AS A PART OF ITS ONGOING OVERSIGHT OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, THE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE WILL CONDUCT A REVIEW OF INTELLIGENCE ON IRAQI WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Pat Roberts [R-KS], Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following statement:
"As part of its continuing oversight of the U.S. Intelligence Community's activities and programs, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will conduct a thorough review of the documented intelligence underlying the assessments which determined the existence of and the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.
"The Committee's review and conclusions will be based upon all relevant documentation to be provided to the Committee by the Director of Central Intelligence. The Committee's examination of the facts will be objective, thorough and complete.
"In its review, the Committee will endeavor to complete two tasks. First, it will evaluate the intelligence underlying pre-war assessments of Iraq's WMD capability. Second, it will evaluate the accuracy of those assessments by comparing them with the results of the ongoing search for prohibited weapons.
"Calls for a formal investigation into this matter are premature. With the work of the Iraq Survey Group just beginning, the Committee is aware that the search for WMD will continue for the foreseeable future. This crucial work should be allowed to proceed unimpeded. The results of this search will become an integral part of the factual record and they are essential if the Committee is to reach any informed conclusions.
"The Committee's responsible handling of this important review will enable it to determine if a hearing or further action should or will take place. In this regard the Committee will continue to work very closely with the Armed Services Committee on all matters of common interest."
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