US Senate meets in private session

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

The United States Senate met behind closed doors on Tuesday under Democratic pressure to investigate the intelligence that led to the war in Iraq. The rare parliamentary rule invoked by the Democrats forces the removal of all media, staff, and tourists from the chamber. Congress will stop working on legislation temporarily.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid stated that a private session was justified by the fact that the indictment of Lewis Libby showed how the administration manipulated the intelligence in order to justify the War on Iraq. President Bush made his case on the war by citing U.S. intelligence showed Iraq with the possessions of weapons of mass destruction. Both the U.N. weapon inspector team and the U.S. military found no such weapons.

Conservatives saw the unusual maneuver as a ploy to distract the public from President Bush's recent nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court and dismissed the investigation, which has been in the news over the past several days with the resignation of Vice President Cheney's aide Scooter Libby after the disclosure that Libby lied under oath about leaking information that would provocate war between Iraq and the U.S.

Sources

"Democrats force Senate into unusual closed session" — CNN, November 1 2005
"Democrats close Senate doors in Iraq protest" — Reuters, November 1 2005
Senator Reid. "Statement by Sen. Reid as prepared for delivery, before taking the senate into closed session." — TPM Cafe, November 1 2005

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