In regards to the editorial "Intelligence Failures in Iraq" in the Feb. 9 issue of The Spectrum, I must heartily concur.
Recent statements made by the Iraq survey group chairman David Kay about the failures of intelligence regarding the existence of weapons of mass destruction serve only to confirm the suspicions of many that the president simply mislead the people of this country into a war of choice and profiteering as opposed to a war for U.S. security.
One expects a commander-in-chief to be able to grasp intelligence reports well, to know the pitfalls and risks of a certain report or briefing, to be able to understand intelligence and ascertain the inevitable, the true and the unlikely. In this regard, the president has been an abject failure.
The paramount concern now should be to determine what this administration knew, when it knew it and if the intelligence provided for the right conditions to warrant an invasion.
However, in this vein, President George W. Bush has also been a terrible failure. The choice of individuals like Senator John McCain and Laurence Silberman to serve as co-chairmen was a tremendous error. [Editor's note: Silberman is co-chairing the commission with Charles Robb, not John McCain.] While Senator McCain has bravely served his country, he does not possess the expertise, experience or knowledge for this position, and neither does Silberman, a former Justice of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Why in God's name would a judge be chosen? For no other reason than he has a long history of covering up Republican and Conservative "movement" activities.
And with the lack of oversight by Congress, this commission is nothing more than a laughing stock. The fact that it will issue its report after the 2004 elections shows Bush's real intentions and priorities.
People might have wanted answers, but they got a highly politicized, inexperienced committee. People want to know why their children are dying, but Bush is changing his story.
Recent events have shown Bush is simply unfit for the office of the presidency, in this regard and in his pre-emptive foreign policy that has left the world asunder. The only way to change these reckless divisive policies is to change those that make them.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
