[IP] House Intelligence Vice-Chairman Calls War Unjustified
Begin forwarded message:
From: Ridgely Evers <revers@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 23, 2004 8:05:08 AM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: FW: House Intelligence Vice-Chairman Calls War Unjustified
Dave,
For reasons that are hard to fathom, this seems to have slid off the
top of
the news almost instantly. It strikes me as a big deal.
For IP, if you wish.
--Ridge
www.msnbc.com/id/5750615
Intelligence vice chairman calls war unjustified
'Dangerous, costly mess,' Bereuter says as he leaves House
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:15 a.m. ET Aug. 19, 2004
LINCOLN, Neb. - A top Republican lawmaker has broken from his party in
the
final days of his House career, saying he believes that the U.S.
military
assault on Iraq was unjustified and that the situation there has
deteriorated into "a dangerous, costly mess."
"I've reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate
intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things
being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action," Rep.
Doug Bereuter, R-Neb., wrote in a letter to his constituents.
"Left unresolved for now is whether intelligence was intentionally
misconstrued to justify military action," he said.
Bereuter, 65, is a senior member of the International Relations
Committee
and vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee. He is stepping down
after
13 terms to become president of the Asia Foundation effective Sept. 1.
The letter, which Bereuter (pronounced BEE-writer) sent to constituents
who
have contacted him about the war, was reported Wednesday by the Lincoln
Journal Star.
Signs of GOP slippage
In 2002, Bereuter spoke out in support of a House resolution authorizing
President Bush to go to war. Bush has continued to argue that the war
was
justified because Iraqi President Saddam Hussein represented a threat
to the
United States, his neighbors and the people of Iraq.
Most Republicans and top administration officials say the war was
justified
even though no weapons of mass destruction have been found.
However, after a scathing Senate Intelligence Committee report
concluded in
early July that intelligence agencies had provided false assessments of
the
Iraqi threat before the war, the panel's Republican chairman, Pat
Roberts of
Kansas, said Congress might not have approved the Iraq war had lawmakers
known the truth.
Roberts said that without an immediate threat that Saddam had and was
trying
to get weapons of mass destruction, military action against Iraq still
could
have been justified on humanitarian grounds but that the battle plan
might
have been different from a full-scale invasion.
Bereuter sees other problems
Bereuter said that in addition to "a massive failure or
misinterpretation of
intelligence," the Bush administration made several other errors in
going to
war.
"From the beginning of the conflict, it was doubtful that we for long
would
be seen as liberators, but instead increasingly as an occupying force,"
he
said. "Now we are immersed in a dangerous, costly mess, and there is no
easy
and quick way to end our responsibilities in Iraq without creating
bigger
future problems in the region and, in general, in the Muslim world."
Bereuter said that as a result of the war, "our country's reputation
around
the world has never been lower and our alliances are weakened."
Bereuter declined to answer questions Wednesday about the letter. His
spokesman, Alan Feyerherm, said Bereuter "feels the letter speaks for
itself."
C 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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