A few additional thoughts about the lack of attention and respect given to the Karen Hughes hearing yesterday
A number of Democratic members on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had previously indicated their interest in pursuing the leak investigation and holding the leakers accountable. But while the Democratic Policy Committee held a public relations hearing to publicize the importance of the matter, members of the Foreign Relations committee missed a huge opportunity to get a senior Bush adviser who was intimately involved in the events surrounding the leak to speak on-the-record, under oath.
Even if senators were not interested in probing the leak or examining Hughes’ involvement in the manipulation of pre-war Iraq intelligence, they at least had an obligation to show up and question the next Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy about an issue extremely vital to our long-term national security: building friends and allies around the world, particularly the Muslim world.
