U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

November 1, 2005

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Press Secretary

                        202-228-3630

Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary

                        303-455-7600

 

Salazar’s Statement on the Closed Session of the Senate Today to Discuss Iraq War Intelligence Issues

“I support Minority Leader Harry Reid for putting his foot down to get answers to the American public on how intelligence was used to go to war in Iraq. For over 20 months, the United States Senate Intelligence Committee has failed to respond to key questions concerning the pre-war and post-war intelligence concerning Iraq. The United States Senate must faithfully exercise its oversight responsibilities. In so doing the issues the Intelligence Committee decided to answer 20 months ago were the following:

1.) The collection of intelligence on Iraq from the end of the Gulf War to the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom;

2.) Whether public statements and reports and testimony regarding Iraq by U.S. Government officials made between the Gulf War period and the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom were substantiated by intelligence information;

3.) The postwar findings about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and weapons programs and links to terrorism and how they compare with prewar assessments;

4.) Prewar intelligence assessments about postwar Iraq;

5.) Any intelligence activities relating to Iraq conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG) and the Office of Special Plans within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.”

“The American people deserve to know the truth about each of these questions.”


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