On Friday President Bush appointed a commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the invasion of Iraq. Co-chairing the commission will be federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman and former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb. According to Inter Press Service Silberman is a longtime Republican operative who helped orchestrate Ronald Reagan’s1980 “October Suprise” when Reagan secretly made contacts with the Iranian government before he was elected. It has long been charged that Reagan’s campaign reached an agreement with Iran not to release the U.S. embassy hostages until after the November elections. Silberman also advised Republican activists during the 1990s on strategies to pursue sexual misconduct allegations against President Clinton. Other members of the commission include Senator John McCain, former deputy CIA Director Admiral William Studeman and Yale University President Richard Levin.