Panetta, he predicted, "will restore the integrity of the intelligence process.
An administration official called discussions about the aluminum tubes and Iraq's intentions "a normal part of the intelligence process".
But Mr. Armstrong's supporters respond that he has been targeted by ideologues who would distort the intelligence process to get the kind of analysis they want.
But critics have said the team is at work finding only information that fits the most hawkish views on Iraq and risks politicizing the intelligence process.
"The spies for hire may not like the idea of subjecting the intelligence process to more oversight, but they're not the ones paying the bill.
White House officials also worried that they would be accused of tainting the intelligence process, so they pressed Mr. McConnell to have the intelligence community write and issue its own declassified summary.
When Red Cross monitors expressed alarm about prisoners being left in their cells or forced to move about naked, they said military intelligence officials "confirmed that it was part of the military intelligence process".
The Democrats reiterated their view that the committee's review must "explore fully the role of policy makers in the intelligence process, including the use or potential misuse of intelligence" before the American invasion of Iraq last March.
The hawks have accused the C.I.A. of politicizing the intelligence process by dismissing information that would substantiate the connection — and in that way strengthen the Administration's case against Iraq.
Mr. Blair said that Lord Hutton's was the third full inquiry into circumstances related to the war and that the only thing left to examine was the intelligence process itself.
