The Democratic Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee contradicted the White House's assessment of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq today.

In a statement sent to RAW STORY, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) warned that the President's plan to escalate the number of American troops in Iraq could be based on stale intelligence.
Calling the four-month delay of the release of the National Intelligence Estimate "unacceptable," Reyes contradicted a key White House claim about the basis for Bush's "New Way Forward in Iraq."

"Unfortunately for the troops he is now sending into harm's way, the President's plan was developed without the benefit of a fully vetted National Intelligence Estimate," Reyes said in the statement.

He added, "Further, because this NIE does not contain the most recent intelligence as to the situation on the ground, there is a concern that its assumptions will be stale and its analysis overtaken by events."

In a press conference on the release of the NIE earlier today, President George W. Bush's National Security Adviser said that the plan to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq was based on well-founded intelligence.

"I'd like to draw your attention to -- in terms of the question I think you're going to have, which is, what is the mirroring up or the match-up between this intelligence judgments and the president's strategy?" Hadley said, and then pointed to events he said the NIE anticipated, particularly the recent battle between a Shi'ite militia and Iraqi soldiers in Najaf.

In his statement, Reyes also pledged further oversight. "Our Committee plans an aggressive series of hearings over the coming weeks to address the intelligence challenges in Iraq. We will scrutinize the conclusions reached by the Intelligence Community and seek to understand whether we are fielding the best intelligence capability," he said.

Reyes's Republican counterpart on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, said in an earlier statement today "The latest Iraq NIE in many respects tells us what we already know. The situation in Iraq is extraordinarily difficult."

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