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Bush to Announce Independent Panel to Investigate U.S. Intelligence Before Iraq War
Aired February 02, 2004 - 08:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: What went wrong with prewar intelligence on Iraq? It looks now as if President Bush will soon give the green light to an investigation to find out.
Kathleen Koch has more this morning from the White House -- Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
That announcement could come as soon as today and it is a dramatic about face for an administration that just last week was insisting it did not want to prejudge the outcome of inspectors' search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The panel now seen by many as a tacit admission by President Bush that there were, indeed, serious flaws in prewar intelligence. Administration sources say that the president would name a nine member panel that would be bipartisan. It would look not only into Iraq, but the quality of intelligence gathering on weapons proliferation and what sources call "outlaw regimes that preside over closed societies."
The White House was forced to reverse its position after former chief U.S. weapon inspector David Kay's declaration that there were no stockpiles of weapons in Iraq; weapons of mass destruction, that is; and, also, after mounting pressure for an investigation by members of his own party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R-NB), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: There is no question an outside commission is going to be necessary to delve into this because we have big gaps. We've got problems within our intelligence community and I think an outside commission will help focus on those gaps. And what's most important is how do we fix them, what do we do about this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The investigation will go on as weapons inspectors in Iraq continue their search. A senior administration official says that Mr. Bush himself will name the panel's nine members. They will included law makers, intelligence experts. Its deadline going to be set at early to mid-2005. That timing apparently designed to prevent the probe's findings from becoming a campaign issue, though that is not likely to sit well with Democrats, some who are anxious to hold someone accountable for the decision to go to war in Iraq, many of them charging that the president deliberately misled the country about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, or its lack thereof -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the White House for us this morning.
Kathleen, thanks.
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Intelligence Before Iraq War>
Aired February 2, 2004 - 08:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: What went wrong with prewar intelligence on Iraq? It looks now as if President Bush will soon give the green light to an investigation to find out.
Kathleen Koch has more this morning from the White House -- Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
That announcement could come as soon as today and it is a dramatic about face for an administration that just last week was insisting it did not want to prejudge the outcome of inspectors' search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The panel now seen by many as a tacit admission by President Bush that there were, indeed, serious flaws in prewar intelligence. Administration sources say that the president would name a nine member panel that would be bipartisan. It would look not only into Iraq, but the quality of intelligence gathering on weapons proliferation and what sources call "outlaw regimes that preside over closed societies."
The White House was forced to reverse its position after former chief U.S. weapon inspector David Kay's declaration that there were no stockpiles of weapons in Iraq; weapons of mass destruction, that is; and, also, after mounting pressure for an investigation by members of his own party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R-NB), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: There is no question an outside commission is going to be necessary to delve into this because we have big gaps. We've got problems within our intelligence community and I think an outside commission will help focus on those gaps. And what's most important is how do we fix them, what do we do about this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The investigation will go on as weapons inspectors in Iraq continue their search. A senior administration official says that Mr. Bush himself will name the panel's nine members. They will included law makers, intelligence experts. Its deadline going to be set at early to mid-2005. That timing apparently designed to prevent the probe's findings from becoming a campaign issue, though that is not likely to sit well with Democrats, some who are anxious to hold someone accountable for the decision to go to war in Iraq, many of them charging that the president deliberately misled the country about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, or its lack thereof -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the White House for us this morning.
Kathleen, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Intelligence Before Iraq War>
