Thursday, November 06, 2003

2004: It's not just an election year, it's going to be an adventure. Although it may seem like a lot of bickering is going back and forth between Republicans and Democrats now, the real show isn't going to start for several months, when the parties bring out the real ammunition.

There has already been talk of Bush saving Iraq/terrorism information for the re-election year. Some people suspect that he's saving WMD evidence so the good news won't peter out before next November. While that's unsubstantiated, the administration has already announced that it will work to reduce the number of troops in Iraq in 2004, just in time for the election.

And it looks like Democrats are implementing the same strategy. A leaked memo from the minority party's staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence shows Democrats may be planning to hold off on calls for a Bush investigation until Election Day draws nearer.

We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation at any time-- but we can only do so once. The best time to do so will probably be next year either:

A) After we have already released our additional views on an interim report - thereby providing as many as three opportunities to make our case to the public: 1) additional views on the interim report; 2) announcement of our independent investigation; and 3) additional views on the final investigation; or

B) Once we identify solid leads the majority does not want to pursue. We could attract more coverage and have greater credibility in that context than one in which we simply launch an independent investigation based on principled but vague notions regarding the "use" of intelligence.

Ah, politics. Say what you want about it, but it's always entertaining.