Opposed to Senate Intelligence Committee Report, Republicans Didn't Want to Embarrass Democrats

It’s out at last. It only took two to three years to finish. The New York Times delivered the good news this way:

In a report long delayed by partisan squabbling, the Senate Intelligence Committee accused President Bush and Vice President Cheney of taking the country to war in Iraq by exaggerating evidence of links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda in the emotional aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks.

The committee’s report cited some instances in which public statements by senior administration officials were not supported by the intelligence available at the time, such as suggestions that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda were operating in a kind of partnership, that the Baghdad regime had provided the terrorist network with weapons training, and that one of the Sept. 11 hijackers had met an Iraqi intelligence operative in Prague in 2001.

But the report found that on several key issues, including Iraq’s alleged nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs, public statements from Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney and other top officials before the war were generally “substantiated” by the best estimates of the intelligence agencies, though the statements did not always reflect the agencies’ uncertainty about the evidence.

Republicans were more reluctant to identify the mistakes that were made, apologize, and avoid repeating them in the future. Their transparent attempt to create for Mr. Bush a positive historical image, an infallible presidency if you will, is an injustice to this countries legacy and a lie. So what was left for them to do? They pointed out statements, opinions, made by Democrats that were based on the misinformation disseminated by Bush and Cheney. Incredible hubris.

Republicans on the committee sharply dissented from some of its findings and attached a detailed minority report that listed pre-war statements by Mr. Rockefeller and other Democrats describing the threat posed by Iraq. “The report released today was a waste of committee time and resources that should have been spent overseeing the intelligence community,” said the minority report, (and) aimed at showing that some Democrats who have been eager to attack the
administration had themselves made bellicose comments about Saddam Hussein and the threat he posed.

From 2004’s first report, to June 2008, this report missed promised deadlines year after year. “Republicans insisted that they were not dragging their feet and asserted that the findings might well turn out to embarrass Congressional Democrats.”

Just to be clear, we’re expected to believe that the Republicans were worried about the Democrats being embarrassed? Are they kidding?

I didn’t think the Republicans had any credibility left to shred. I stand corrected.

I put this Richard Clarke response together from his recent Keith Olberman appearance.