Josh Marshall says it's time to call the Hill. Josh is right. Here's what he had to say this morning on his blog:
Do yourself and your country a favor this morning.Bush is campaigning on his national security record. His record is one of making us all less safe. It's not just Democrats and Republican "rebels" saying this. It's Bush's own intelligence community confirming in their most comprehensive review of the war on terror (the NIE) that Bush's invasion of Iraq has increased, not decreased, the terrorist threat America faces.
Call up your US House member and senators -- Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter -- and tell them you want the April National Intelligence Estimate ("Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States") released to the public. Now. Before the election. So the public can know what the White House has been keeping from them.
George Bush and the Republicans are now claiming that when you see the complete NIE, not just the portion that was leaked, it actually somehow exonerates Bush (or something). Fine. We're game. Release the entire NIE to the public and let's see for ourselves whether the Republicans have made us more or less safe since September 11, and whether Bush and the Republicans are telling the truth about what the NIE actually says.
Let's all call our members of Congress NOW and demand that they make public the entire National Intelligence Estimate immediately. And when they tell you it's classified so they can't release it, say "really, are you telling me a National Intelligence Estimate has NEVER been declassified? Answer the question." NIE's have been declassified before. And they can even prepare a declassified executive summary if they don't want to declassify the entire thing.
Let's know the real record. Demand your member of Congress release the NIE now. Then let's report the feedback in the comments on how the calls went, what the offices say, etc.
