Members of Congress Denied Access to Basic Information About NSA

[Lugal Zaggesi]

11. The same thing happened when Congress "approved" the so-called "Bill to go to War with Iraq" in 2002

It is a MYTH that "everyone saw the same intelligence":

American Cons still pretend that "everyone agreed" Saddam was working on and had WMD's - because the White House presented the sexed-up intelligence to Congress, except for the 8 people in the House and Senate chairing the key committees (who saw more of the raw intelligence). Of those 8, the 4 Democrats voted AGAINST giving Bush the permission to build up the troops to "pressure Saddam to carry out UN Resolutions", as the vote in Congress was marketed.

See Senator Bob Graham of Florida's (Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee - one of those 4 Democrats that saw the Intelligence) memoirs - he urged his colleagues to vote against the Oct 11 2002 Resolution, but "national security" laws prevented him from telling what he learned from his privileged intelligence briefings. Many Senators and Representatives didn't want to believe a US President would lie to them on taking the country to war.

Sunday, November 20, 2005
In the past week President Bush has twice attacked Democrats for being hypocrites on the Iraq war. "More than 100 Democrats in the House and Senate, who had access to the same intelligence, voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power," he said.

The president's attacks are outrageous. Yes, more than 100 Democrats voted to authorize him to take the nation to war. Most of them, though, like their Republican colleagues, did so in the legitimate belief that the president and his administration were truthful in their statements that Saddam Hussein was a gathering menace -- that if Hussein was not disarmed, the smoking gun would become a mushroom cloud.

The president has undermined trust. No longer will the members of Congress be entitled to accept his veracity. Caveat emptor has become the word. Every member of Congress is on his or her own to determine the truth.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/18/AR2005111802397.html
-- Senator Bob Graham

Bush and Cheney beefed up the "Unitary Presidency", and Obama is saying "thank you very much" as he uses it. Congress is becoming increasingly irrelevant - they haven't "Declared War" since WWII - the Presidents decide who we invade these days, and who we spy on. Congress is a clueless rubber-stamp in National Security matters.