[lotuseclat79]

Article here.

Pentagon officials undercut the intelligence community in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq by insisting in briefings to the White House that there was a clear relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, the Defense Department's inspector general said Friday.

-- Tom

[Littlefield]

That is all old news rehashed . Congress needs to focus on the present that has been debated over and over.

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

Pentagon officials undercut the intelligence community in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq by insisting in briefings to the White House that there was a clear relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, the Defense Department's inspector general said Friday.

I thought is was the Bush Admin that did this?

[linskyjack]

Okay---let me break it down for Mulder because he isn't familiar with how the system worked. During the Iraqi war build up, Rumsfeld and Cheney essentially created their own intelligence gathering system, moving that power from the CIA to the Defense Department. It was through this agency, run by Feth, that they disseminated information. They ignored what the CIA was telling them ( they gave George Tenent the PMOF in order to keep him quiet) in order to terrify the American people and the Congress into fighting the war.

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

Okay---let me break it down for Mulder because he isn't familiar with how the system worked. During the Iraqi war build up, Rumsfeld and Cheney essentially created their own intelligence gathering system, moving that power from the CIA to the Defense Department. It was through this agency, run by Feth, that they disseminated information. They ignored what the CIA was telling them ( they gave George Tenent the PMOF in order to keep him quiet) in order to terrify the American people and the Congress into fighting the war.

[linskyjack]

Mulder, you really can't refute my claim. Heck, did you even bother reading the report that we are discussing.

Here you go---from Time Magazine. Grow up and debate.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...587982,00.html

MULDER THE REPORT WAS BY THE PENTAGON'S INSPECTOR GENERAL!

[GoneForNow]

Seems the Yahoo article and the one in the Washington Post (almost identical) contained a few "minor" errors:

Correction to This Article
A Feb. 9 front-page article about the Pentagon inspector general's report regarding the office of former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith incorrectly attributed quotations to that report. References to Feith's office producing "reporting of dubious quality or reliability" and that the office "was predisposed to finding a significant relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda" were from a report issued by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in Oct. 2004. Similarly, the quotes stating that Feith's office drew on "both reliable and unreliable reporting" to produce a link between al-Qaeda and Iraq "that was much stronger than that assessed by the IC [Intelligence Community] and more in accord with the policy views of senior officials in the Administration" were also from Levin's report. The article also stated that the intelligence provided by Feith's office supported the political views of senior administration officials, a conclusion that the inspector general's report did not draw.The two reports employ similar language to characterize the activities of Feith's office: Levin's report refers to an "alternative intelligence assessment process" developed in that office, while the inspector general's report states that the office "developed, produced, and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and al Qaida relationship, which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the Intelligence Community, to senior decision-makers." The inspector general's report further states that Feith's briefing to the White House in 2002 "undercuts the Intelligence Community" and "did draw conclusions that were not fully supported by the available intelligence."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020802387.html

[ekim68]

And a blast from the past..

Published on Friday, June 27, 2003 by the Hartford Courant
by Ray McGovern

Cheney And The CIA: Not Business As Usual

As though this were normal! I mean the repeated visits Vice President Dick Cheney made to the CIA before the war in Iraq. The visits were, in fact, unprecedented. During my 27-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency, no vice president ever came to us for a working visit.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0627-03.htm

[lotuseclat79]

Just before the 2004 Presidental election, I recall that there was available part 1 of a two part report on the intelligence buildup to war.

This appears to be about part 2 which was never published until now.

Does anyone in their right mind not think that knowing what we now know would not have had a consequential impact on the 2004 Presidential election as it turned out, despite all of the Dems blunders in the face of the false GOP attacks.

-- Tom

[BanditFlyer]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

Does anyone in their right mind not think that knowing what we now know would not have had a consequential impact on the 2004 Presidential election as it turned out, despite all of the Dems blunders in the face of the false GOP attacks.

-- Tom

Just on general principle, I'd like to say "DUH!". Knowing what I know now about the last winning lotto numbers would have "had a my consequential impact on " my bank account if I would have know it before I chose not to play the lottery.

This part "despite all of the Dems blunders in the face of the false GOP attacks." Hehe. Do you really think anyone other than Poochee, bassettman, and linskyjack will fall for that one?

[linskyjack]

Yeah, about 70% of the country. You need to get out of CD for a couple of minutes and realize that Gbrumb, Mulder and you, represent fringe elements.

[linskyjack]

Keep it simple:

The inspector general's report further states that Feith's briefing to the White House in 2002 "undercuts the Intelligence Community" and "did draw conclusions that were not fully supported by the available intelligence."

[Fidelista]

Feith is an interesting character!
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1146
I think the vast majority of Americans know we have been "had", inc Republicans --whether they admit or not.
Only the fringe right are in denial IMO.
The only question left is whether what happened was simply immoral and stupid--or criminal.
And ---what to do next.
Criminality would be very hard to prove. >f

[GoneForNow]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

You need to get out of CD for a couple of minutes and realize that Gbrumb, Mulder and you, represent fringe elements.

Now that is funny, seriously you should take it on the road. Apparently, unless you hate Bush and I mean hate him to the core of your soul you are, in the eyes of linsky, a member of the fringe. When you are so far out there like linsky everyone else does look like a member of the fringe.

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by gbrumb

Now that is funny, seriously you should take it on the road. Apparently, unless you hate Bush and I mean hate him to the core of your soul you are, in the eyes of linsky, a member of the fringe. When you are so far out there like linsky everyone else does look like a member of the fringe.

Not only that, he talks about 70% of the country and that statistic is people who oppose the war--OF COURSE its going to be significant. What is much more telling than that is in the 2004 election, most of the country oppossed the war and Bush STILL GOT ELECTED. That shows you just how much Linksy, et al are on the fringe. About 70% of the country consider themselves conservative. If it wasn't for the lies in the press and the stupidity and ignorance of a good portion of the voters, that would be the percentage of Republicans in office.