Statement from General Wesley Clark Regarding Senate Inquiry on Iraq Intelligence:

The time has come to stop the blame game and get to the bottom of what led us to an unnecessary, unilateral, preemptive war in Iraq.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is preparing a report on prewar intelligence that will be highly critical of the CIA, blaming the intelligence agency for overstating the threat of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

This report is yet another brick in the mounting wall of evidence that the Bush administration either misrepresented intelligence or relied upon faulty intelligence in leading us to war with Iraq.

We need a comprehensive, independent, public investigation into how this Administration has handled its intelligence. Only a thorough, independent investigation can identify the cracks in the system and help restore the trust of our citizens and our allies.

Not only is it important to determine what happened in Iraq but we also have enormous challenges ahead of us. Whether it's North Korea or the war on terrorism, we need to know whether our intelligence has been manipulated for political reasons.