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Dems Blast Secret Iraq Report

Rosy picture aims to bolster White House, they charge

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 4, 2008 5:20 AM CDT
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(Newser) – A new, top-secret intelligence report asserts that conditions on the ground in Iraq have markedly improved, reports the Wall Street Journal. Only a select number of House and Senate members have seen the report, but top Democrats are already blasting the document as an effort to bolster the administration's Iraq policy ahead of testimony by Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus and others next week.

"It's much less insightful than other recent products and focuses narrowly on counter-terrorism efforts in Iraq and the progress of the Iraqi leadership," charged Rep. Jane Harman of California. It also does not include the recent flare-up in intra-Shia violence that rocked Basra. Top Democrats are angling to get the report declassified to demonstrate its shortcomings.

Iraqi Army soldiers inspect the wreckage of a car bomb in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 3, 2008. A parked car bomb targeted a police patrol in western Baghdad, killing at least one civilian and wounding 10 other people, including three officers.
Iraqi Army soldiers inspect the wreckage of a car bomb in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 3, 2008. A parked car bomb targeted a police patrol in western Baghdad, killing at least one civilian and wounding...   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chair of the congressional subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chair of the congressional subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment.   (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
Gen. David Petraeus, left, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who will testify again to a Congressional committee next week.
Gen. David Petraeus, left, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who will testify again to a Congressional committee next week.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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Ted Kennedy, Carl Levin press for declassification
Washington Post

More on Petraeus' coming resignation
Reuters

 
Iraq • Congress • David Petraeus • Jane Harman • National Intelligence Estimate • House Intelligence Committee

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