Report: Bush Misled U.S. On Iraq Intel

Another Senate Report Concludes Pentagon Concealed Iran Information From Intelligence Agencies

(CBS/ AP)  Two reports issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday leveled harsh criticism at both the White House and Pentagon for their handling of intelligence concerning Iraq and Iran.

One report examined statements by top Bush administration officials between October 2002 and March 2003, when the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq began, about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's regime. These officials, from President Bush on down, deliberately misled the American public about Saddam's relationship with al Qaeda and "led the nation to war on false premises," according to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

According to the report, officials erroneously linked Saddam to the Sept. 11 attacks and al Qaeda; claimed Iraq would give terrorist groups chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, and said Iraq was developing drones to spread chemical or biological agents over the United States.

None was borne out by intelligence.

"These reports are about holding the government accountable and making sure these mistakes never happen again," Rockefeller said Thursday.

Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino, said the problem was flawed intelligence heading into the war. "We had the intelligence that we had, fully vetted, but it was wrong. And we certainly regret that," she said.

According to Rockefeller, the problem was that the Bush administration concealed information that would have undermined the case for war. "We might have avoided this catastrophe," he said.

However, the report found that intelligence substantiated most of the administration's statements about Iraq before the war. But officials often did not mention the level of dissension or uncertainty in the intelligence agencies about the information.

Two Republicans, Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine, endorsed the report.

The committee's five other Republicans, however, assailed it as a partisan exercise. They accused Democrats of covering for their own members, including Rockefeller and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who made similar statements about Iraq based on the same intelligence the Bush administration used.

A report released earlier Thursday concluded that Pentagon officials concealed from U.S. intelligence agencies potentially useful tips from Iranian agents in 2001 and 2002, including one that Tehran allegedly sent hit teams to Afghanistan to kill Americans.

The Iranians also told two Pentagon employees at a December 2001 meeting in Rome of a purported tunnel complex used to store weapons and covertly move personnel out of Iran after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S., according to the Senate Intelligence Committee. In addition, the Iranians told of a long-standing relationship with the Palestine Liberation Organization and the growth of anti-government sentiment inside Iran.

The information was questionable, the report suggests, citing the sources: a discredited former arms dealer who was peddling a plan to overthrow the Iranian government and a former U.S. official whose leads had failed to yield any substance for the CIA.

Nonetheless, the report sheds new light on the mistrust and lack of cooperation by Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld with the CIA and the State Department after 9/11.

Committee Republicans, in a dissent, said the report had nothing to do with the original scope of the review prewar intelligence on Iraq. They said it would be a "disappointment" to people looking for evidence of Pentagon wrongdoing.

The Iran-related report focuses on the series of meetings in Rome held over three days in December 2001. The U.S. was fighting in Afghanistan and working on initial planning for the Iraq war.

Then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley authorized the meetings. Two Pentagon employees, one of whom worked for then-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith, went to Rome to meet with two Iranians - one a current member of the security service, the second a former member. Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian middleman already dismissed by the CIA as untrustworthy, also attended, as did a representative from an unspecified foreign government's intelligence service. Michael Ledeen, a former Pentagon official and an analyst with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, arranged the meeting and attended.

In one meeting, Ghorbanifar pressed for a change of government in Iran and, on a napkin, outlined a plan to do that, saying he would need $5 million to set it in motion, according to the report.

The report said Hadley failed to fully inform then-CIA Director George Tenet and then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage about the meeting. But Hadley and the Pentagon were within their rights to conduct the meeting, the report said.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Hadley notified all parties concerned appropriately.

But the report said Defense Department officials refused to allow "potentially useful and actionable intelligence" to be shared with intelligence agencies, even in the Defense Intelligence Agency. Then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz briefed the head of the DIA on the Iranian intelligence but would not let him discuss it, the report said.

Ledeen said Thursday that the meetings were not kept secret from U.S. intelligence, and said he had briefed the U.S. ambassador to Italy twice about them.

"Any time the CIA wanted to find out what was going on all they had to do was ask," he said.

One of the two Pentagon representatives, Larry Franklin, now faces jail time after pleading guilty to espionage-related charges unrelated to the Rome meeting. Franklin told the committee he believed the intelligence gathered at the meetings "saved American lives." He passed word of the alleged hit teams to a special operations forces commander in Afghanistan.

[jerr11]

Nice word - "Misled"

In other words, George W Bush lied to the nation.

935 lies.

4090 Dead Americans because of those lies.

As Reverend Harry Powell said, "A liar is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord!"

George W Bush is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord.

George W Bush - Son of Satan.

Damned for all time!

[enlightenu]

Of course this is released now, while Bush is still president, so that the consequences are minimal. Because if the truth was brought forth under President Obama, it could get a bit "harsh". They just through the election with this , but it doesn''t matter because it''s a lost cause anyhow.

[wardoglrs]

No Sh*t Sherlock!!!!. So now that we have this out in the open what does our MEDIA have to say for its self.. Whats really,, I mean REALLY going on here?.
The media has lied as well. But when your a Goverment made media built to brain wash the public from birth to death. Denying the public trust is sad indeed. Now that you cant be trusted we will take it from here. The public should never be crossed from anybody in power they will suffer there jobs and pensions and future,,, We will not be betrayed.

[junogoose]

No Sh*t Sherlock!!!!. So now that we have this out in the open what does our MEDIA have to say for its self.. Whats really,, I mean REALLY going on here?.
Posted by WarDogLRS
-----

MEDIA: ''but..but.. we didn''t want to be un-American!''

[timdgrim]

Oh, here''s something new! Bush lied! Just about every statement that comes out of his mouth, that is not a stutter or an UUUHHH, is a lie. He''ll get off scott free just like most do. Great Justice system.....

[ricknuber]

No surprises here, except the odd lack of neocon troll activity...

[inventagod2]

Are we there yet?

Impeachment would be too kind...

[inventagod2]

''deliberately misled the American public

led the nation to war on false premises

erroneously linked Saddam to the Sept. 11 attacks and al Qaeda

concealed information that would have undermined the case for war

Pentagon officials concealed from U.S. intelligence agencies

Defense Department officials refused to allow "potentially useful and actionable intelligence" to be shared with intelligence agencies''

We Libs tried to tell you...
Hello?
Hello?
NeoCons?

[haoli25]

Was this study funded by the Dept. of No *** Sherlock?

Another exhibit for the War Crimes Trial.

[feelfree4u]

Re: "These reports are about holding the government accountable..."

Hardly, this is just more whitewash.

How about a report on Zionist traitor Doug Feith, and the "Office of Special Plans"?

CBS???

Do you really want to risk joining these guys at the Hague?


Re: "...and making sure these mistakes never happen again," Rockefeller said Thursday."

Sure, sure...but who will be hanged for this?

Mr. Rockefeller was an excellent choice to head up the whitewash effort?

[jimfinster]

Where is the impeachment?

You can get impeached for lying about a ********, but not for starting a war that has killed thousands and cost billions!?! What kinda friggin crazy world is this?

[rudy654-2009]

The media wanted back door privileges to the White House, so when the time came to do the investigation, they preferred the canned version of events and played right along with the game, because they feared being locked out by the President.

[incog-nito]

The U.S. has a real problem in its hands with Iraq, not unlike Vietnam. There is no real good way for the U.S. to extricate itself from the situation without being perceived as "losing".

The U.S. learned the wrong lesson from Vietnam. One would think that from that experience, one would think very carefully before going in, and plan for every possible contigency, including an exit strategy. As it turned out, none of that was done. Instead, the (wrong) lesson that was learned is to avoid humiliation, stay and try to "win" at all cost, even when there is nothing to be "won" and no longer a reason to stay there.

Only when the public outcry becomes too great that the U.S. will begin pulling out, victory or not. Of course some people will then find reason to blame the "pacifists", and again the wrong lesson will be learned.

[shingles1]

Is it just me or is the Iran-related report a confusing mess. On one hand there was "potentially useful information" that was ignored - yet this "potentially useful information" was provided by several serial fabricators with agendas.

I like how CBS/AP don''t mention what Larry Franklin''s espionage related crime was:

Passing along classified US documents regarding Iran to AIPAC, who in turn passed it along to the Israeli government.

[deacon20081]

Why has this story not appeared on CBS?
ABC is running this story;

Indicted Saudi Gets $80 Million US Contract
The Financier Has Been Indicted For His Alleged Role in a Scandal Costing US Taxpayers $1.7 billion
The Saudi businessman was also named in a 2002 French parliamentary report as having links to informal money transfer networks called hawala, known to be used by traders and terrorists, including Al Qaeda.
Interestingly, Pharaon was also an investor in President George W. Bush''s first business venture, Arbusto Energy.
A spokesman for the FBI said Pharaon was not wanted in connection with the French report, but confirmed he was still sought by the US Justice Department....

Imagine that!

[feelfree4u]

Re: "They said it would be a "disappointment" to people looking for evidence of Pentagon wrongdoing."

Add that one to the Republican lie pile.

Related: "...and an internal Pentagon report released last year eviscerated former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld''s Office of Special Plans, which was set up in the Pentagon to provide administration officials with intelligence."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5008897&page=1

How about it CBS???

Doug Feith? "Office of Special Plans"???

Anything?

[deacon20081]

Posted by jimfinster

Where is the impeachment? You can get impeached for lying about a ********, but not for starting a war that has killed thousands and cost billions!?! What kinda friggin crazy world is this?
-------------------------------------------


Doesn''t it make you curious as to why Nancy Pelosi says Impeachment is off the table?

[feelfree4u]

Re: "According to Rockefeller, the problem was that the Bush administration concealed information that would have undermined the case for war. "We might have avoided this catastrophe," he said."

And the lies roll on.

We had weapons inspectors on the ground and satisfied that they could complete a thorough investigation, so the previous Bush regime lies are irrelevant, and the Democrats were cowed into complicity.

Hence this whitewash report from Mr. Rockefeller.

[sgtrds-e4]

Bush is a murderer. Worse then that he is a mass-murderer and he did it for money. He is a war criminal of the highest (or lowest) order. Cheney saw a profit to be made by invading Iraq and talked his meat puppet Bush into going for it because Daddy Doc Bush always loved Jeb best and this was a way to show the old man up. The blood and lives of our troops meant nothing to them. The blood and lives of thousands of Iraqis meant nothing to them. Money and ego are the only two things that started this war and the only two things that keep it going. Bush and Cheney both deserve to hang for their crimes against humanity.

[feelfree4u]

Re: "Michael Ledeen, a former Pentagon official and an analyst with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, arranged the meeting and attended."

"In one meeting, Ghorbanifar pressed for a change of government in Iran and, on a napkin, outlined a plan to do that, saying he would need $5 million to set it in motion, according to the report."

That sounds like a criminal conspiracy to wage a criminal war of aggression, another one, that is.

Michael Ledeen is thought to be the man behind the Niger "yellowcake" hoax.

It was a sloppy effort, but it worked like a charm for the stenographers of the Western press, such as CBS Newz.

In the ''70s, Michael Ledeen moved to Italy to study the history of the Italian Fascism.

He was apparently a very good student.

He has not yet been hanged from a lamppost, however.

The American Enterprise Institute is a fascistic terrorist organization, without a doubt.

[rudy654-2009]

Doesn''''t it make you curious as to why Nancy Pelosi says Impeachment is off the table?


Posted by deacon20081 at 01:05 AM

Is it your opinion that the whole congress turned anti-Bush????

[omded]

Come on America!!! Let''s not be so harsh on our Commander-in-Chief! Yes, he is a liar, and, yes, he did get a lot of people killed (many of them American Soldiers), and, yes, he is responsible for the maiming of countless others (many of them American Soldiers too), and, yes, he did waste an unimaginable amout of money, and, yes he did manage the war effort like it was a three ring circus, but...........we still have the Freedom Fries.....

[sgtrds-e4]

Hang them!

[sgtrds-e4]

Hang them!

[sgtrds-e4]

Hang them!

[sgtrds-e4]

Hang them!

[sgtrds-e4]

They are first degree murderers!

Hang them!

[rudy654-2009]

we still have the Freedom Fries.....

Posted by omded at 01:18 AM

Pommes frites!

[sgtrds-e4]

They are first degree murderers!

Hang them!

I''ll be proud to pull the trap!

[komoncents]

More concrete evidence of criminal activity by Bush and cronies and still no major unity of every Democrat in Washington calling publicly for the impeachement and subsequest trial for genocide of the entire Bush administration?

This must be the dog and pony show before the song and dance before the toe-tapping and dilly-dallying.

Our leaders are all criminals - Dems and Reps alike - one taking turn enabling the other. Wake up America -our system of government is up for sale to the highest bidder.

Our only hope lies in banning campaign contributions of any kind whatsoever and mandantory death penalties for those who violate the law!

In the mean time, we need real justice and apparently there are no integrous folk left in Washington. Is there no way to force our elected leaders to follow the law?

[feelfree4u]

Rope manufacturers are ramping up production as we speak.

This could be a real boost to the economy.

[ajaxtheleast]

"These reports are about holding the
government accountable and making sure
these mistakes never happen again."

Say what, Jay? . .Your concern is that
this never happens again? . .Really?
And holding them "accountable" will do that?

You mean a future Bush and company when
faced with making big bucks from starting
a war will say: . .No no remember back in
''08 when an American president "misled"
the country through a war and they
sentenced him to accountability?
We dont want that man!"

Ah, Jay, what about this
as a deterrent?:

"No no remember back in''08 when
an American president misled the
country through a war and they
HANGED his as$!?"

[feelfree4u]

Re: "Our leaders are all criminals - Dems and Reps alike - one taking turn enabling the other. Wake up America -our system of government is up for sale to the highest bidder."

Beyond any doubt.

[sgtrds-e4]

Arrest them. Put them on trial. If they are found guilty (and they certainly are) then HANG THEM! I mean Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, and ESP BUSH! Hang them all!

[noloyalisti]

Breaking news!!!!! We knew this from the time the war criminals Colin Powell and Condi Rice showed up on the TV lying to us. They were able to fool all the "good Germans" though. And they are still there doing whatever they want. Impeach and Imprison! And general strike to bring the troops home NOW.

[rudy654-2009]

I still remember when Limbaugh and other talk show hosts were preaching that gas prices would really come down once Iraq was invaded. Uh huh.

[sgtrds-e4]

Give them a fair trial and then sentence them to DEATH!

Hang them. Firing squad. Electric chair. Gas chamber. Beheading. Whatever it takes but finish them off for the good of mankind and for justice!

[taddles2]

Impeach Bush and Cheney and Condi then try them and Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz for war crimes and imprison them all.

[sgtrds-e4]

The only real difference between the war criminals of the Bush administration and the Nazi''s is that the Nazi''s were more competent and successful!

HANG THEM!

[ajaxtheleast]

JAY LOCKSTEPEFELLER . .

CANT QUITE VERBALIZE THE WORD "LIE".

[sgtrds-e4]

The Bush administration used our nation and our troops to invade another country to occupy it and to steal from it and the American taxpayers. In this war, thanks to them, WE are the bad guys. WE are the invaders. WE are the occupiers. WE are the thieves. WE are the murderers. WEW are the Nazis. WE are the Soviets. WE are the criminals.

[komoncents]

If CBS or any of the other major news media had any integrity they would start taking polls about how many want Bush and his co-sonspirators impeached and tried for war crimes - where are the polls CBS?

And we want front page analysis too !

[sgtrds-e4]

Bush and Cheney are disgusting war criminals and, after a fair trial of course, deserve to HANG!

[allamr18]

I hope barack gets the presidency because these two mofos need to be in Nuremburg 2. Jenna and laura are great women but they will have to see this dude behind bars.

[sgtrds-e4]

They lied and used our brave troops the same way a thief and murderer uses a gun. To steal and kill with. Our troops died for the profits of friends of this administration and for NOTHING ELSE! They used our brave troops as hit men for their own profits! They lied us into a war so they could make money! So they could STEAL OUR money!

Hang Them!

[apprxam]

What a minute!! Is CBS trying to tell me that Pr*ck Cheney and W. Bush lied about going to war?

I''m going to turn off this computer, have a drink and faint.

[komoncents]

Funny how the the blind followers of the Bush/Cheney/Saudia crime syndicate are not commenting on this story here in the comment section - I hope they''ve finally come to their senses - more likely they''ve stuck their heads in a hole till the smoke clears !

[sgtrds-e4]

Hey Bush! Hey Cheney! I, a free American, am calling you war criminals and murderers! I have no doubt that if you want to you can find out who I am and can come and get me. Well DO IT! Because it won''t change the truth that you two are mass-murderers who deserve to HANG!

[omded]

All the American Soldiers and Iraqi civilians ever meant to Bush and his administration was more meat to throw into the grinder. He served a plate of Bush Burgers up to the American people, and, just to make sure they''d eat it, he offered a side of Freedom Fries.

The menu at G.W.''s Family Diner:
1.) The God Bless America Plate (a 1/4 lb Bush Burger with a side of Freedom Fries)

2.) The Family Values Plate (a 1/2 lb Bush Burger and a double side of Freedom Fries)

Beverages:
1.) A fifth of I. Scooter Libby
2.) A half glass of Donald Rum

Hard Mixed Drinks:
1.) The Executive Priviledge (a fifth of I. Scooter Libby, a shot of Donald Rum, and equal amounts of Karl Rove, *** Cheney, and Paul Wolfowitz)

Tonight''s entertainment: Condoleza Rice singing her new hit single "We don''t want no mushroom clouds"

[jamurphy4]

You put an Idiot in charge, and you get what you pay for.. The Republicans did it twice.. over 4000 of our young people killed, because Lil. Gorgie num nuts, and his band of fools were turned loose on the World.. AND, know they want to continue with that same old line.. "Hold the course".. This time with McCain.. Bull!!!!!!!