Rule 21 Hearing forces Intelligence Investigation Forward

By Stirling Newberry,

Tue Nov 1st, 2005 at 02:33:59 PM EDT :: The Senate

In the wake of Fitzgerald's indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Harry Reid and the Democrats forced the Senate into an historic closed session. This brings all other Senate business to a halt, as the Democratic caucus demands answers as to why the Republican controlled Congress is stonewalling on investigations into pre-war intelligence handling, and the decision to invade Iraq.

While Frist is decrying this as a publicity stunt, the systematic evisceration of congressional oversight - of itself, let alone the executive branch - has left the minority with no choice but to force the issue into public view. The Washington Note says that Reid's stock has risen. It's done more than that, Reid's remarks in invoking Rule 21 are as harsh an evaluation of the road to Baghdad as any that have been written on the blogs:

The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really about: how the Administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions.

As a result of its improper conduct, a cloud now hangs over this Administration. This cloud is further darkened by the Administration's mistakes in prisoner abuse scandal, Hurricane Katrina, and the cronyism and corruption in numerous agencies.

And, unfortunately, it must be said that a cloud also hangs over this Republican-controlled Congress for its unwillingness to hold this Republican Administration accountable for its misdeeds on all of these issues.

Let's take a look back at how we got here with respect to Iraq Mr. President. The record will show that within hours of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, senior officials in this Administration recognized these attacks could be used as a pretext to invade Iraq.

The record will also show that in the months and years after 9/11, the Administration engaged in a pattern of manipulation of the facts and retribution against anyone who got in its way as it made the case for attacking Iraq.

Reid is declaring that he will invoke Rule 21 every day until his questions are answered, forcing Frist to either except the daily protest against the current Republican controlled Congress, or forcing a rules change which could be filibustered, unless the Republicans use the "nuclear option." In the last hour a deal has been struck that gives a timeline to the "Phase 2" investigation that Senator Roberts has put on "the back burner" since April.