An independent inquiry has been called to investigate the intelligence used before the war in Iraq, and President George W. Bush surprising some of the administration’s critics.

While an investigation into the pre-war intelligence was inevitable, Bush’s support of the investigation was not guaranteed. Had he objected to an investigation, it would have appeared he was trying to cover something up. Supporting it is great political gamesmanship, but it is positive.

When all is said and done, there must be an entirely independent inquiry into what the White House knew and what administration officials used to sell the war to the public.

The White House should not play any role in the investigation other than fully supporting it.

The administration demanded that intelligence “evidence” of weapons of mass destruction be taken as just cause to go to war.

The evidence in question appeared to be reliable, as many people believed it and an entire government body – Congress – decided to support Bush on it in November 2002. Billions of dollars have been put into Iraq – money that was needed as a result of a decision based on the very intelligence in question.

Many people have lost their lives fighting this war. They went to war believing there was intelligence – backing up their call to arms.

If the investigation finds the White House used misleading intelligence and put soldiers’ lives in danger, the administration wil have to answer to many angry Americans.

But investigatiors must take care with great precautions to ensure the problem is found, sorted and inoframtion is released with care.

The investigation cannot compromise future intelligence operations, and thus the way in which the questionable intelligence was discovered must not be publicized – the investigations must treat the subject matter sensitively.

Whether or not intelligence is reliable is a matter of national security. If there is a problem in the intelligence-gathering system, it must be solved.

If the problem was administration officials’ treatment of intelligence they received, that too must be dealt with accordingly.