Good Morning fellow geeks! ------------------------------------------------ Just in case the White House hasn't had enough investigating, the other commission -- the one looking into prewar intelligence failures regarding weapons of mass destruction -- is finally gearing up. As Dan Froomkin (hey, that's me!) wrote for washingtonpost.com on Friday, the WMD commission has scheduled its first hearing for May 26 and 27. But unlike the public hearings by Senate committees and the 9/11 commission, these will held in a relatively small room, in an undisclosed location, and without a lot of spectators, spokesman Larry McQuillan told me. The main topic will be the now-infamous October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities. McQuillan said witnesses will include members of the National Intelligence Council and the Iraq Survey Group, the team headed by David Kay that was unable to locate weapons of mass destruction after the war. The commission, which is co-chaired by Laurence H. Silberman, a semi-retired senior federal appeals court judge, and Charles S. Robb, the former U.S. senator and Virginia governor, was formed by an executive order by President Bush in February. Its report isn't due until March 2005. In honor of the panel's awakening, I am uncorking a new White House Briefing Resource: All About the WMD Commission. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/administration/whbriefing/wmdpanel.html It's the only place on the Internet with biographies of the commissioners and links to the latest news stories, opinions and official documents about the commission. Dazzle your friends with your intimate knowledge of the commission and the answers to these questions: • Which commission member's current job -- as a vice president for Northrop Grumman -- was left out of the White House press release? • Which commissioner chairs a human-rights organization funded by a billionaire who is also funding the anti-Bush political movement? • Which commissioner, according to Salon, "has been near the febrile center of the largest political scandals of the past two decades, from the rumored 'October surprise' of 1980 and the Iran-contra trials to the character assassination of Anita Hill and the impeachment of President Clinton"? • Which commissioner allegedly attended cocaine parties? • Which commission staff member worked for 14 years as a White House correspondent?
By the pow-uh vest-ud in me because of this he-ah rusted old ahh-till-uh-ry shell, I do he-hby dee-clay-uh this he-ah Committuh to be DEEE-SSSOLLLVED!!
