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09-29-2003, 10:46 AM
Lawmakers eye Iraq costs, intel
Rice, Powell reject claims of vague WMD intelligence
Sept. 28 -- Leaders of the House intelligence committee have raised new questions about the intelligence the White House used to justify the war in Iraq. NBC’s Rosiland Jordan reports.
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 — With the Senate on Monday taking up President Bush’s request for $87 billion to cover Iraq and related costs, lawmakers were expected to ask questions both about the numbers as well as whether U.S. intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was even reliable.The Bush administration on Sunday disputed assertions by leaders of the House intelligence committee that the United States went to war in Iraq on the basis of outdated and vague intelligence.
“THERE WAS enrichment of the intelligence from 1998 over the period leading up to the war,” National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And nothing pointed to a reversal of Saddam Hussein’s very active efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.”
“... It was very clear that this continued and it was a gathering danger,” she said. “Yes, I think I would call it new information and it was certainly enriching the case in the same direction.”
She was responding to concerns of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, a Florida Republican, and Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, in a letter to CIA Director George Tenet dated Thursday.
“The assessment that Iraq continued to pursue chemical and biological weapons remained constant and static over the past 10 years,” the letter said.
There was “insufficient specific information” about the former Iraqi president’s plans and intentions, the status of Iraq’s WMD programs and capabilities, and Iraq’s links to al-Qaida, the lawmakers said.
The letter, which did not reflect the full committee’s opinion, cited weakness in intelligence from spies on the ground and said the government needed to develop better sources.
The letter cited “significant deficiencies” in gathering intelligence after 1998, adding that agencies relied on “past assessments” and “some new ‘piecemeal’ intelligence” that went largely unchallenged.
CIA REJECTS CHARGES
CIA spokesman Bill Harlow denied the allegations. “The notion that our community does not challenge standing judgments is absurd,” he said Saturday in a statement.
Six months after the war began, and three months after the administration sent a CIA team led by former U.N. chief inspector David Kay to search, neither U.S. troops nor Kay’s inspectors have reported finding weapons of mass destruction.
Secretary of State Colin Powell also defended U.S. intelligence, citing Saddam’s use of poison gas against Kurdish civilians — 5,000 died — to put down unrest in 1988.
“Now, if you want to believe that he suddenly gave up that weapon and had no further interest in those sorts of weapons, whether it be chemical, biological, or nuclear, then I think you’re — it’s a bit naive to believe that,” Powell said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
He said from 1998 until early this year, U.N. inspectors were unavailable in Iraq to draw on “and our intelligence community had to do the best they could. And I think they did a pretty good job.”
DEFENDING PRICE TAG
Both Powell and Rice also defended the president’s $87 billion request for costs in Iraq as well as Afghanistan.
The administration’s early estimate of the cost was about $60 billion, and a former Bush adviser was chastised for mentioning figures as high as $200 billion. The requested $87 billion would be in addition to $59 billion already spent.
“We did not have perfect foresight into what we were going to find in Iraq,” Rice told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“The fact of the matter is ... this deteriorated infrastructure, one that was completely covered over by the gleaming pictures of Baghdad that made it look like a first-world city,” Rice said. “The key here is that you could — cannot — put a price tag on security.”
Powell, for his part, urged Congress to approve the Iraqi money, but acknowledged that the $20 billion or so for reconstruction rather than military operations could be a hard sell.
And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, in an e-mail to members of the GOP rank and file, wrote: “I ask that you devote your full energies to making the strong case for passing this legislation without delay.”
The Tennessee Republican said, “The eyes of the world are upon us. Friend and foe alike, and especially terrorists, must understand that in the face of adversity, we will finish the job.”
EDWARDS WANTS ANSWERS
Sept. 28 — British Prime Minister Tony Blair has admitted that he has been battered by recent events. But he once again stood firm in his belief that the war in Iraq was justified. NBC’s Charles Sabine reports.
Republican leaders oppose any effort to separate out the $20 billion from the main bill, calculating that few Democrats will want to oppose the entire request when so much of the money is designed to support American troops overseas.
Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. and a presidential contender, said he wanted more answers from the White House before he would support the reconstruction money.
“We can’t give the president a blank check under these circumstances,” he told Fox. “I think until we get our friends and allies to the table, until we have them participating and helping us share the costs, so the American taxpayer is not paying for this by themselves, that it is very difficult to calculate."
Nachalos podtasovka , chto li ?
Rice, Powell reject claims of vague WMD intelligence
Sept. 28 -- Leaders of the House intelligence committee have raised new questions about the intelligence the White House used to justify the war in Iraq. NBC’s Rosiland Jordan reports.
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 — With the Senate on Monday taking up President Bush’s request for $87 billion to cover Iraq and related costs, lawmakers were expected to ask questions both about the numbers as well as whether U.S. intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was even reliable.The Bush administration on Sunday disputed assertions by leaders of the House intelligence committee that the United States went to war in Iraq on the basis of outdated and vague intelligence.
“THERE WAS enrichment of the intelligence from 1998 over the period leading up to the war,” National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And nothing pointed to a reversal of Saddam Hussein’s very active efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.”
“... It was very clear that this continued and it was a gathering danger,” she said. “Yes, I think I would call it new information and it was certainly enriching the case in the same direction.”
She was responding to concerns of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, a Florida Republican, and Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, in a letter to CIA Director George Tenet dated Thursday.
“The assessment that Iraq continued to pursue chemical and biological weapons remained constant and static over the past 10 years,” the letter said.
There was “insufficient specific information” about the former Iraqi president’s plans and intentions, the status of Iraq’s WMD programs and capabilities, and Iraq’s links to al-Qaida, the lawmakers said.
The letter, which did not reflect the full committee’s opinion, cited weakness in intelligence from spies on the ground and said the government needed to develop better sources.
The letter cited “significant deficiencies” in gathering intelligence after 1998, adding that agencies relied on “past assessments” and “some new ‘piecemeal’ intelligence” that went largely unchallenged.
CIA REJECTS CHARGES
CIA spokesman Bill Harlow denied the allegations. “The notion that our community does not challenge standing judgments is absurd,” he said Saturday in a statement.
Six months after the war began, and three months after the administration sent a CIA team led by former U.N. chief inspector David Kay to search, neither U.S. troops nor Kay’s inspectors have reported finding weapons of mass destruction.
Secretary of State Colin Powell also defended U.S. intelligence, citing Saddam’s use of poison gas against Kurdish civilians — 5,000 died — to put down unrest in 1988.
“Now, if you want to believe that he suddenly gave up that weapon and had no further interest in those sorts of weapons, whether it be chemical, biological, or nuclear, then I think you’re — it’s a bit naive to believe that,” Powell said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
He said from 1998 until early this year, U.N. inspectors were unavailable in Iraq to draw on “and our intelligence community had to do the best they could. And I think they did a pretty good job.”
DEFENDING PRICE TAG
Both Powell and Rice also defended the president’s $87 billion request for costs in Iraq as well as Afghanistan.
The administration’s early estimate of the cost was about $60 billion, and a former Bush adviser was chastised for mentioning figures as high as $200 billion. The requested $87 billion would be in addition to $59 billion already spent.
“We did not have perfect foresight into what we were going to find in Iraq,” Rice told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“The fact of the matter is ... this deteriorated infrastructure, one that was completely covered over by the gleaming pictures of Baghdad that made it look like a first-world city,” Rice said. “The key here is that you could — cannot — put a price tag on security.”
Powell, for his part, urged Congress to approve the Iraqi money, but acknowledged that the $20 billion or so for reconstruction rather than military operations could be a hard sell.
And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, in an e-mail to members of the GOP rank and file, wrote: “I ask that you devote your full energies to making the strong case for passing this legislation without delay.”
The Tennessee Republican said, “The eyes of the world are upon us. Friend and foe alike, and especially terrorists, must understand that in the face of adversity, we will finish the job.”
EDWARDS WANTS ANSWERS
Sept. 28 — British Prime Minister Tony Blair has admitted that he has been battered by recent events. But he once again stood firm in his belief that the war in Iraq was justified. NBC’s Charles Sabine reports.
Republican leaders oppose any effort to separate out the $20 billion from the main bill, calculating that few Democrats will want to oppose the entire request when so much of the money is designed to support American troops overseas.
Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. and a presidential contender, said he wanted more answers from the White House before he would support the reconstruction money.
“We can’t give the president a blank check under these circumstances,” he told Fox. “I think until we get our friends and allies to the table, until we have them participating and helping us share the costs, so the American taxpayer is not paying for this by themselves, that it is very difficult to calculate."
Nachalos podtasovka , chto li ?