Sojourners
Give 'em hell, Harry
by Jim Wallis
Following the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide, "Scooter" Libby, last Friday, we asked you to e-mail your members of Congress, demanding they form an independent commission to investigate whether the Bush administration deliberately misled our nation into war. We believe that truth-telling is a religious and moral value, and that our government must - above all else - have a commitment to truth. The American people need to know whether intelligence information was knowingly manipulated leading up to the war in Iraq. Was the war an honest mistake, or were we deceived?
Yesterday afternoon ... Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told the truth by forcing the U.S. Senate into a closed session to demand answers about the intelligence information that led to the war in Iraq.
As of this morning, more than 20,000 [Sojourner] readers have sent messages to Congress. It's time to keep the pressure on, and, indeed, to increase it.
Lets help them reach their goal of 25,000 signers, and keep fighting for the truth.
Sign the petition below.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, told The New York Times, "I have to say in all honesty that I am troubled by what I see as a concerted effort by this administration to use its influence to limit, delay, to frustrate, to deny the Intelligence Committee's oversight work into the intelligence reporting and activities leading up to the invasion of Iraq." And although Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) was furious at the tactic, after two hours of debate he agreed to appoint a bipartisan group to look into the Intelligence Committee's work.
We now know administration claims that Saddam Hussein had or was about to acquire nuclear weapons were not true. We know claims of Iraqi ties to al Qaeda were not true. We know administration and military officials who challenged the official line were silenced or forced to resign, and perhaps systematically attacked and undermined - as the facts around this new and serious indictment of a top Bush administration official suggests. Cheney and Libby, his chief of staff, were architects of both the arguments for war and the efforts to discredit those who questioned the war. What we do not yet know is whether and how intelligence information was misused or manipulated to produce these claims.
With the 2,000th American soldier's death last week, tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, and the criminal indictment of a top White House official for perjury and obstructing justice, it's time we are told the truth. It would be the best way to honor the dead and perhaps prevent the death of countless more lives than by simply staying the course. A bipartisan and independent commission, such as the 9/11 Commission, must be created and empowered to conduct a full investigation that can provide answers.
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For the first time, the Democrats are showing some courage on the war in Iraq, and that could be the first step in ending the tragic war. But this is not a partisan issue. We need Americans across the political spectrum to demand the truth about Iraq.
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If you have not yet responded to our action alert, click here and ask Congress for an independent investigation to determine if and how the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify war in Iraq.
What are you waiting for? Go here to petition Congress.