The Hindu : U.S. panel to probe weapons issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 04, 2004

International

International

U.S. panel to probe weapons issue

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 3. After initially hedging in the hope that the controversy will just fade away, the U.S. President, George W Bush, has called for a bipartisan probe into the intelligence surrounding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

And to getting to the bottom of "all the facts", Mr. Bush has said that the panel will also "look at our war against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction".

"I am putting together an independent bipartisan commission to analyse where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this war against terror. I want to know all the facts," Mr. Bush told reporters on Monday.

The members of the commission could be announced on Wednesday.

At least one media report has it that the panel will have Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Adviser to the former President, George H.W. Bush, and the former Senator, Warren Rudman, of New Hampshire as prominent members.

The Secretary of State, Colin Powell, told The Washington Post that he did not know whether he would have recommended the invasion of Iraq had he been told that there were no weapons stockpiles.

"I don't know because it was the stockpile that presented the final little piece that made it more of a real and present danger and threat to the region and to the world." He said the "absence of a stockpile changes the political calculus; it changes the answer you get".

Democrats who were leading the call for the panel fear that the probe may not end up truly independent as the White House is seeking to call the shots. Democrats also contend that the mere announcement of the panel is not going to get the White House "off the hook". And the Republicans are concerned that yet another enquiry is only going to distract key intelligence agencies like the CIA from primary tasks.

Some Republicans have not wasted time in pointing out that the panel will be one more in a series of investigations — there is one constituted by the House and Senate Intelligence Committees which is due to present its report; and separate internal reviews by the CIA and the Army.

The White House is giving the impression that it is determined to get to the root of the problems of intelligence, especially the structure and not merely being satisfied with what went wrong on the WMDs. No timetables are being talked about but it is generally believed that the panel will not be giving its final report until the beginning of 2005 or well after the Presidential elections on November 2.

The pressure on the Bush administration on Iraq intelligence assessments on banned weapons came about after the CIA's top weapons hunter, David Kay, put in his papers last month saying that he did not believe Iraq had any WMD stockpiles. Mr. Kay also argued that to some extent the lack of human intelligence inside Iraq and inadequate funding of the agencies were responsible for the faulty estimates.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News Update

Stories in this Section

Blair orders probe into intelligence

U.S. panel to probe weapons issue

Send inspectors to Iraq again, says Moscow

Criticial round for Democrats

Charges slapped on n-scientists

Ricin found in Senator's room

French debate `secularism' law

Convicted Juppe may quit posts

Ranil offers fresh proposals

$300 million for Pakistan in U.S. budget