Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which released a much-anticipated report Thursday. The committee looked into the intelligence the Bush Administration used to justify the Iraq invasion. Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports from Capitol Hill.

Democratic Senators unveiled the report with a generous dose of indignation.

Sen. Ron Wyden cited statements made in 2002 by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in underground bunkers, making them invulnerable to air strikes.

Ron Wyden: "This is a remarkable finding. The Secretary of Defense testifying before Congress about whether or not ground forces would be strategically necessary in a war against Iraq – said something that the executive branch knew that it did not know."

Republicans shot back immediately. They said Wyden mischaracterized Rumsfeld’s testimony about underground WMDs. And that the report in general fails to match specific statements with intelligence available at the time.

Wyden has asked Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin to further review the matter.