Senate to Release Iraq WMD Intelligence Report

The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee plans to release soon its long-awaited review of Bush administration claims about Iraq’s WMD capabilities before the U.S.-led 2003 invasion, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Jan. 29, 2007).

“The whole purpose of this exercise is to answer questions about whether the administration was honest in its use of intelligence when it made the case for war,” said a Senate aide.  Iraq’s suspected possession of weapons of mass destruction was a major justification of the war, although no significant WMD stocks or programs were later found.

Often delayed by political disputes, the committee report is expected to criticize the administration for failing to acknowledge disagreements within the intelligence community regarding Iraq’s weapons capabilities, according to officials interviewed by the Times.  It would also, however, demonstrate that some erroneous assertions made by administration officials were indeed supported by the intelligence agencies.

“The left is not going to be happy.  The right is not going to be happy,” said one congressional official.  “Nobody is going to be happy” (Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times, March 10).

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