Mar 11 2006
Bush wants to release the Saddam files but his intelligence chief stalls.
Updated below:
One of the chief tools in the present political maelstrom is information control, we all know this. Among the most sought adter information, right after John Kerry’s Military records, is the so called Saddam files, which comprise 3000 hours of tapes and millions of pages of documents seized in Iraq.
While the exact contents are obviously speculative, it is said they contain some interesting pits of information, including an Iraqi official reporting to Saddam that components of the regime’s nuclear program had been "transported out of Iraq and details of Russian spy training and techniques, a fact that is curious when compared to Russia’s long history of opposing war, and insisting on the inspections.
President Bush made it clear in a congressional briefing Feb 16th that he wants the information released:
Bush told Hadley to expedite the release of the Iraq documents. "This stuff ought to be out. Put this stuff out." The president would reiterate this point before the meeting adjourned. And as the briefing ended, he approached Pence, poked a finger in the congressman’s chest, and thanked him for raising the issue. When Pence began to restate his view that the documents should be released, Bush put his hand up, as if to say, "I hear you. It will be taken care of."
It was not the first time Bush has made clear his desire to see the Iraq documents released. On November 30, 2005, he gave a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy. Four members of Congress attended: Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the Michigan Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee; Sen. John Warner, the Virginia Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee; Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona; and Pence. After his speech, Bush visited with the lawmakers for 10 minutes in a holding room to the side of the stage. Hoekstra asked Bush about the documents and the president said he was pressing to have them released.
Says Pence: "I left both meetings with the unambiguous impression that the president of the United States wants these documents to reach the American people."



