Yes, The Dems Are Doing An Ostritch On Iran

Steve Soto asks a great question today - "Will Democrats Do Another "Ostrich" Routine On Iran?"

Have you noticed the near-total silence from congressional Democrats in response to the Sy Hersh story and other reporting that the Bush Administration is actively engaged in taking down the Iranian regime? Have you heard one senior Democrat in the House or Senate do in 2006 what they didn’t do in 2002, which is question the judgment of the administration early on, when it could have done some good to highlight a looming catastrophe?

...If Democrats think they can do another “ostrich” routine this time around and let Bush ignore Congress and bully his way into another catastrophe with Iran like he did with Iraq, and then shoot him in the ass they are sorely mistaken. There won't be any more free passes if Democrats fail to ask the tough questions now, and remind voters that this is Iraq all over again.

And it is with a heavy heart and a weary sense of inevitability that I answer Steve's question...

Yes, they are doing an "ostritch".

Here's the Washington Whispers today:

"The main lesson that the Senate Intelligence Committee drew from the run-up to the Iraq war was that Washington needs intense scrutiny of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. So with all the buzz about nukes in Iran, it would be safe to assume that the committee is deep into an inquiry, right? Well, not quite. Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, the committee chair, warns that "we have not made the progress on our oversight of Iran intelligence, which is critical." The panel has done only piecemeal scrutiny of the spy agencies' work on Iran. "There is no organized committee staff effort to look at Iran right now," says majority staff director Bill Duhnke. "It's all sort of on hold." Roberts blames it on Democrats who are "more focused on intelligence failures of the past." Committee staffers who would conduct the Iran inquiry are instead tied up with the long-awaited second phase of the panel's review of prewar intelligence on Iraq (which covers how the Bush administration used the intelligence). Democrats say Roberts is stalling on Phase 2. "If the committee has not conducted a review of Iran intelligence, it's not because of a lack of resources," says Wendy Morigi, spokeswoman for Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the committee's ranking Democrat. Roberts says he is pushing hard to complete the Iraq inquiry, which could take several more months. Then, the committee can focus more on Iran. Perhaps Tehran will be kind enough to wait for them."

Sure, finding out exactly what went on in the rush to war with Iraq is important - but it isn't as important as the new rush to war. The GOP have blindsided the Dem leadership by stalling on the Iraq review for so long and now are able to make it look like the Dems are the ones stalling an Iran review. And the Dems are co-operating with them by doing nothing to change the game!

They need to get their fingers out of their asses, drop the Iraq enquiry and get the GOP stallers moving on a review of Iran intelligence, STAT! Otherwise, they will be reviewing yet another historical set of lies, in the past tense, instead of getting to the facts before the bombs begin dropping.