ALERT: Pelosi Asks for Closed House Session
Pelosi Asks for Closed House Session, but Democrats Lose Bid for Closed House
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi asked her colleagues Tuesday to close the House’s doors for a highly unusual secret session to discuss a classified intelligence analysis on global terrorism.
Such a session hasn’t happened in the House since July 1983, when the chamber went into a closed session to discuss the United States’ support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua.In an interview with The Associated Press, Pelosi, D-Calif., said the secret session is necessary to allow members to better understand the intelligence community’s most recent assessment on global terrorism.
She said she hoped House Republicans would recognize the need for such an internal debate on the document, some of which leaked to the news media over the weekend. The proposal from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was denied by a vote of 171-217. Bush announced that he was ordering parts of the report declassified during a White House news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Portions of the document that have been leaked suggest that the threat of terrorism has grown worse since the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the war in Afghanistan, due in part to the war in Iraq.
Democrats have used the report to bolster their criticism of Bush’s Iraq policy. The administration has claimed only part of the report was leaked and does not tell the full story.
September 26, 2006 - 03:25 PM on September 26th, 2006
This is uncalled for. A version of the NIE will be released that does not divulge classified material.
To be honest, I think this is just a knee jerk reaction in an attempt to avoid the declassified version from being released and the American public from knowing the truth behind the Assessment as the Dems have already asserted a meaning that is more than likely false, inaccurate or incomplete and specious.
September 26, 2006 - 03:46 PM on September 26th, 2006
Regarding the recent leaked info on the NIE, Iraq, and the War on Terror:
You know, common sense in not all that common in the MSM and Liberal Wonderland. If you fight a determined enemy, like the Zombie Islamists, guess what? They are going to fight back. These people are determined to reinstate the Caliphate, but worldwide. They have no interest in diplomacy, other than to use it as a ruse to allow more time to grow in number and strength.
It is amazing to see the brainwashed elite clamoring to bash Bush when the Islamists are worst than anyone’s worst nightmare. They manifested their declaration of Global Jihad very effectively on September 11, 2001. There indeed is a war on terror. Unfortunately, we kept ignoring the little kitten biting our ankle throughout the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Now that kitten is a lion. The lion is killing, bullying, and terrorizing worldwide. To say that this is not the case, that the War on Terror is about trading US blood for oil is naive.
This report being hailed by the MSM and Liberal Wonderland at-large is a great example of the stupor they are in. Their lust for power completely blinds them to the reality of the foe that we face. I think when the beheadings start in a western nation, they might just realize we are at war with Islam.
Bubba’s Pravda
bubbaspravda.blogspot.com
September 26, 2006 - 04:50 PM on September 26th, 2006
Excerpts of Secret Intelligence Report Released
By Bill Brubaker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 26, 2006; 5:54 PM
The Bush administration today released excerpts of a leaked U.S. intelligence report that concludes the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has fueled Islamic extremism and contributed to the spread of terrorist cells. It also finds that terrorist groups around the world are adapting to counter-terrorism strategies.
“We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives,” said a four-page summary of the 30-page National Intelligence Estimate, which was completed in April and leaked to several news media organizations last weekend.
The report, which reflects the consensus of 16 government intelligence services, also suggests that a U.S. victory in Iraq could weaken the will of terrorist groups.
“Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight,” the report said.
The report argues that the spread of democracy in Muslim countries “would alleviate some of the grievances jihadists exploit” and erode their support.
But 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,” the report said.
President Bush, at a late-morning White House news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said he reluctantly ordered declassification of “key judgments” of the report so Americans can decide for themselves what it really says.
The White House has contended that the document’s widely reported conclusion — that the Iraq war has increased the threat from terrorism — represents only “a fraction” of the judgments made in the document.
Bush charged at the news conference that political opponents leaked select parts of the National Intelligence Estimate to media organizations “to create confusion in the minds of the American people” in the weeks before the Nov. 7 mid-term elections.
“Somebody has taken it upon themselves to leak classified information for political purposes,” Bush said. “I think it’s a bad habit for our government to declassify every time there is a leak.”
The summary of the report’s “key judgments,” posted on the Director of National Intelligence Web site, said al-Qaeda is “exploiting the situation in Iraq to attract new recruits and donors and to maintain its leadership role.”
It also said jihadists regard Europe as an “important venue for attacking Western interests.”
The report added: “Anti US and anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise and fueling other radical ideologies. This could prompt some leftist, nationalist, or separatist groups to adopt terrorist methods to attack US interests.
“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 and supporters may be difficult to pinpoint.”
The report said “fighters with experience in Iraq are a potential source of leadership for jihadists” intent on using improvised explosive deceives and suicide attacks.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) today asked her colleagues to agree to close the House’s doors to discuss the report. Her proposal failed by a vote of 171-217. The House had not had such a secret session since July 1983, when lawmakers privately discussed the United States’ support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua.
Pelosi argued that a secret session would allow members to better understand the report, which has emerged as a political challenge for Bush. Democrats, who are seeking to overturn the Republican majority in Congress, had called on Bush to release the report, saying it bolsters their argument that his handling of the Iraq war has diminished U.S. security.
“Now that President Bush has heeded Democrats call to declassify the NIE report, the American people can decide on its merits for themselves,” Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement after Bush’s news conference. “Facts are stubborn things.”
Dean added: “Nothing changes the fact that President Bush’s failed leadership and war of choice in Iraq have made us less safe and hampered our ability to fight and win the global war on terror.”
Bush told reporters today he asked Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte to declassify the report “in such a way that we’ll be able to protect sources and methods of” the U.S. intelligence community.
“You can read it for yourself,” Bush told reporters. “It will stop all the speculation, all the politics about somebody saying something about Iraq — you know, somebody trying to confuse the American people about the nature of this enemy.”
Bush’s meeting with Karzai was part of a three-way personal diplomacy that began last week with a White House meeting with Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Bush is scheduled to meet, then dine, with Karzai and Musharraf tomorrow in an effort to improve ties between two key allies in the U.S. battle against al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremist groups. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Pakistan or Afghanistan.
With Karzai looking on, Bush said the war in Iraq has not increased the threat of terrorism.
“You know, to suggest that if we weren’t in Iraq we would see a rosier scenario, with fewer extremists joining the radical movement, requires us to ignore 20 years of experience,” Bush said. “We weren’t in Iraq when we got attacked on September the 11th. We weren’t in Iraq and thousands of fighters were trained in terror camps inside your country, Mr. President. We weren’t in Iraq when they first attacked the World Trade Center in 1993.”
Later, Bush added: “My judgment is: The only way to protect this country is to stay on the offense. It is preposterous to think, if we were to withdraw, and hope for the best, things would turn out fine, against this enemy.”
Karzai agreed, saying “extremist forces” have been on the attack for many years — long before the war began in Iraq.
“We are a witness in Afghanistan as to what they are and how they can hurt. You are a witness in New York,” Karzai said. “Do you forget people jumping off the 80th floor or 70th floor when the planes hit them? Can you imagine what it will be for a man or a woman to jump off that high? Who did that? And where are they now? And how do we fight them, how do we get rid of them, other than going after them? Should we wait for them to come and kill us again?”
In their meeting today, Bush and Karzai said they discussed the war on terrorism and internal problems facing Afghanistan, including its narcotics trade, which Karzai called “an embarrassment” to his country.
A resurgent Taliban insurgency has posed new challenges for the Bush administration, Afghanistan and Pakistan. U.S. forces ousted the Taliban regime from Afghanistan in late 2001 as a response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Karzai and Musharraf have engaged in some sniping over their efforts to counter terrorism.
Karzai has spoken of “radical neighbors who have very dangerous ideas,” and he has called on Pakistan to shut down extremist schools and camps.
Musharraf said in an interview on CNN late this afternoon: “At the moment, there is total misunderstanding of the environment by Afghanistan and Karzai. And I know Karzai knows the environment. But he’s denying these realities and . . . he’s finding it more convenient to throw the blame on Pakistan.”
Musharraf also said the Iraq war “has made the world a more dangerous place.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s dinner with Karzai and Musharraf, Bush said at the news conference today: “You know, it’ll be interesting for me to watch the body language of these two leaders to determine how tense things are.”
Karzai promised: “I’ll be good.”
September 26, 2006 - 05:08 PM on September 26th, 2006
“The report, which reflects the consensus of 16 government intelligence services, also suggests that a U.S. victory in Iraq could weaken the will of terrorist groups.”
That’s what Bush has said all along. Cut and run, and it will guarantee that our enemies are more emboldened and empowered than ever.
The Iraq plan must succeed. There is no other acceptable outcome.
September 26, 2006 - 07:06 PM on September 26th, 2006
Ted, thanks for the hat/tip! I did a thread on it!:grin:
September 26, 2006 - 08:08 PM on September 26th, 2006
Oh God help us all:cry:
September 26, 2006 - 08:41 PM on September 26th, 2006
Anyone want a job as a “Field Organizer” for moveon.org?
Here’s the link
If you have memorized the Democrite talking points, don’t mind taking Soros’ money, and are willing to sell your soul to the Prince of drakness, give it a try!
September 27, 2006 - 07:37 AM on September 27th, 2006
Robert,
You think Shitoh took the offer or do you think he’s being stupid and doing the same work for free?
September 27, 2006 - 08:31 AM on September 27th, 2006
Gives real meaning to the song OH KNOW ONE KNOWS WHAT GOSE ON BEHIND CLOSED DOORS:roll:
September 27, 2006 - 10:27 AM on September 27th, 2006
5.
No problem.