Senior Republican senators, as yet unidentified, inserted a provision into a supplementary defense spending bill that will make "denial of the pre-war existence of WMD in Iraq" a federal crime punishable by twenty-five years to life. The section was added just before the bill was voted on. No Democratic senators and few Republicans were aware of this addition before the bill was passed. A clearly pleased senior Republican staffer was quoted as saying "who thought we could have learned something from Europe!" Democratic senators and civil liberties campaigners were clearly angered by the news but there appears to be little they can do. Bush is expected to sign the bill within days.
Beltway insiders are speculating that this story may be related to other news that came to light recently.
A chubby, balding, bespectacled White House official, speaking anonymously, when asked if any prosecutions were planned said "Don't worry we have a list. Carter, Blix, El Baradei do you hear me?"
