The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday demanded that the CIA produce documents and schedule interviews for the panel's assessment of prewar intelligence on Iraq by noon today.
Joint letter
"It is our desire that the committee's review will serve to validate the good work of the intelligence community and, where necessary, provide corrective suggestions where the intelligence product might have been better," said a joint letter from committee chairman Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, and senior Democrat Senator John Rockefeller of West Virginia.
"We expect to receive all documents and schedule all interviews by 12pm Oct. 31, 2003," the letter to CIA Director George Tenet said.
It was responding to a letter from Tenet dated Oct. 24 to the two senators, and obtained by Reuters, that said the CIA had provided the committee with "binders of material relating to the October 2002 NIE [National Intelligence Estimate] on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, support for terrorism and possible acquisition of yellowcake from Niger."
"In addition to that material, we have been compiling material relating to our coverage of these subjects for a period of over ten years," Tenet said. "We will provide the additional material as soon as possible."
`Troubling' phrase
The senators called that phrase "troubling," saying that information was to have been provided to the committee five months ago.
The senators said the CIA had not yet provided an explanation of "the various disconnects and inconsistencies in the assessments concerning the Niger uranium issue."
Controversy erupted this year after President George W. Bush said in his State of the Union Address that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Africa, a claim that was later found to have been faulty.
The White House has said it should not have been included in the January speech.
Roberts and Rockefeller said a list of requested documents and interviews had been the subject of "nearly daily discussions" between their committee staff and Tenet's staff for months.
"In light of the agency's many other responsibilities, the committee has been patient, but we now need immediate access to this information," the senators said in the letter.
Response
In a pointed response to Tenet's offer to have senior intelligence analysts make presentations to the committee as early as Nov. 20, the senators said they would set the committee's agenda.
"Our staff has interviewed many of these individuals and intends to interview them all before they complete their work," the senators said.
"While we welcome your offer, we believe strongly that, at a time determined by the committee, you must appear in person," they said.
The Senate and House intelligence panels are reviewing prewar intelligence that suggested Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction, which have so far not been found.
It has become a major political issue with critics of the Bush administration saying the White House may have exaggerated the intelligence to gather support for the war against Iraq.
And, on the other side, some Democrats say Republicans are trying to put the blame on the intelligence agencies to shield the White House from any fallout.
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