Did senators have the same access to intelligence that the Bush administration did in the lead up to war in Iraq? No.

I hate it when the neo-cons make this accusation.

Bush asserted that "more than 100 Democrats in the House and the Senate, who had access to the same intelligence, voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power."
But Bush does not share his most sensitive intelligence, such as the President's Daily Brief, with lawmakers. Also the National Intelligence Estimate summarizing the intelligence community's views about the threat from Iraq was given to Congress just days before the vote to authorize the use of force in that country.

In addition, there were doubts within the intelligence community not included in the NIE. And even the doubts expressed in the NIE could not be used publicly by members of Congress because the classified information had not been cleared for release. For example, the NIE view that Hussein would not use weapons of mass destruction against the United States or turn them over to terrorists unless backed into a corner was cleared for public use only a day before the Senate vote.

The administration had the access and time to sift through the intelligence and to present to the Senate only the information that supported their goal, which was to use military force against Saddam Hussein. The senate had the added pressure of an American nation that wanted revenge. I know that I, myself, was angry and wanted to lash out at the villains that had attacked us in this country. It was that sentiment, felt universally by all Americans, that helped to shut down any potential opposition to Bush's plan.

But, did these senators really vote to declare war on Saddam?

The October 2002 joint resolution authorized the use of force in Iraq, but it did not directly mention the removal of Hussein from power. The resolution voiced support for diplomatic efforts to enforce "all relevant Security Council resolutions," and for using the armed forces to enforce the resolutions and defend "against the continuing threat posed by Iraq."

And there is the other line of bullshit that I am tired of hearing. The senate did not support our country attacking Iraq, they supported the use of the threat of force to use as leverage to give the diplomatic measures more weight. But Bush took that permission to use the military to intimidate Saddam, to attack and kill Iraqi's before the diplomatic methods and weapons inspectors had finished their work. If Bush had waited he would have discovered that Saddam did not have any weapons of mass destruction.

I think that Bush knew that all along.