required in such circumstances.

Reid's move shone a spotlight on the continuing controversy over intelligence that President Bush cited in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Despite prewar claims, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, and some Democrats have accused the administration of manipulating the information that was in their possession.

Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was indicted last Friday in an investigation that touched on the war, the leak of the identity of a CIA official married to a critic of the administration's Iraq policy.

"The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really all about, how this administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions," Reid said before invoking Senate rules that led to the closed session.

Libby resigned from his White House post after being indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury.

Democrats contend that the unmasking of Valerie Plame was retribution for her husband, Joseph Wilson, publicly challenging the Bush administration's contention that Iraq was seeking to purchase uranium from Africa. That claim was part of the White House's justification for going to war.

Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record), R-Miss., said Reid was making "some sort of stink about Scooter Libby and the CIA leak."

A former majority leader, Lott said a closed session was appropriate for such overarching matters as impeachment and chemical weapons — the two topics that last sent the senators into such sessions.

In addition, Lott said, Reid's move violated the Senate's tradition of courtesy and consent. But there was nothing in Senate rules enabling Republicans to thwart Reid's effort.

As Reid spoke, Frist met in the back of the chamber with a half-dozen senior GOP senators, including Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas, who bore the brunt of Reid's criticism. Reid said Roberts reneged on a promise to fully investigate whether the administration exaggerated and manipulated intelligence leading up to the war.

Inside the Senate, Democrats sought assurances that Roberts would hold hearings into prewar intelligence. The Senate had been considering a budget bill when it went into closed session.

Copyright © 2005 Yahoo! Inc.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

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"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it. " --Noam Chomsky

You going to listen to it or just blab about it?

Reid himself just said that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans NOR THE ADMINISTRATION knew Iraq had no WMD when they ALL decided to go to war.

IOW Reid just shot you in the ass..guess now he's a liar.



In reality land everyone knows this is just pure political opportunism.

Then will the Senate also investigate Hillbilly, when he ordered missile attacks on Iraq on the basis Iraq had "chemical, biological and nuclear weapons?" Will the Senate investigate the NY Times and Washington Post for reporting the same, in 1998? Will they investigate the UN for passing 12 Resolutions supporting the notion that Iraq had WMD's? Will they investigate Algore and Lurch for claiming Iraq had WMD's?

If what the left says ("Bush lied") is accurate, then to be consistent, they must also say Hillbilly lied, Lurch lied, the UN lied, the NY Times and Washington Post lied and Algore lied.

So, which one is it?

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"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill

Buck stops where?

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

LOL. The world sure must look different when you only watch FauxNews. LOL. You're like that guy in the TV commercial who gets everything wrong. "We don't get French benefits???" I guess in Bushzarro world, where everything is reversed, "reality land" equals what normal people call 'totally delusional' or 'in denial so deep you need scuba gear'.

You are sort of right about one thing, though, duhl. Before Bush invaded, probably no one outside of Iraq knew, absolutely for a fact, that Saddam had no WMDs and that he had, in fact, complied with the UN resolutions and had dismantled all of the weapons and manufacturing plants back in 1993. Of course, the UN inspectors said they were within a few months of confirming that there were no WMDs when Bush rushed us to war with the claim that the intelligence data was so convincing that Saddam did have lots of WMDs and the danger was so imminent that nothing but an immediate invasion would do. The point that is under discussion in the Senate now is about Bush and the neo/cons in Congress colluding in an attempt to stifle the appropriate Congressional investigation into the basis for the Administration claims, what some would call deliberate lies, that misled the country and Congress into an illegal and unjustified war of aggression. Let's see if the American people think this issue is "just pure political opportunism" or if that's just the spin that FauxNews is trying to put on it. Oh wait, we already have a pretty good indication on that one. It seems 53% of Americans now believe that "the Bush administration deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction". 54% think that "the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq". In the last two years the percentage who think we were deliberately misled has risen steadily from 31% to 53% and the number will continue to rise as more and more people wake up.

Government Misled Public Before Iraq War, Say Americans

(Angus Reid Global Scan)
November 1, 2005
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/inde...em/itemID/9669
(excerpt)

More adults in the United States believe their government was not forthcoming in its rationale to launch military action against Iraq, according to a poll by Gallup released by CNN and USA Today. 53 per cent of respondents believe the Bush administration deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, up six points in a year.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 2,023 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 15,300 troops have been injured.

Pre-war speeches by U.S. president George W. Bush mentioned specific chemical agents, such as mustard gas, sarin and VX nerve gas as banned substances allegedly secured by Iraq. State secretary Colin Powell assured the United Nations (UN) Security Council in February 2003 that Hussein possessed biological weapons.

The final report of the Iraq Survey Group—presented to the U.S. Congress on Sept. 30, 2004—concluded that Hussein’s regime did not possess chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, and had not implemented a significant program for their development.

Polling Data

Do you think the Bush administration deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, or not?


--------------------------------Oct. 2005------------Jul. 2005-----------Oct. 2004

Yes, deliberately misled--------53%------------------51%-----------------47%

No, did not-----------------------45%------------------47%-----------------48%

Unsure-----------------------------2%-------------------2%------------------2%

Source: Gallup / CNN / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 800 American adults, conducted from Oct. 28 to Oct. 30, 2005. Margin of error is 4 per cent.

©2003 - 2005. Angus Reid Consultants.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm

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"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it. " --Noam Chomsky

Finally, the Dems are learning from the Republicans on how to "fight back"..



Washington DC just got a tad more exciting!!

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"Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet."

What happened to that "We won" attitude?

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I've been informed....don't blame Bush, he's "not in control"
That must make him out of control

May I take that to mean Hillbilly lied?

PS

We won again.

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"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill

I don't think this about Bush lying about Iraq having WMD. As has been said many times, no one knew for sure if they did or not. This is about Bush ignoring all evidence that didn't support Iraq having WMD and deceiving us into thinking that Saddam posed some danger to our national security. Why couldn't he wait two more months for the UN conclusions? Probably because he knew they wouldn't support his case. I don't think he lied about WMD, he just ignored the evidence. He did, however, lie about the danger Iraq posed to US security. What? Was Saddam about to send his navy all the way to the US to blast us with his WMD? Yeah right! That would be suicide, and Saddam knew it. Was Saddam going to sell his WMD to al-qaeda? Maybe, but what would they do with them? Cross the Atlantic in their rowboats and blast away? Or maybe come through customs with giant nuclear missiles strapped to their backs and try to pass them off as carry-on luggage? Bush deliberately falsified the danger posed by Iraq in order to scare everyone into supporting this war.

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WARNING: In the unlikely event of an accidental agreement with any or all points made in the above post, contact a clinical psychologist immediately.

The views expressed in the above post are not necessarily those of Joker and/or any of his affiliates.

"You have found the secret message. Do you have too much time on your hands? ...Let it go."

I see you got your talking points from faux news. Everybody thought there was WMD, including Bill Clinton. There's just one problem with that, George Bush & Co. were the only ones bent on taking us to war over it. You are in extreme denial Barney. Too bad. Do you still believe that there's WMD in Iraq? Some on the right believe so. Some even believe it was moved to Syria, like that makes any sense.

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I've been informed....don't blame Bush, he's "not in control"
That must make him out of control