Washington, Nov 09: The leader of US Senate Republicans has suspended a politically damaging inquiry into possible inadequacies or misuse of pre-war intelligence on Iraq, saying it was being manipulated "to politically wound the President of the United States". The announcement by Senate majority leader Bill Frist in a floor speech Friday capped a heated political row in the upper Congressional chamber triggered by a leaked democratic memorandum outlining a strategy for using the probe for political gain.
"At this moment of peril in our nations history, as our intelligence agencies and our armed forces in the Middle East are at war against our mortal enemies, those responsible for this memo appear to be more focused on winning the White House than they are on winning the war against terror," thundered the Tennessee Republican.
He demanded that the author of the document, presumed to be a member of the democratic staff on the Senate Intelligence Committee, step forward and identify himself or herself -- and the intended recipient of the memo.
The inquiry, which has never acquired the status of an official investigation, grew out of the failure by the administration of President George W. Bush to discover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, whose alleged presence in the country was used to justify the invasion. Bureau Report