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I'm late to this story, and its late in the evening, so I'm outsourcing.

First, the setup. Steve Benen:

We've been waiting for the Senate Intelligence Committee to report on the misuse of pre-war intelligence for so long, it's easy to forget what a debacle the endeavor really is.

Here's a quick primer. The Intelligence Committee began a comprehensive investigation nearly five years ago. Initially, the committee was prepared to release one authoritative document on the Iraq intelligence, what it said, and how it was handled. With the 2004 presidential election looming, then-Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) split the report in two -- one on how wrong the intelligence community and agencies were (released before the '04 election) and another on how the White House used/misused/abused the available information (to be released after the '04 election).

Roberts played fast and loose for years. First he said publicly that he'd "try" to have Phase II available to the public before the 2004 election. He didn't. Roberts then gave his word, in writing, that members of the Senate Intelligence Committee would have a draft report on controversial "public statements" from administration officials by April 2006. That didn't happen, either. Then he indicated that he wanted to give up on the second part of the investigation altogether. (In January, we learned that the investigation was impeded by the Vice President.)

Today, the wait is over. And you'll never guess what investigators found...

As you read what comes next, remember that this is a bipartisan report. From the Press Release of Intelligence Committee

In making the case for war, the Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent. As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed. ... Sadly, the Bush Administration led the nation into war under false pretenses.

McClatchy:

President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top officials promoted the invasion of Iraq with public statements that weren't supported by intelligence or that concealed differences among intelligence agencies, the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Thursday in a report that was delayed by bitter partisan infighting.

A second report found that a special office set up under then-secretary of defense Donald H. Rumsfeld conducted "sensitive intelligence activities" that were inappropriate "without the knowledge of the Intelligence Community or the State Department." That report revealed that Pentagon counterintelligence officials suspected that Iran might have tried to use the group to influence administration policymakers.

Committee chairman John D. Rockefeller, D-W. Va., said the administration's actions went far beyond simply being misled by bad intelligence.

"There is no question we all relied on flawed intelligence," Rockefeller said in a statement. "But, there is a fundamental difference between relying on incorrect intelligence and deliberately painting a picture to the American people that you know is not fully accurate."

"Before taking the country to war, this administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced," Rockefeller said. "Unfortunately, our committee has concluded that the administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence."

Back to the press release for some details:

--Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa'ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa'ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence.

--Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information.

--Statements by President Bush and Vice President Cheney regarding the postwar situation in Iraq, in terms of the political, security, and economic, did not reflect the concerns and uncertainties expressed in the intelligence products.

--Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq's chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community's uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing.

--The Secretary of Defense's statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information.

--The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed.

Sen Wyden is focusing on the Rumsfeld report. Here's TPM's story:

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a member of the authoring Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, called today for a review of whether then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's testimony to Congress was true, given the information in the report....

Wyden had a thing or two to say about Rumfeld's "not substantiated" testimony:

This is stunning: the Secretary of Defense, testifying before Congress about whether or not ground forces would be strategically necessary in a war against Iraq, said that the Executive Branch "knew" something that it did not know.

The intelligence available at the time made this clear, and two months later a report prepared specifically for Secretary Rumsfeld directly contradicted what he told the Committee. As far as I know, neither Rumsfeld nor anyone else from his office made any attempt to contact the Committee and correct the public record, and the result was that Congress and the American people were misled on a question of the utmost importance. I do not think that this is a matter that Congress can afford to ignore and I hope that the Armed Services Committee will take a serious look at Secretary Rumsfeld's statements.

Sen. Whitehouse wants in on this, too:

For years, the evidence has mounted that this Administration's reasons for war were a sham. And just this week, the President's own former spokesman indicated that the White House ran a "political propaganda campaign" building the case for war.

This morning's report is a chilling reminder of the Bush Administration's willingness to overlook or set aside intelligence that did not conform to its pre-ordained view of the world. Over and over again, the Committee documented instances in which public statements by the President, the Vice President, and members of the Administration's national security team were at odds with available intelligence information.

By leading the American people to believe that the situation in Iraq was significantly more drastic than it actually was, the Bush Administration took this country into an unnecessary war - a war it still refuses to end.

In a speech in Cincinnati, a little over a year after al Qaeda attacked America on September 11th, President Bush said: "We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. ... We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases."

In his 2003 State of the Union Address, just a few short weeks before giving the order that began this war, the President said: "Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda."

Mr. President, it was not true. The President of the United States told these things to our people and to the world, and they were false.

Tim F rants:

After Bill Clinton got caught lying about blowjob, nobody took his word anymore on the topic of sex. I can't think of a single Clinton partisan who didn't acknowledge that his word was pretty much forfeit at least when it came to his unmentionables. The president! What will we tell the children!

So riddle me this. I think a fair case can be made that the Bush crowd lied more often and more meaningfully than about one crappy blowjob. Yet when noise comes out of an administration official concerning national security, some people still listen. This Sunday some Bushie will sit down for a chat show and the host will nod along as the administration has some credibility left.

It's sad to think that America has fallen so far as a nation that we no longer care when the President lies to our face. Have we really debased ourselves so badly in such a short time, or were rightwing partisans faking their deep concern about the honor of the office? Six of one, half dozen of the other. Either way it's a depressing spectacle to watch.

I'll make mine shorter.

We were right. About everything. All of us on the left who were marginalized and belittled for daring to question what this administration told us about the threat we faced. We were right. About all of it.

Sen. McCain says that "every intelligence agency in the world" believed Saddam was a threat. Sen. Clinton would do no better than "if I knew then what I know now."

But we knew. And we were right. About all of it.