The Democratic Policy Committee held hearings on Monday September 25th on the Planning and Conduct of the War in Iraq. Witnesses included Major General John R.S. Batiste, U.S. Army (Retired); Major General Paul D. Eaton, U.S. Army (Retired); and Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired).
The Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) was established in January 1947, after President Harry Truman signed legislation to create majority and minority party policy committees in the Senate. Since its creation nearly sixty years ago, the DPC has served Senate Democrats by providing research and legislative support, publishing reports on important legislation and policy issues, tracking roll call votes, differentiating Democratic policy positions from Republican positions, and promoting Caucus unity and cohesion.
They state their purpose in conducting these hearings as:
Members of Congress have a Constitutional obligation to oversee the activities of the Executive Branch. In the absence of effective oversight by congressional Republicans, the DPC conducts aggressive oversight and holds hearings to ensure government accountability.
Among the subjects the DPC has focused on are contracting abuses in Iraq and in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina; pre-war intelligence failures; continuing homeland security vulnerabilities; wasteful deficit spending; proposals to undermine Social Security; covert propaganda by federal agencies to advance political agendas; the enforcement of environmental laws; and United States trade policy. Staff at the DPC Oversight and Accountability Project work with whistleblowers, non-profit groups, Executive Branch agencies, and their colleagues on Capitol Hill to protect U.S. taxpayers, uncover waste, fraud and abuse, and hold government officials accountable.
Here are the videos of the Witness Statements.
Major General John R.S. Batiste, U.S. Army (Ret.) was senior military assistant to then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and commander of the 1st Infantry Division, and served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. This is his testimony from the DPC hearing on Capitol Hill.
Major General Paul D. Eaton, U.S. Army (Ret.) was responsible for training the Iraqi military from May 2003 to March 2004, and for rebuilding the Iraqi police force from March through June 2004. This is his testimony in front of the DPC.
Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, USMC (Ret.) served in Iraq in 2004, and was responsible for establishing bases for the newly reconstituted Iraqi armed forces. He is currently Marine Senior Military Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, National Defense University.
What do you think about it all?
