Alt intel briefing leading up to Iraq invasion questioned

"Senate Democrats and Republicans disagreed yesterday over the meaning and importance of a Defense Department inspector general's conclusion that a Pentagon policy office produced and gave senior policymakers 'alternative intelligence assessments on Iraq and Al Qaida relations' that were 'inconsistent' with the intelligence community's consensus view in the lead-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Acting Defense Department Inspector General Thomas F. Gimble told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he had no evidence that the Pentagon activities were illegal and said they were authorized by then-Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul D. Wolfowitz.
. . . Democratic senators used Gimble's report and testimony to bolster their contention that the administration misused intelligence to promote the urgency of invading Iraq. Republicans implied that the intelligence community had soft-pedaled crucial reports of a close al-Qaeda relationship with Saddam Hussein and that [former undersecretary of defense for policy Douglas J.] Feith's office had put them in the proper perspective."

source
Pincus, Walter & DeYoung, Karen. (The Washington Post). Senators Debate Significance of Pentagon Report On Intelligence. February 10, 2007.

posted: sunday, february 11, 2007, 11:25 AM ET

tags: iraq feith thomas gimbel