Tomorrow, the Pentagon’s Inspector General will release a declassified version of a long-awaited report on the Office of Special Plans, a Pentagon office that’s been accused of manipulating prewar Iraq intelligence, particularly on the question of Iraq’s ties to al-Qaeda. Bob Burns of the Associated Press has a preview:
Some of the Pentagon’s pre-war intelligence work, including a contention that the CIA had underplayed the likelihood of significant al-Qaida connections to Saddam Hussein, was inappropriate but not illegal, a Pentagon investigation has concluded.In a report to be presented to Congress on Friday, the Pentagon inspector general clears former Pentagon policy chief Douglas J. Feith of allegations by some Democrats of illegal activities — specifically, that he misled Congress about the basis of the administration’s assertions on the threat posed by Iraq.
Two people familiar with the findings discussed the main points and some details Thursday on condition they not be identified.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled a hearing Friday to receive the findings by Thomas F. Gimble, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general. The committee’s chairman, Carl Levin, D-Mich., has been a leading critic of Feith’s role in pre-war intelligence activities and has accused him of deceiving Congress.
More soon.