Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=7-15-03

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=CONGRESS - IRAQ UPDATE

NUMBER=5-54087

BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE

DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

///EDS: Sub BKG 5-54086 w/more info in Sen. Kennedy's act and change the word "war" to "occupation" in 14th graph from Text.///

INTRO: Congressional Democrats are stepping up their attacks on the Bush administration for its handling of pre-war intelligence on Iraq's weapons program. It is a unifying issue for Democrats, who have been divided over the war in Iraq. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

TEXT: With opinion polls showing declining U-S public support for President Bush after he acknowledged citing faulty intelligence on Iraq's weapons program earlier this year, Democrats have lost no time in making the most of the controversy.

Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts led the charge Tuesday:

/// KENNEDY ACTUALITY ///

It is a disgrace that the case for war seems to have been based on shoddy intelligence, hyped intelligence, and even false intelligence. All the evidence points to the conclusion that they put a spin on the intelligence and a spin on the truth. They have undermined America's prestige and credibility in the world and undermined the trust that Americans should and must have in what their nation tells them. How many will doubt a future claim of danger even if it is real?

/// END ACT ///

At issue is a statement Mr. Bush made in his State of the Union address in January, in which he said Iraq had sought uranium from Africa. Although the president used the statement in part to make the case for war, he acknowledged last week that the claim was based on faulty intelligence. Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet has taken responsibility for the mistake.

But Democrats argue President Bush should be held accountable.

In what appeared to be coordinated strategy, another key lawmaker took to the Senate floor just hours before Senator Kennedy spoke to suggest that the administration deliberately manipulated intelligence to justify the war.

Senator Carl Levin is the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a key member of the Intelligence Committee:

/// LEVIN ACTUALITY ///

The president's statement that Iraq was attempting to acquire African uranium was not a 'mistake'. It was not inadvertant. It was not a slip. It was negotiated between the C.I.A and the N.S.C. (National Security Council). It was calculated. It was misleading.

/// END ACT ///

Democrats sense that Mr. Bush is vulnerable on the issue. Indeed, a new Newsweek magazine poll shows the President's approval rating for his handling of the Iraq situation declining to 53 percent from a high of 74 percent in April.

/// OPT /// Forty-five percent said the White House misanalyzed intelligence offered as proof that Iraq sought banned weapons. /// END OPT ///

Republicans are accusing Democrats of playing politics, and are defending Mr. Bush's decision to go to war. They say that even without the faulty intelligence on African uranium, there was an abundance of evidence showing that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that posed a threat to the United States and the world.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee:

/// FRIST ACTUALITY ///

What is important to the American people, what is important to the freedoms and democracy we enjoy here in this country is that we did the right thing, we did it with the right motivation, and on a very strong fact base, of which that (the uranium statement) is a tiny little sliver that happened to be used, but a tiny little sliver, upon which the overall aggregate of the information was powerful, was strong, and we all trust in that.

/// END ACT ///

Another issue on which Democrats believe the administration is vulnerable is the cost of the occupation both in terms of lives as well as dollars.

With one American soldier dying each day on average in attacks by loyalists to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Democrats are accusing MR. Bush of not being forthcoming about the risks to U-S troops in post-war Iraq. And with the costs of the open-ended U-S-led occupation estimated at about four billion dollars a month, they say the President has not leveled with American taxpayers about the financial costs of the mission.

/// REST OPT ///

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle criticized the administration for not appropriating any money for the U-S-led operation in post-war Iraq in the Department of Defense budget, now being debated in the full Senate.

/// DASCHLE ACTUALITY ///

How in the world can we be on the floor talking about something as consequential as this, not only to us but to the world, and not have a better appreciation of what the costs are, what the implications are, the fiscal consequences.

/// END ACT ///

Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, said he wanted Iraq-related costs to be dealt with in separate emergency bills in order to meet tight budget limits that the Republican-led Congress imposed. (signed)

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