[国会记录：2007年12月4日（参议院）] [Page S14734-S14735]国家情报估计Dorgan先生。主席先生，今天早上我有机会，我很少有，观看白宫总统布什总统的全新闻发布会。新闻发布会在很大程度上涉及昨天出现在昨天关于伊朗核武器计划的问题的国家情报估计的主题。聂说出来，表明 - 肯定自己和许多人的惊喜 - 伊朗的国家4年前遗弃了其核武器计划，2003年。我感到惊讶，许多其他人都被听到了这次行政当局关于伊朗核武器计划提出的威胁，包括墨布总统提出了“第二次世界大战第三次”的幽灵。“现在我们学习了他们所指出的核武器计划，他们指出伊朗在4年前停止了伊朗。这是我们国家智力估计，这是对所有情报机构的累积评估。我认为，一些非常重要和令人不安的问题。实际上，问题不是新的问题。这是：这次政府知道了什么？他们明白了什么？ What did they find out and when? The American people, and certainly this Congress, has been treated to a very generous conversation by the President and his administration about the specter of the nuclear weapons program in Iran and how it must be stopped. I don't disagree at all with the contention that the behavior of Ahmadinejad and of some of the terrorist elements in Iran and others is far outside the norm and is troublesome to this country. But that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the question of a nuclear weapons program and the relentless language by this administration about the nuclear weapons program that was being pursued by the country of Iran. The intelligence community now says that is not the case and has not been the case since 2003. I wonder if the administration knew, if Mr. Hadley knew--I heard his briefing--did the President know about this new assessment when 5 or 6 weeks ago he was giving another of his speeches and raising the specter of World War III in connection with a presumed or alleged nuclear weapons program by the country of Iran. The American people certainly didn't know what the National Intelligence Estimate had disclosed to us. We are told the Intelligence Community came to this conclusion sometime [[Page S14735]] around this summer. Mr. Hadley originally said the intelligence folks alerted the White House and indicated that the President should back off a bit. He certainly did not back off. The reason I raise these issues is because I remember back about 5 years ago going to a room in which top-secret briefings were offered to Members of Congress as a leadup to the war in Iraq. I remember directly the Vice President, the National Security Chief, now the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, I remember the discussion by the head of the CIA, I remember the top-secret material that was told us, which turns out not to have been accurate as a leadup to the Iraq war. I remember when Secretary Powell, then-Secretary of State, went to the United Nations and made the case describing things we had previously been told about in many cases in top-secret briefings. For example Powell talked about the danger of the mobile biological weapons labs that supposedly existed in the country of Iraq. It turns out the mobile biological weapons labs did not exist. It turns out the mobile biological weapons laboratory story was from a fabricator from the country of Iraq, a former taxicab driver in Baghdad, as a matter of fact, someone who was telling this to the German intelligence community. And someone in the German intelligence community wondered whether this person was credible and expressed doubts about the person's credibility to the American intelligence service. They nicknamed this man ``Curve Ball.'' So from a single source, a man named Curve Ball who, among other things, used to drive a taxicab in Baghdad, the world is treated by Secretary Powell to a presentation at the United Nations saying Iraq has mobile biological weapons laboratories which are a danger to all of us. It turns out not to have been true, a fabrication based on a single source without credibility. None of us were told that at the time, of course. The world wasn't told that. We were just told that Iraq had mobile biological weapons laboratories. We were told Iraq was buying aluminum tubes for the purpose of reconstituting their nuclear capability. The world was told that by Secretary Powell. It turns out that was false as well. And it also turns out that even as we were told that information, the administration knew there were others inside the administration who did not believe it, and yet that information was imparted to us as a set of facts that represented the danger coming from the country of Iraq. We were told that Iraq was attempting to purchase yellowcake from Niger for the purpose of reconstituting a nuclear capability. We discovered only later that the documents on that were fraudulent. We discovered they were forgeries. Again, the information given the Congress was inaccurate. Yellowcake from Niger, aluminum tubes, mobile biological weapons laboratories--not accurate, not true. It was presented to the Congress as fact, presented to the American people as fact prior to the Iraq war. There has been a great deal of discussion and also concern in the country, in this Chamber, about whether this administration is preparing to do something with respect to the country of Iran, and that has been heightened by the language President Bush used recently, including language that said ``World War III'' in the context of the danger of a nuclear weapons program in the country of Iran. That statement was about 5 or 6 weeks ago. We now know that the National Intelligence Estimate, representing all of the intelligence agencies in this country, has indicated that the nuclear weapons program of Iran that has been discussed so much by the administration was discontinued in 2003. I think there are serious credibility questions. The President held a press conference today that seemed to suggest that, well, there is no real issue here. There is a very big issue, I say to the President, a very big issue. This country needs to take action internationally to develop strategies based on what we know to be the truth, not what someone alleges to be true. This country needs to have good information, information that is not fabricated by a man named Curve Ball who used to drive a taxicab. This country deserves better than that. In my judgment, this country has been failed in many ways, some by the intelligence community, some by the administration, perhaps some by Congress. But we certainly deserve straight answers. We deserve the best intelligence that is available. Look, the fact is we face a challenging and difficult world. One part of that world is the country of Iran. I do not by being here tonight suggest that Iran's behavior is not troublesome, or that they are not a danger in their neighborhood. They are. But I have always believed that the constructive approach to dealing with Iran and, yes, other circumstances around the world is through diplomacy and negotiation and aggressive diplomacy at that. This administration does not believe that is the right course. But I do believe that facing the world that we face, a very challenging world, a war against terrorism, this country will be protected by good intelligence, by an intelligence community that works. I appreciate the fact that yesterday we were told finally that the Iranians are not at the moment engaging in a nuclear weapons program. They discontinued that in 2003. They say they have high reliability with respect to that conclusion. I appreciate the fact that we are getting that conclusion at this point. And if that is a valid conclusion, if that is the result of good intelligence--and I certainly hope our intelligence service has improved because they got it wrong about 5 years ago. We need to be well served by the best intelligence service we can be capable of producing. I know today there are men and women risking their lives as members of our intelligence community. My thoughts are with them. I want the best they can give us. And if yesterday's National Intelligence Estimate gives us opportunities to better understand what is happening in that region, then that advances our knowledge. I will say this: I think this Congress and this administration need to have some straight talk about credibility because there are serious credibility issues with respect to this issue that at this point have not been answered at all, certainly were not answered in the President's news conference today. The safety of this country hinges on our ability to have good intelligence. This war on terrorism is not a bunch of words, it is real, and there are too many victims out there in this country today who understand that reality. The way to protect our country in the future is to have a good understanding of what is going on in the world, have good intelligence, have good information, and take steps to protect ourselves. But it does not serve this country's interest by ratcheting up the rhetoric and talking about World War III with respect to a country that the administration has alleged up to now has had a nuclear weapons program, only to find out that nuclear weapons program was discontinued 4 years ago. This Congress and this administration needs to have an aggressive conversation about credibility. We actually represent the same country. I am sure we want the same result. We want to protect this country. We want a foreign policy that deals with reality and a foreign policy that deals with truths that exist out there in a very challenging world. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________