The 2002 NIE
19 June 2007 8:14 am by Taylor Marsh
Trust. That’s what they counted on. The senators were depending on that they
could trust the president. They got detailed briefings, but few read the classified
NIE, which included caveats. It says a lot about Mr. Bush and his administration
that there was once great trust in the president, believing he would never mislead
them into a war. It’s a sobering reality that the trust was misplaced. It’s even more mind boggling that the senators didn’t take the time to read a report that contained information on why we were going to war. “Trust but verify” may not be everyone’s favorite phrase, because it comes from him, but it would have been a good rule back in ‘02.
Who read it before they voted us into war? Few.
Only a handful of senators outside the Intelligence Committee say they read
the full 92-page National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq’s ability to
attack the U.S. before voting to go to war, according to a survey conducted
by The Hill.(snip)
Despite not reading the assessment, many senators defended their preparation
to examine the administration’s ultimately debunked portrayal of Iraqi weapons
capability.“A lot of people on both sides of the aisle are getting whacked around
with this,” said former Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.), who voted for authorizing
war but did not read the full report. “You have to understand that the
briefings are so thorough that it’s common for members not to read entire
reports.” … ..… “It’s probably pretty hard to say with 100 percent certainty
how many read it,” the senior staffer said. “You can say with
100 percent certainty that it’s less than 10.”
