02/03/2004: 
Fraud & Conspiracy
Democrats Urge Independent Intelligence Inquiry
from FAS Project on Govt Secrecy
Democratic congressional leaders said this week that a new independent commission on intelligence and the Iraq war should not be unilaterally appointed by President Bush.
"While we support the need for an independent commission, this commission should not be one whose members are appointed by and report to the White House," they wrote in a February 2 letter to the President.
"One of the major questions that needs to be addressed is whether senior Administration officials, including members of the Cabinet and senior White House officials, misled the Congress and the public about the nature of the threat from Iraq. Even some of your own statements and those of Vice President Cheney need independent scrutiny. A commission appointed and controlled by the White House will not have the independence or credibility necessary to investigate these issues."
Sounds logical to me. There was an independent inquiry to investigate whether or not Bill Clinton had sweetheart land-deals that ended up getting him impeached for something other than sweetheart land deals. Why not an *independent* inquiry to investigate whether we were bold faced lied to about Iraqi WMD? If there is nothing to hide, an independent inquiry will not hurt the administration.
