Delahunt to Bush: Americans Deserve The Whole Truth

09/28/2006

Washington, DC – Congressman Bill Delahunt and 33 Members of Congress today called on President George W. Bush to release the entire April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States.”  Portions of the NIE, which the President ordered released on September 26, indicate that US intelligence professionals from 16 different agencies agree that the invasion of Iraq has increased the threat to the US.  Even though this assessment was delivered months ago, the President and his supporters have continued to claim the opposite; as recently as the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Bush said that “The world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power.” 

 

Delahunt, a member of the House International Relations Committee, noted that during the 2002 debate on whether to use force against Iraq, the Administration declassified portions of an NIE, one which appeared to confirm that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  It was later revealed that the Administration withheld parts of the NIE which challenged those claims.  Post-invasion investigations revealed that, in fact, Iraq did not possess WMD, even though Bush and his advisors were warning of “mushroom clouds” over America.

 

“What didn’t they release this time?” asked Delahunt, who opposed the invasion of Iraq because he wanted to focus on fighting al Qaeda, the group which actually attacked the US on September 11, 2001 (as the 9/11 Commission concluded, there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda).  “The Administration must trust the American people and release all the information, save that which would harm national security.”  The text of the letter is below and a full list of signatories is available on request.

 

Dear President Bush: 

 

Thank you for releasing portions of the April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), titled “Trends in Global Terrorism:  Implications for the United States” yesterday.  We write to strongly urge that you immediately release the NIE in its entirety, making only those redactions of intelligence sources and methods required by law, so that the American people can come to their own conclusions about the terrorist threat facing the United States. 

 

The declassified portions of the report demonstrate clearly that the consensus of intelligence professionals is that the US is more at risk since the invasion of Iraq.  According to the report:

 

 “…activists identifying themselves as jihadists, although a small percentage of Muslims, are increasing in both number and geographic dispersion…If this trend continues, threats to US interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide.

 

“We assess that the operational threat from self-radicalized cells will grow in importance to US counterterrorism efforts, particularly abroad but also in the Homeland.

 

 “The Iraq conflict has become the “cause celebre” for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.

 

“Anti-US and anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise and fueling other radical ideologies…The radicalization process is occurring more quickly, more widely, and more anonymously in the Internet age, raising the likelihood of surprise attacks by unknown groups whose members and supporters may be difficult to pinpoint.”

 

Despite the assessment of the intelligence community that Iraq war is fueling terrorism, you and your Administration continue to make claims to the contrary.  For example, as recently as this past September 11, you stated, “The world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power.” 

 

In declaring your intention to declassify part of the NIE, you denounced the prior leak of the intelligence assessment as being done for “political purposes.”  However, releasing just a portion of the NIE smacks of exactly that kind of political use of classified information, especially given that your Administration has done this before.  In the fall of 2002, your Administration made public only portions of a NIE on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, omitting key caveats about the veracity of the information – concerns that proved well-grounded when no WMD were found in Iraq.  That selective release of information has given the appearance that the Administration kept vital information from Congress and the American people during the debate over the wisdom of taking military action against Iraq.  Likewise, the release of these key judgments will only lead to speculation that your Administration has kept even more damaging material under wraps.

 

Mr. President, you have the opportunity to avoid another such blow to your credibility and, by extension, that of the US.  By making public the entire NIE, you have a chance to clarify exactly what the intelligence community believes is the state of the global terrorist threat, and give Americans an opportunity to evaluate that assessment for themselves. 

 

Given that we are locked in a struggle with a vicious, determined, and adaptable enemy, it is important that national security decisions are based on facts, rather than political spin.  The people of this country deserve to know whether the choices their government has made in Iraq and elsewhere have truly made them safer.  We urge you to release the entire NIE immediately.

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