Why wouldn't Bush want the commission to have all the power it needs to understand the intelligence failures? Stonewalling a commission he himself handpicked would certainly seem to indicate that the public was not entitled to the whole truth. I wonder if Bush is beginning to feel that putting McCain on the commission was a mistake - thank goodness he did… McCain said, "I think it needs subpoena power, and I think it needs to look at every aspect of the intelligence situation, including how intelligence was used." McCain Says WMD Commission Needs Subpoena Power WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said on Sunday the commission created by President Bush to investigate intelligence failures in the buildup to the Iraq war needs subpoena power. McCain, a member of the bipartisan panel, said such powers would give commission "certain credibility," and voiced hope an agreement would be reached to obtain it. Asked on ABC's "This Week" if he would continue to serve on the commission if it did not get subpoena power, McCain, a maverick, said, "I'd hate to throw down a gauntlet like that." "I am hopeful and somewhat optimistic that this could be worked out," McCain said. Bush, under pressure from Democrats and Republicans, created the commission on Feb. 6 to determine why no weapons of mass destruction have been found in postwar Iraq. The Bush administration cited the threat of such weapons programs as a primary reason for the Iraqi war. "It's clear that there were intelligence failures," McCain said. "But that does not in any way, in my view, remove the justification for removing Saddam Hussein from power." Bush gave the commission until March 31, 2005, to report back, meaning results will not be known until after November when voters decide whether to give him a second term. McCain said, "I think it needs subpoena power, and I think it needs to look at every aspect of the intelligence situation, including how intelligence was used." "It's not because I don't trust the administration. There are other agencies outside government and other governments outside the United States that probably we need to have information from," McCain said. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&e=3&u=/nm/20040307/pl_nm/congress_mccain_dc
The last thing Bush needs right now is to start a big fight with McCain, but that looks to be the likely outcome of this commission. Seeking subpoenas McCain and Bush clash on powers, scope of intel probe By Alexander Bolton ........... The administration has turned him down, but the senator is refusing to take no for an answer. The clash reignites a bitterness first sparked when Bush and McCain fought for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000. McCain’s plans to take the issue to the commission’s chairmen, former Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va.) and Laurence Silberman, a federal appeals-court judge who served as deputy attorney general in the Nixon and Ford administrations. McCain also wants to extend the inquiry’s scope beyond the limits set down by the president. Bush prescribed an examination of the quality of intelligence gathered on Iraq, but he withheld a mandate to scrutinize how the administration used the information. McCain wants to examine how that intelligence was used by policymakers to justify the Iraq invasion. Lt. Gen. William Odom, who headed the National Security Agency under President Reagan, said that the Bush administration doesn’t want to give the commission subpoena power because of fear the commission will use it to “find a way into embarrassing material.” “It’s interesting that McCain is initiating this because he’s not the chairman,” noted one congressional observer. McCain has appeared more active than Robb, the top-ranking Democrat, in seeking wide authority. In a conversation with Bush prior to his appointment, Robb assured the president he would not support examining the administration’s use of intelligence, said a Senate source familiar with the meeting. Full: http://www.hillnews.com/news/030404/mccain.aspx
Thanks for the posts, KingCheetah. Yet another example of the Administration trying to stop, slow down, or hamstring investigations into 9/11, the stealing of files from the computers of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the truth behind how the Iraqi War was sold to the American public... it seems to go on and on. Why all the stonewalling? To shine things on 'til after the election? It sure looks like it. More and more, I'm reminded of a previous Republican administration. Richard Nixon's.
I'm beginning to think it more important for the Dems to retake the senate instead of the presidency. At least then they would be able to appoint an independent commission a la Ken Starr... Let's spend another $40 million or so and see where it leads...
Seriously, where would the country be without McCain to keep the republicans in check? He gets things done that no one else in this country could pull off.
Since the same guys are in charge of the Bushies, I see some sort of October surprise part two coming out. Not sure how they can kowtow to terrorist countries more than they have to Pakistan recently ("nucular" supplier to the world), but there seems to be nothing too low for them to stoop to at the White House. edit: I'll give Orrin Hatch credit for some sense of fair play by saying that stealing documents from a supposed secure computer was probably wrong.
I respect John McCain, based on his voting record if nothing else. I think he is a genuinely good person, which is all the more remarkable considering the people he works with. And if McCain stated definitively that G.W. Bush did nothing inappropriate regarding the WMD reports, I would be tempted to believe him. Goddamnit, I wish McCain was independent so he could run against the two politicobozos in this election.
