How does
Pat Roberts, Republican Senator from Kansas, justify the failure of the Senate Intelligence Committee to finish its investigation into the use of faulty pre-war intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war? As chairman of the committee, he's certainly in a position to drive the investigation, but instead he is willfully negligent in this pursuit, and by his foot-dragging and obfuscation, helps to protect the criminals inside of the Bush administration from public exposure. This is willful misconduct by an elected official.
Sen. Pat Roberts Roberts had pledged that the second phase of the committee's investigation, the phase that would investigate the administration's role in the use of the "faulty" intelligence, would commence after the 2004 elections (a blatently partisan move); however, at this point the investigation seems to have been abandoned.
"It [continuing the investigation]
is one of my top priorities" Roberts had stated in July, 2004. But after the 2004 election, Roberts changed his mind about his priorites, and stated:
"To go though that exercise, it seems to me, in a post-election environment--we didn't see how we could do that and achieve any possible progress. I think everybody pretty well gets it." Excuse me? What I "get" is that Roberts is obstructing the investigation.
And now, ever eager to deflect criticism from the administration and turn it back towards seekers of justice, Roberts tells us it's time to move on:
"Look in the front window. Don't look in the back and pick off somebody's comment that some senator or somebody in the administration said and say, 'Gee, had that person known, he wouldn't have said that.'" In other words, Roberts is discounting the possibility of crimes having been committed as "old news", and instead is accusing the Democrats of playing politics, in an attempt to discredit, or "get" George W. Bush. Roberts is using his political power to obstruct the investigation and distort the issue into one of personal politicking. It's the same tactic Republicans have been using to discount the
Downing Street Memos, and other evidence of criminal wrongdoing by President Bush and his bootlickers. Many senate Republicans continue to shield and make excuses for arguably the worst abuse of power by an administration in U.S. history.
Hopefully, the voters in Kansas and elsewhere are capable of remembering the past, which Roberts claims is unimportant, while still looking ahead to the next election.
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