Democrats issue demands for Iraq intelligence probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats on Monday demanded that
the Senate interview key government officials and exercise
subpoena power while examining how the Bush administration used
prewar Iraq intelligence in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.

As a bipartisan task force prepared for a week-long series
of meetings on the intelligence question, Senate Minority
Leader Harry Reid said the administration should be prepared to
turn over important documents to the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence.

“Now that the Republicans have agreed to conduct an
investigation, the next step is making sure the right questions
are answered,” said the Nevada Democrat.

But Republicans accuse their Democratic adversaries of
using the Iraq war for political gain by suggesting that
President George W. Bush and other administration officials may
have misused intelligence to make their case for war.

“The Democrat leaders’ latest accusation that the
administration has manipulated intelligence and exaggerated the
threat is nothing more than an effort to use the war in Iraq
for political gain, and that is shameful,” Republican Sen. John
Cornyn of Texas said in a floor speech.

The Senate intelligence committee completed the first phase
of its review of Iraq intelligence in July 2004 when it issued
a scathing report about the quality of information that claimed
Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons
have ever been found.

At the time, lawmakers promised a second phase to examine
other issues including whether Bush administration officials
misused intelligence to make its case for war. But that segment
of the review has not been completed.

Last week, Democrats accused Republicans of stalling
tactics and imposed a rare closed session to force the majority
to complete the review.

The Senate set up a bipartisan task force of six senators
to look into the second phase of the investigation in meetings
that begin on Tuesday. The panel must report on the progress of
the investigation by November 14.

Republicans say the second phase of the investigation was
already proceeding before last week’s political confrontation.
But Democrats accuse their Republican colleagues of trying to
prevent a full investigation of the issues, saying that as
recently as two weeks ago, an intelligence committee agenda for
the remainder of 2005 showed no meetings on the probe.

Task force members including Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas,
the intelligence panel’s Republican chairman, will to try to
find common ground between the parties on how the remaining
probe should be conducted.