Kennedy, Levin Urge Release of Unclassified Conclusions of New Iraq Intelligence Report

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent the following letter to John McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence, asking him to release an unclassified summary of key conclusions and assessments included in the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.

Kennedy and Levin state that there is no reason for this request to be denied, and ask that the information be provided before General Petraeus’s and Ambassador Crocker’s forthcoming testimony before Congress.

The text of the letter is below.

April 2, 2008

The Honorable John M. McConnell
Director of National Intelligence
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Washington, DC 20511

Dear Director McConnell:

We are writing to ask you to release an unclassified summary of the key conclusions and judgments in the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.

This information is critical to the public debate in the coming weeks and months. Without a current unclassified assessment of the situation in Iraq, Congress and the American people will not have the essential information needed for an informed public debate.

There is no compelling reason not to release an unclassified version of this latest NIE that summarizes the major conclusions and judgments of the classified report, while still protecting the sources and methods of our intelligence community. Recent NIE’s on Iraq have included unclassified versions that were released to the public, and we urge you to continue this established practice.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter, and we look forward to the release of an unclassified NIE on Iraq before General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker testify to the Congress.

With respect and appreciation,

Sincerely,

Edward M. Kennedy
Carl Levin