The case for war under new focus

For the president and the public to move forward with confidence when confronting decisions such as going to war with Iraq, the country's intelligence system may have to be fully evaluated.

That process has been playing out out in Washington, with the focus mainly on the CIA. But last week, Congress broadened its probe into prewar Iraq intelligence to delve into the roles of the State Department, the Pentagon, and the president's National Security Council.

The stakes are high. Besides worrying over their loss of credibility, members of the intelligence community worry about being spread too thin. Last year, as the US stepped up pressure on Saddam Hussein, sizable intelligence resources were drawn away from the pursuit of Al Qaeda and devoted to Iraq. Now, intelligence agencies are spending a great deal of time looking back.

"We have to be clearheaded, capable of looking forward at new and evolving threats," says one intelligence official.

Many agree there are problems with the system that need to be fixed - highlighted by the lack of postinvasion evidence that Mr. Hussein had an active weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program or ties with Al Qaeda.

"The US government can certainly do things that ... will restore the credibility of the intelligence community for future contingencies," says Greg Thielmann, former head of the nonproliferation and military affairs office in the State Department's intelligence arm. "Congress and the president need to be able to believe the intelligence community, and the country needs to be able to believe the president when he tells them about classified issues."

Two other governments that had access to the same intelligence have thoroughly examined their processes. Australia's Parliament voted earlier this month to censure Prime Minister John Howard for misleading the public on the justification for going to war. And the popularity of British Prime Minister Tony Blair has fallen to the lowest point of his term in office, following an unprecedented public airing of its intelligence-related decisions and the tragic suicide of one of its top weapons scientists.

It's still unclear if the Bush administration will cooperate fully with the Senate Intelligence Committee's probe of prewar intelligence, and how long the committee is willing to wait before it begins to issue subpoenas. It had requested the agencies to comply by noon on Friday. But as of the end of the day, only part of the requests had been fulfilled.

The CIA delivered much of its materials and said more would be "forthcoming" this week. As did the State Department. But the Pentagon said it was still "working" on its outstanding questions, including those about the Office of Special Plans that was set up inside the Pentagon for intelligence on Iraq. And the White House so far is refusing - as past administrations have - to turn over the presidential daily briefs the committee requested. It similarly refused to provide such documents to the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.

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