WASHINGTON, DC – Under pressure from the White House to give oversight to the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations, the 9/11 Commission will begin hearings next week on the group’s information-gathering techniques.
“Before we implement any of the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations, we owe it to our soldiers in harm’s way and their families, and to the American people, to first get to the bottom of these findings,” Bush said today at an impromptu press conference in the Rose Garden. “Human intelligence is just that – human. And humans make mistakes. In other words, we want to be sure that, uh, moving forward, we, uh, make things better and not worse. That’s my job. My job is to ensure success.”
Previously, former Secretary of State James Baker, co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, expressed concern over the Bush administration's application of the report, cautioning, “I hope we don’t treat this like a fruit salad and say, ‘I like this but I don’t like that. I like this but I don’t like that.’” After hearing of Bush’s decision today, however, Baker adjusted his fruit salad metaphor. “Initially, my biggest fear is that our proposals would be treated like a fruit salad. Clearly, now they intend to treat our comprehensive strategy more like a tuna salad, in which they leave out the tuna. What you get then is a mayonnaise sandwich, which, I might add, is not very nutritious and high in saturated fat. I guess one could flip this metaphor and say they’re actually using the tuna but leaving out the mayonnaise, in which case everything would crumble and fall apart, making construction of a cohesive sandwich simply untenable. Either way, I think you get the picture.”
Former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, co-chair of both the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group, also spoke at the press conference, saying he was “committed to the new task at hand and expected to reach a sound, bi-partisan conclusion just after the 2008 Presidential Election.” Asked if he thought there might be a conflict of interest, as co-chair of both oversight panels, Hamilton replied, “Some hesitancy may be warranted on that matter. But I think overriding any such concerns is my experience in leading neutered committees to deliver delayed and watered-down conclusions, with sprinklings of harsh criticisms usually embedded deep enough within a report to provide sufficient cover for those in power.”
Andrea Mitchell, Senior White House Correspondent for NBC Nightly News, called it a victory for the White House. “With this deft move, President Bush has wrested the mantle of pragmatism from these elder statesmen while simultaneously stealing the thunder from James Baker. The president, you might say, has sent this study group to detention.”
But some critics of the Iraq Study Group do not think the Bush administration is going far enough. Radio personality Melanie Morgan told her audience, “Surrender monkeys is too tame a label to convey their anti-American tactics. An investigation by the 9/11 Commission should be just the first step. What the Baker-Hamilton crew perpetrated on America is criminal. Treasonous. And treason, by law, is punishable by death. Let’s face it, Jim Baker, Lee Hamilton and the rest of this group can only be described as ‘enemy combatants.’ I don’t think Gitmo or the gas chamber should be ruled out.”
Senator Russ Feingold, one of the only Democrats who voiced an opinion that the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations were too meek, called Bush’s announcement, “A flagrant attempt to end any further debate about whether he is the worst president in the history of America. Apparently, President Bush is more concerned about cementing his place as the most criminally incompetent and inane president in our nation’s history than he is about doing what’s best for our troops in Iraq.” Added Feingold, “He refuses to leave even the most minute shadow of a doubt as to the churning chasm of death and destruction and horror he has shaped by his own hand, so that future generations will feel the dark reverberation of all he has left in his wake and utter in perpetuity, ‘Bush…’”
Reached for comment on his son’s decision today, Former President George H.W. Bush replied only, “Jeb…Jebbie, Jeb-Jeb…Jeb’s never gonna…” before sobbing loudly into the phone.
White House officials said that Lee Hamilton is expected to cross-examine himself on the first day of the hearings, which is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. It will be carried live on C-SPAN for the four Americans who will be watching.
9/11 Commission Set to Investigate Iraq Study Group
Posted by: MediaBloodhound | December 10, 2006 at 05:42 PM