Feingold's statment on Bolton

[housewolf]

“WE CANNOT PAY LIP SERVICE TO THE VALUE OF DISSENT WITHIN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY…” Senator Russ Feingold was one of a handful of Democratic senators to vote to confirm John Bolton as Undersecretary of State in 2000. Yesterday, he formalized his opposition to the current nomination and his statement is well worth a read.

First, far beyond simple anecdotes revealing a hot temper or a tendency to abuse those less powerful than himself, this Committee has been presented with credible information indicating that Mr. Bolton sought to retaliate against intelligence analysts when their work did not suit his policy inclinations. We cannot pay lip service to the value of dissent within the intelligence community and then fail to hold officials accountable when they seek to silence dissent through intimidation, or to so tightly control dissent such that it is never heard or shared. This is not an abstract point, it is an issue vital to our national security, as both the 9/11 Commission and the Silberman-Robb Commission have so recently noted. It is also vital to restoring the credibility of the United States in the world. When we point to a threat to global peace and security, the world should be able to believe us. But after the embarrassing failures of U.S. intelligence in Iraq, and after the wildly overheated rhetoric that our policymakers employed to characterize shaky intelligence on the global stage, our credibility has taken a beating. It is the responsibility of everyone in the U.S. government to restore it. We can start by insisting on holding those who would suppress inconvenient analysis accountable for their actions.

Right on.

--Mark Leon Goldberg

http://www.prospect.org/weblog/archives/2005/04/index.html#006187