Mike Thompson: “I would say, in response, that I indeed have had that concern as that investigation has gone along. And we have seen the…”

“I would say, in response, that I indeed have had that concern as that investigation has gone along. And we have seen the various problems we have had with it and the various difficulties we have had internally and externally, and with the time limitation we placed on ourselves in this intelligence investigation. And I was concerned a long time about where we were going to end up and whether we were going to be in a position of assuring the American people that we had done more than we had really done. I will have more to say on that later. I still want to keep my powder as dry as I can for as long as I can because it is ongoing and hope springs eternal. But I certainly do have concern about that, which gets me back to my original concern about where intelligence ought to play in this inquiry. I appreciate the Senator's reassurance with regard to that, and its importance and, perhaps, central function, central role. But I wonder; it concerns me when I see that put together with immigration issues, and aviation issues, and diplomacy issues. For example, I would be interested and would like, if we could get the right kind of people and the right kind of objectivity, to have a session as to our policies with regard to reaction ever since the bombings in Beirut, to the attack on the USS Cole, to the events in Somalia, and all of that. What effect did all of that have on all of this?”