Question 10: Mr. Ike Skelton (D-MO):

Summary: Retired General Jack Kean testified here not long ago that the reason we invaded Iraq was that we were "seduced" into doing so by Iraqi exiles, your comments?
(question summary by incap)

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Response from Richard Perle (not transcribed but available on audio)

Response from General Wesley Clark

Mr. Chairman, may I just have a moment, please?

First of all, I'd like to thank Congressman Jones for his remarks, because I think that he expresses the frustrations that so many Americans feel and certainly I did from the beginning.

Of course, I wasn't part of the intelligence community, and I didn't have a need to know during that period. I did testify in front of this committee. But I think Congressman Jones has reminded all of us that we're all held accountable at all times for what we're saying, what we're implying and what we're pushing for.

And with respect to the specific issue of intelligence, we've investigated the intelligence community. We've kicked them in the rear.

Everybody who's ever worked with intelligence knows that you put a wide margin around intelligence estimates. They are never accurate. They're never going to be accurate, and I think policy makers bear a responsibility for what use they make of intelligence.

When I testified in front of this committee in September of 2002, we had a long discussion, Mr. Chairman about whether time was on our side or not. And after I left my friend and colleague warned me that he was going to take apart my statement, and he was one of those who pushed us to move into Iraq in a very rapid fashion.

I think what I'm trying to suggest is that when we're dealing with issues that involve the use of force that we need to be cautious, we need to look for other alternatives, and we need to use force as a last resort.

We need to put a margin around our intelligence, because when you start to commit men and women to combat, the decisions, the results cannot be changed. Lives are lost. It's permanent. It's not correctable.

Those are lessons I learned in my military career, and I think they're lesson that every policy maker has to bear in mind and my concern is that what I'm seeing in the national debate today is a lot of blame on some very honorable, hard working and committed intelligence officers.

Okay, they were wrong, but no one ever said they were always going to be right, and people who are put in policy positions in the high levels of the Armed Forces or elected to positions, who are appointed to positions are expected to exercise judgment.

And that's the accountability that Congressman Long and Congressman Jones and many others in America feel needs to be expressed now.

We haven't had that accountability yet.