|
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), a leading critic of the war in Iraq, today released the following statement after House Republicans overwhelmingly voted down an effort by Democrats to conduct a closed House session so that members of Congress could review the full findings of a controversial National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). According to recent news reports, the NIE in question, which was issued in April, states that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism against the United States.
"Today's successful efforts by House Republicans to deny Congress the ability to review the entire controversial NIE report in a closed, non-public session is further proof that they don't want the truth about the war in Iraq to come out because they know the truth is that the war has been an absolute tragedy and disaster with severe consequences. According to recent news reports, the NIE makes it clear what many of us in Congress have been saying for a long time: instead of combating terrorism, the war in Iraq has had the exact opposite effect and made the threat to the United States even greater.
"President Bush keeps talking about how Iraq is at the forefront of the 'war on terrorism.' The president is correct that the threat from terrorists in Iraq is a major problem. What President Bush fails to mention, however, is that he created the threat by invading Iraq. Al Qaeda was not in Iraq before the president ordered an invasion of that country. Now, as the NIE states, we are paying a dear price for the president's decision.
"President Bush claims that news stories about the NIE are inaccurate and that the war in Iraq has helped fight terrorism. The president said today that he is declassifying portions of the NIE, but that does the American people no good. By releasing just select sections of the NIE, the president is allowing the American public to see the parts of the NIE that support his position, not the ones that contradict it.
"To address concerns about declassifying the entire NIE, House Democrats offered a motion that would have let all members of Congress review the document in a private, secure session. That way, all of us in Congress could see the report in its entirety. That way we'd know the full story. This reasonable measure was shot down by Republicans, who undoubtedly were following the White House's lead. The facts clearly show that the war in Iraq has hurt our efforts to fight terrorism, which is why the White House and Republicans in Congress don't want the facts to get out. This is just a continuing effort by the president and his friends to provide the American people with false information to continue the increasingly disastrous occupation of Iraq."
|
|
