Kerry didn't read Iraq intelligence report before voting for war

[Dionysos]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._kerry_iraq_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic candidate John Kerry (news - web sites), whose campaign demanded to know on Wednesday whether President Bush (news - web sites) read a key Iraq (news - web sites) intelligence assessment, did not read the document himself before voting to give Bush the authority to go to war, aides acknowledged.

"Along with other senators, he was briefed on the contents of the NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) by (then-CIA (news - web sites) Director) George Tenet and other administration intelligence officials," said Kerry spokesman Phil Singer.

Kerry's campaign has challenged Bush to say whether he read the complete intelligence report before deciding to go to war, or whether he just read a one-page summary, which Democrats say gave him none of the dissenting views included in the full version.

The Kerry campaign stepped up the attack on Wednesday, sending out an e-mail with the headline, "Did anyone in the White House read the full National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq?"

In a conference call organized by the campaign, Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat Richard Durbin said Bush should have read the 90-page report issued in October 2002.

Asked if Kerry read it, Durbin responded, "I don't know."

Singer said the issue was not whether Kerry read the intelligence assessment himself, but why the White House had refused to release the one-page presidential summary.

"The bigger question is why ... the president -- the commander-in-chief, who decided when and how to take us to war -- won't share this document with the Congress," Singer said.

The National Intelligence Estimate concluded Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons but noted dissent from the State Department's intelligence service and other agencies.

The Bush campaign has accused Kerry of "flip-flopping" on the war.

The Massachusetts senator, who voted for the congressional resolution authorizing Bush to use force in Iraq, has since charged the president rushed to war without adequate international help or a plan to win the peace.

At campaign stops in Minnesota and Wisconsin, Bush attacked Kerry for expressing pride in having voted against an $87 billion funding bill for Iraq.

"This is yet another example of John Kerry's desperate attempts to hide the fact that he has a political problem because he voted for the war in Iraq, voted against support for our troops, and then claimed to be proud of it," said Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel.

Durbin criticized the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate. He said it was prepared in just three weeks instead of the customary six months.

"It was done in a hurry so that the vote would take place in October before the invasion of Iraq. And now we know that there were many aspects of that National Intelligence Estimate which were inaccurate," Durbin said.

[Satchel]

I just don't see how someone could make a blunder like that. Really stupid of him if true.

[MysteryMeat]

Agreed that its a bit of a hypocritical situation, but given the gravity of the times (at the time), I see a big difference between a President proposing war and a Senate being briefed on said proposed war. The president should have had much more room to concentrate on the proposition than many senators, who are dealing with a great deal of prospective legislation. Senators get the Cliff Notes version.

Originally posted by Satchel
I just don't see how someone could make a blunder like that. Really stupid of him if true.

I believe his defense to that ommission has been that the reports were unreliable anyway. However, that came to light after the fact.

[Adam D]

well, he's an idiot.

Opps.

[Ash]

DUMBY

[Ryan]

Dumb: Not reading the intelligence report and voting for the war anyway.

Dumber: Admitting it.


Call in the spinsters to make this little tidbit disappear.

/still begrudgingly voting for Kerry/Edwards

[DJ Cubano]

don't get me wrong i don't like the guy, but at least he admits the shit instead of lying his ass off to the whole country.

[johnny861]

Originally posted by DJ Cubano
at least he admits the shit

You got a point there, that is a nice quality...

[question]

Honesty and admitting your mistakes is a dumb thing? I mean, I understand that it's not a smart political move, but Kerry owning up to his fuckups seems rather admirable to me. It's a quality I look for in people, overall.

Originally posted by Ryan
Dumb: Not reading the intelligence report and voting for the war anyway.

Dumber: Admitting it.


Call in the spinsters to make this little tidbit disappear.

/still begrudgingly voting for Kerry/Edwards

Originally posted by DJ Cubano
don't get me wrong i don't like the guy, but at least he admits the shit instead of lying his ass off to the whole country.

You missed the entire point of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report then. GW didn't lie nor did the committee find evidence of influence from the administration. If you think the report is BS then you have to believe that the 8 dems on the committee (including Edwards) were sleeping when they released the report. Or, perhaps the more likely explanation - that the report is accurate - makes more sense.

[MysteryMeat]

Originally posted by xiannaix
You missed the entire point of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report then. GW didn't lie nor did the committee find evidence of influence from the administration. If you think the report is BS then you have to believe that the 8 dems on the committee (including Edwards) were sleeping when they released the report. Or, perhaps the more likely explanation - that the report is accurate - makes more sense.

Again, my response goes to how the Senate is run: it isn't abnormal for Senators to receive summarized versions of proposed bills, actions, and legislation; few senators actually read these things themselves, many have exploratory staff if necessary. I credit Kerry with following back up on this after the initial panic wave, and admitting he voted wrong based on the summary he received.

The president, however, who should have been the one certainly most knowledgeable about the proposition is to me still inexcusable.

[DJ Cubano]

werd

[Element4040]

The president, however, who should have been the one certainly most knowledgeable about the proposition is to me still inexcusable.

In the documentary the Fog of War, LBJ is talking to McNamara on the phone about Vietnam.

He Says, Bob (McNamara) I want you to provide with me a report about Vietnam containing short sentences and 4 letter words. Most people would hear that remark and think, was this man stupid. When in actuality what he is saying is cut out all the technicalities and BS in the report and tell me what is really going on over there.

Most reports are summarized to the officials because they are just so damn wordy and you don't need to read all 1,000 pages to get to the meat of it.

I'm not making excuses for Bush, just pointing out something I saw and thought would shed a little light.