On the Fact that Bush (Junior) Almost Sounded Disappointed (in His Memoir, "Decision Points") When He Learned that the National Intelligence Agencies Had Concluded that Iran WASN'T Building a Nuclear Weapon
9-21-01 Bush briefed by intel community that there is no evidence linking Saddam to 9/11. 3-22-02 Downing Street memo: "US scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and Al Qaida is so far frankly unconvincing…We are still left with a problem of bringing public opinion to accept the imminence of a threat from Iraq…Regime change does not stack up. It sounds like a grudge between Bush and Saddam. Summer-02 French debunk yellowcake theory: "We told the Americans, 'Bullshit. It doesn't make any sense,'" says French official. 9-5-02 Upon hearing from Tenet that no National Intelligence Estimate had been produced to assess justification for war, Sen. Graham demands one. Sept 02 American relatives of Iraqis sent as CIA moles return from Iraq. All 30 report Saddam has abandoned WMD programs. Intel buried in the CIA bureaucracy. President Bush never briefed. 10-4-02 Knight Ridder reports: "Several senior administration officials and intelligence officers, all of whom spoke only on the condition of anonymity, charged that the decision to publicize one analysis of the aluminum tubes and ignore the contrary one is typical of the way the administration has been handling intelligence about Iraq." 10-8-02 Knight Ridder reports: "[A] growing number of military officers, intelligence professionals and diplomats in his own government privately have deep misgivings about the administration's double-time march toward war. These officials charge that administration hawks have exaggerated evidence of the threat that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein poses…'Analysts at the working level in the intelligence community are feeling very strong pressure from the Pentagon to cook the intelligence books,' said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity." 01-03 CIA balks at being made to bolster weak WMD intel. In a heated conversation with Scooter Libby, CIA's McLaughlin says: "I'm not going back to the well on this. We've done our work." 2-1-03 During UN speech rehearsal, Powell throws draft written by Libby into the air and says: "I'm not reading this. This is bullshit." 2-27-03 US diplomat John Brady Kiesling resigns, citing the "distortion of intelligence" and "systematic manipulation of American opinion." 3-16-03 Cheney on Meet the Press: "We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." (Cheney later claims he misspoke.) Adds, "I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators." 3-20-03 The 'pre-emptive' invasion of Iraq begins. Would that Bush had a cabinet rather than second rate Vulcans.
This was about Iran but, yes, Bush mucked up mightily with Iraq for certain.......And you can't blame Bush totally, BB. As Thomas Ricks has pointed out in "Fiasco", there probably wasn't a single one of those 77 Senators who even went as far as to read the 5 page summary of the NIE which absolutely DID have numerous ambiguities and many reasons to be cautious.
There were positive ties between the socialist government under Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and Al Qaeda. But certainly not to the extent that Saddam's regime had any major role in aiding AQ in its missions. Nothing like Afghanistan's government at that time, which hosted, encouraged, and supplied AQ to aid it in 9/11 to the point where the Afghanistan government was complicit in the attack.
"there probably wasn't a single one of those 77 Senators who even went as far as to read..."
Remember David Conyers, a Representative caught in bribery crimes, who has admitted he is too lazy to read what he votes on. And now we find out a bunch of Republicans who urge passage of TPP haven't actually bothered to read it.
This happens a lot.
But but on the other hand, there's the waterboarding policy of the 2000s... Nancy Pelosi read it, approved it, and signed off on it.
5 comments:
9-21-01 Bush briefed by intel community that there is no evidence linking Saddam to 9/11.
3-22-02 Downing Street memo: "US scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and Al Qaida is so far frankly unconvincing…We are still left with a problem of bringing public opinion to accept the imminence of a threat from Iraq…Regime change does not stack up. It sounds like a grudge between Bush and Saddam.
Summer-02 French debunk yellowcake theory: "We told the Americans, 'Bullshit. It doesn't make any sense,'" says French official.
9-5-02 Upon hearing from Tenet that no National Intelligence Estimate had been produced to assess justification for war, Sen. Graham demands one.
Sept 02 American relatives of Iraqis sent as CIA moles return from Iraq. All 30 report Saddam has abandoned WMD programs. Intel buried in the CIA bureaucracy. President Bush never briefed.
10-4-02 Knight Ridder reports: "Several senior administration officials and intelligence officers, all of whom spoke only on the condition of anonymity, charged that the decision to publicize one analysis of the aluminum tubes and ignore the contrary one is typical of the way the administration has been handling intelligence about Iraq."
10-8-02 Knight Ridder reports: "[A] growing number of military officers, intelligence professionals and diplomats in his own government privately have deep misgivings about the administration's double-time march toward war. These officials charge that administration hawks have exaggerated evidence of the threat that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein poses…'Analysts at the working level in the intelligence community are feeling very strong pressure from the Pentagon to cook the intelligence books,' said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity."
01-03 CIA balks at being made to bolster weak WMD intel. In a heated conversation with Scooter Libby, CIA's McLaughlin says: "I'm not going back to the well on this. We've done our work."
2-1-03 During UN speech rehearsal, Powell throws draft written by Libby into the air and says: "I'm not reading this. This is bullshit."
2-27-03 US diplomat John Brady Kiesling resigns, citing the "distortion of intelligence" and "systematic manipulation of American opinion."
3-16-03 Cheney on Meet the Press: "We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." (Cheney later claims he misspoke.) Adds, "I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators."
3-20-03 The 'pre-emptive' invasion of Iraq begins. Would that Bush had a cabinet
rather than second rate Vulcans.
This was about Iran but, yes, Bush mucked up mightily with Iraq for certain.......And you can't blame Bush totally, BB. As Thomas Ricks has pointed out in "Fiasco", there probably wasn't a single one of those 77 Senators who even went as far as to read the 5 page summary of the NIE which absolutely DID have numerous ambiguities and many reasons to be cautious.
There were positive ties between the socialist government under Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and Al Qaeda. But certainly not to the extent that Saddam's regime had any major role in aiding AQ in its missions. Nothing like Afghanistan's government at that time, which hosted, encouraged, and supplied AQ to aid it in 9/11 to the point where the Afghanistan government was complicit in the attack.
"there probably wasn't a single one of those 77 Senators who even went as far as to read..."
Remember David Conyers, a Representative caught in bribery crimes, who has admitted he is too lazy to read what he votes on. And now we find out a bunch of Republicans who urge passage of TPP haven't actually bothered to read it.
This happens a lot.
But but on the other hand, there's the waterboarding policy of the 2000s... Nancy Pelosi read it, approved it, and signed off on it.
Iran/Iraq; my boo, color me embarrassed.
No problembo and I essentially agree with you points here.
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