Kucinich Asks Cheney for Answers

Never the shy one, Kucinich wants answers:

Kucinich Challenges Cheney in Iraq Flap
Tuesday July 22, 2003 4:59 PM By MALIA RULON Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential aspirant Dennis Kucinich is calling on Vice President Dick Cheney to explain his role in how the now-disavowed claim that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa ended up in President Bush's State of the Union address. In a letter sent to the vice president, the Ohio congressman and two members of the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, emerging threats and international relations asked Cheney to explain his multiple visits to CIA headquarters. "These visits were unprecedented. Normally, vice presidents, yourself included, receive regular briefings from CIA in your office ... there is no reason for the vice president to make personal visits to CIA analysts,'' said the letter, which was sent late Monday.

Kucinich and Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., posed 10 questions that they want the vice president to answer, such as: "Did you or a member of your staff at any time direct or encourage CIA analysts to disseminate unreliable intelligence?''

Cheney's office did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. The lawmakers also are seeking an explanation on the vice president's involvement in the CIA sending Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador, to Niger to investigate the possible sale of uranium. The lawmakers want to know who in the vice president's office was briefed on the contents of Wilson's report, what efforts were made to share the findings with other members of the Bush administration and whether Cheney's office found the report to be accurate. The letter also asks Cheney to explain why he and other high-ranking members of the administration claimed Iraq had a nuclear weapons program even after the uranium sale could not be proven by Wilson's investigation.

Kucinich, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, issued another call Tuesday for the administration to withdraw American troops from Iraq immediately. "This administration, whose entry strategy was based on falsehood, with no exit strategy, has trapped our troops in Iraq and exposed them to greater harm,'' Kucinich said in a speech on the House floor.

We all know Cheney isn't going to respond to Kucinich's letter, much less give him the time of day. Kucinich should now move on to other issues and other people, like George Bush for example. There are so many questionable issues about which to query Rice, Bush, Rumsfeld, Powell, etc. Keep those questions coming, Dennis!