Keeping the Pressure on Phase II

In Asterisks Dot White House's Iraq Argument the Washington Post tackles some of the half-truths that littered Bush's shabby Veteran's Day performance. As the White House well knows, the charge that they deliberately manipulated intel has never been investigated: But the only committee investigating the matter in Congress, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has not yet done its inquiry into whether officials mischaracterized intelligence by omitting caveats and dissenting opinions. And Judge Laurence H. Silberman, chairman of Bush's commission on weapons of mass destruction, said in releasing his report on March 31, 2005: "Our executive order did not direct us to deal with the use of intelligence by policymakers, and all of us were agreed that that was not part of our inquiry." Phase II of the investigation should look directly at the White House Iraq Group. This All-Star Liar's Club was tasked with spewing Bunyonesque bilge about Iraq at a time when publicly the administration was saying no decision had been made. They were enormously successful. All who were misinformed by them have a right to know why and how. Republican resistance to turning over the right rocks should be fought with the same vigorous spirit Harry Reid used to get them off them the dime with Phase II in the first place.