November 6, 2003

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERS

FROM: GARY SCHMITT

SUBJECT: What's Needed: A Senate Inquiry

Senator Jay Rockefeller, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has failed to hold anyone responsible for the memo urging partisan use of the investigation of pre-war intelligence on Iraq. Responding to the news that someone working for the minority staff of the committee had drafted the memo, Rockefeller argued that the memo's content was little cause for concern. Rather, he wanted to know how the memo had become public, and largely blamed its content on the fact that the administration had not yet turned over every last document he believes it should. The senator responded like a teenager caught doing something wrong: He argued that it wasn't that big a deal, and he shifted the blame.

Senator Jon Kyl, former member of the select committee, was more to the point. "All of the Democrats' artful dodges," he said today, "are attempts to obscure what must be the central questions in examining this serious matter. Does the Democratic leadership repudiate this strategy or does it embrace it? Does the Democratic Party intend to use what is supposed to be a nonpartisan intelligence investigation as a political weapon or doesn't it? Will Senate Democrats demand accountability for the inappropriate partisan use of the Intelligence Committee or won't they?"

Senator Arlen Specter, former chairman of the intelligence committee, has called for a formal inquiry. The committee "cannot function with this kind of cloud hanging over it," he said. "It is a built-in excuse for the intelligence agencies not to cooperate…. [And] undermines the integrity of the Intelligence Committee at a time when intelligence is indispensable." As vice chairman, Senator Rockefeller has a duty to uphold the committee's reputation. He should agree to such an inquiry -- the sooner the better.