Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Horses Mouth
This is an excerpt of a post written by a former Defense Intelligence officer who spent two years working Iraq policy:
But to me, the most important, the scariest, and the most damning part of the entire summary is this single sentence:

We assess that the underlying factors fueling the spread of the movement outweigh its vulnerabilities are are likely to do so for the duration of the timefram of this Estimate.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's the ballgame right there. What this intelspeak means in English is, "The causes fueling terrorism outweigh the vulnerabilities of terrorists and their networks, and that fact is likely to be true indefinitely." The assessment is saying that the main motivations for terrorism -- and the report puts Iraq at the top of that long list -- outweigh our ability to prevent it, meaning, essentially, that Iraq is more harmful than helpful in our counterterror strategy. I already knew that, and so did most readers here, but I don't think that's the conventional wisdom. Until now, at least. Anyone who defends the Iraq war now has to answer this question: The collective judgment of the entire U.S. intelligence community is that under the watch of the Bush administration terrorism is becoming more of a threat, not less of one, primarily due to Iraq. Do you support continuing that failure, or changing the course to solve it?
I completely agree with his assessment.

But something else strikes me. There may not be guns and artillery lined up, but our government is in the midst of an open rebellion. This six month old NIE was leaked coincident with the midterms, likely by someone within the CIA, which really pissed off Bush. Pentagon generals a popping up everywhere decrying current policy in Iraq and using former generals (and Congressman Murtha) as their mouthpiece. Knowing Bush's distaste for leaking, don't be surprised to see further recriminations by administration officials against folks in government who disagree .... and further passive-aggressive resistance. Let's hope it stays passive-aggressive, eh?

Anyone remember the movie "Seven Days in May?" Unlikely, sure. But out of the question? Suppose Bush asks for operational battle plans drawn up (if he hasn't already) for a nuclear attack on Iran?
Written at 2:16 PM by Greyhair.
1 comments
1 Comments:
Blogger Guthrum said...
The Ministry of Defence is leaking classified reports and e mails daily saying the same thing in the UK, there appears to be a concerted effort by the military in both our Nations to work a way out of this mess,politically, we are fortunate Blair is going in a very short time frame, the UK ground forces in Basra are handing over control to the Iraqi National Army, an exit strategy has already begun.
12:31 PM  
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