Congress Dumbs Down Intelligence

Weekly Standard: Sensitive Info Isn't Political Fodder

(Weekly Standard)  This column was written by Michael Tanji.

---

Secret intelligence work is one of the most important tools a government can use to reduce — in Rumsfeldian parlance — "unknown unknowns." Intelligence is a national security decision-making tool, not a ball to be taken out and kicked about when cheap political points need to be scored. Yet now that the Department of Defense Inspector General's Office has released its report on the intelligence-related activities of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, that is exactly what is going on.

Leaks of secret intelligence documents are curious affairs. The general public rarely gets to see the full text of intelligence assessments because, as prolific as they can be, leakers gain no benefit from revealing the full picture. Doing so would reveal, as the recent key judgments of the national intelligence estimate on Iraq showed, that there is often a ray of light amongst all the doom and gloom.

Readers of such reports should also keep in mind that the intelligence business is neither magical nor unimpeachable. Collection work — the domain of James Bond in popular culture — is filled with tedious if dangerous drudgery. This goes doubly so for analytic work, which is carried out in mind-numbing, imagination-draining cubicle farms where creativity, ingenuity, and original thoughts are beaten out of the workforce by industrial-age processes and cold-war mindsets.

Readers get a taste of how dysfunctional intelligence work can be when they read declassified assessments, which are derided not only for their language but content. NIEs are supposed to be the best effort of the best minds the intelligence community has on a given topic, but anyone who follows the same issues without benefit of classified information could — and frequently do — produce work of equal or superior quality. This begs the question: why pay any special attention to the findings of so-called experts?

It is exactly that sort of thinking that likely kicked off the competitive intelligence analysis work carried out by the Office of Special Plans. That such an effort would be initiated should have come as no surprise to anyone who remembered that Paul Wolfowitz — Doug Feith's superior at the Pentagon — was a member of "Team B" which, provided an alternative analysis of the Soviet WMD threat. Since the Pentagon is the primary agency charged with fighting and destroying our Islamic enemies, one might say it was a foregone conclusion that those in power in the DOD would seek out differing theories, opinions, and analysis than what was offered from an intellectual collective that has frequently failed to predict or correctly judge significant world events.

The disposition of the Pentagon hierarchy notwithstanding, both pre- and postwar assessments of the intelligence community's performance have justified putting more and more diverse minds against difficult national security problems than can be found behind the walls of government agencies. Every report of U.S. intelligence performance after a so-called intelligence failure points out the importance of considering alternative views and the significance of prominently displaying dissenting opinions in intelligence assessments. This is a proposition agreed upon by every politician who is currently whining about the alleged impropriety of the OSP's actions. Either competition, open minds and original thoughts are good or they are not: you cannot have it both ways.

[migrainegram]

"The continued abuse of intelligence for partisan political purposes might make it easier to win re-election, but it makes our ability to fight and win wars drastically more difficult."

Moot point. The Bush adminsitration manipulated intelligence and acted on and parlayed it inappropriately. Everyone now realizes Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheyney have been the biggest offenders to use the information for their own political agenda.

Fact is they lied and lied and lied. It is Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheyney who have tainted the intelligence gathering process and its end result or lack thereof.

[skyk-2009]

Moot point. The Bush adminsitration manipulated intelligence and acted on and parlayed it inappropriately. Everyone now realizes Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheyney have been the biggest offenders to use the information for their own political agenda.

Fact is they lied and lied and lied. It is Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheyney who have tainted the intelligence gathering process and its end result or lack thereof.

Posted by migrainegram at 12:50 PM : Feb 18,

What is MOST offensive though is they have used their "I'm superior" mentality to kill over 3,000 American's in a War THEY put together on faulty intel. They killed these American's as sure as it they had put a gun to their heads and we do nothing. What Cheney and his lap dog Bush did deserves the Death Sentence.

[scott4261]

Right-wing *** here. The intellegence was doctored to fit the objective of going to war. RE: The Downing Street Memo.

Bush, Cheney, and company cannot leave fast enough, in my opinion.

[bluestardad]

You may have noticed the coming surge of American public opinion against using our military to promote the agenda of other Countries! American people are learning it is ok to disagree with a President who is friends of Saudi Arabia and who gives them special treatment on the world stage at the expense of American lives. For years no one would say anything against promoting the Israeli agenda for fear of being labeled an anti-Semitist but now America is learning it is also acceptable to disagree with Israeli promoters like AIPAC members, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and William Kristol of the Weekly Standard who would gladly sell thousands of American soldiers lives to promote Israeli interest! Now these same policies and neocons are pushing our soldiers toward another war in Iran. American military is made to protect American interest not fight proxy wars in the interest of other countries! American blood and treasure should be spent only in American interest! The Current Vice President of the United States felt the need to jump on a plane on a moments notice and fly to Saudi Arabia at the beckon call of the house of Saudi. He showed the world by his actions who his true masters were! As for the Rest of us Americans, The Statue of Liberty Stands in New York Harbor and is not Kneeling in the desert of the Middle East!

[bluestardad]

LIARS!

It was a well known fact that Bush and Cheney pushed the intelligence...they wanted to hear certain things that would advance their call for the Iraq incursion. They prodded and pressed the intelligence agencies, making it clear that they wanted to hear there were WMD's in Iraq. And what was obvious to everyone who cares to remember was the outright refusal by the Bush Administration to give the U.N. the time it needed to do its job in searching for WMD's in Iraq. In the midst of the U.N. process, Bush calls for the invasion in all due haste! Our leader did not want to hear that there were no WMD's...to hell with intelligence and facts!

[crater7]

CONGRESS DUMBS DOWN INTELLIGENCE: THIS HEADLINE WAS NOT INTENDED FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO SEE. IT WAS MENT TO BRING THE INTELLIGENCE DOWN SO BUSH, COULD UNDERSTAND IT. EVEN AFTER ALL THIS WORK, HE (BUSH) STILL GOT IT WRONG. STAY THE COURSE.

[johnshaft4]

The cabal of war provovateurs Zionist Jews comprised of Feith, Wolfowitz, Ledeen, Kristol, Abrams, Perle, Hanson, Pipes, Libby, Wurmser, etc. would make for a great spy/treason movie as to how these Israeli Likud Party/Mossad agents infiltrated the State Dept and Pentagon, twisted and manufactured WMD lies and was able to sell their scheme through war propaganda.

[feelfree1]

JohnShaft4,

Re: "Feith, Wolfowitz, Ledeen, Kristol, Abrams, Perle, Hanson, Pipes, Libby, Wurmser, etc."

For the Likudnick dead-brains on this list, and their dubious associates, no amount of American blood and treasure is too much to sacrifice for Israel.

This author, Michael Tanji, appears to be one of the more blowhardier mouthpieces of the PNAC traitors, as he requires 2 pages of text for which to say absolutely nothing of value. His primary tactic appears to be to bore us to death.

Does anyone really believe that any of the remaining Bush regime dead-enders could even read 2 pages of text, much less comprehend it?

[feelfree1]

An interesting note about this steaming pile of Negroponte:

From- "Negroponte and the escalation of death":

"Under the "Salvador Option", Negroponte had assistance from his colleague from his days in Central America during the 1980s, retired Colonel James Steele. Steel, whose title in Baghdad was counselor for Iraqi security forces, supervised the selection and training of members of the Badr Organization and Mehdi Army, the two largest Shi'ite militias in Iraq, to target the leadership and support networks of a primarily Sunni resistance."

"Planned or not, these death squads promptly spiraled out of control to become the leading cause of death in Iraq. Intentional or not, the scores of tortured, mutilated bodies that turn up on the streets of Baghdad each day are generated by the death squads whose impetus was Negroponte. And it is this US-backed sectarian violence that largely led to the hell-disaster that Iraq is today."

www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA11Ak03.html

[observantx]

Here we go again.

The Weekly Standard , aka. PNAC propaganda pamphlet

Let%u2019s start this conversation with the assumption that Douglas Feith is an agent provocateur for Israel.

That leads us to a whole new dynamic of what is happening in Iraq.

Here we have an alternative %u201Cintelligence%u201D source for Darth Cheney and
King Georgie. The fallacy is that boy George and Darth are committed to the best interests of the United States of America. Unfortunately, it is very apparent that they are committed to their own selfish interests, So while our sons and daughters spill their blood Iraqi sands, the high falutin privileged class gets to swill Champaign and salt away cash in their Swiss accounts.

Ike is rolling over in his grave.

[feelfree1]

Re: "This is a proposition agreed upon by every politician who is currently whining about the alleged impropriety of the OSP's actions."

The OSP's actions amounted to a criminal fraud conspiracy, have resulted in a wasted investment of hundreds of billions, if not trillions of U.S. tax dollars, the death and maiming of tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers, and the wrongful execution of more than a half-million Iraqis.

Those involved with the OSP, as well as their cheerleaders, like Kristol, Kagan, and the rest of the Weekly Standard phallus heads, are far more suited to the gallows than Saddam ever was.

[feelfree1]

Re: "both pre- and postwar assessments of the intelligence community's performance have justified putting more and more diverse minds against difficult national security problems"

Is this author conceeding that the myopic ***-for-brained traitor approach to "intelligence" has not served us well?

[bm6005]

Naw you've all got it wrong. The comment should have been "Congress Dumbs Down" period.

[i-tack]

I don't want more diverse minds, we have plenty of that - people with their minds already made up.

I want an open mind, with integrity. Anything less than that is a waste of our freedom.

As for the Middle East, solve the need for 25% of our oil and the problem begins to solve itself. If we don't want to look for other options then we are the slave to those who would use the revenue from that exchange to destabilize us.

Would you be willing to drill for oil in ANWAR or the Carribean in the near term to minimize that 25% delta? If not, then what?

[elz523]

Once again the Weekly Standard carrying the right wings up is down philosophy. So this guy thinks that if you object to the politicians in the Whitehouse (Cheney et al) working the intelligence analysts over with thier tragically incorrect, but diverse viewpoints, you must be close-minded and your views are a danger to our country. What a bunch of garbage. You have to give it to this guy though for actually sounding indignant.
The fact is Feith and Cheney could not support thier "intelligence" which was so obviously wrong. All the while the real intelligence people were saying they didn't buy it.
Mr. Tanji, we don't need diverse viewpoints if they are pushed by politics and are wrong.

[missingamerica]

Intelligence is the gathering of information and the analysis of that information with the intent of drawing a conclusion as to "what it means".

When an intelligence organization begins to mold its analysis based upon preconceived theories, social or religious ideals, or political goals, it is broken.

But that alone is not enough to condemn an intelligence organization.

It was, is, and always will be the commander's responsibility to take or not take any and all actions based upon intelligence estimates; he or she is always the bearer of "the final responsibility".

That is why a commander who intentionally demands that intelligence analysis fits his or her own goals is doubly the fool.

[scott4261]

In NO WAY can I support President Bush, because I believe he has a narrow-minded, myopic, and - quite frankly - dangerous view of the world. Even if I didn't identify as a (primarily) Democratic voter, I don't know if I could support him.

I have a dear friend who is from Scott Ritter's family (yes, Ritter is the U.N. weapons inspector). Now, this is a highly educated family. They've always voted Republican - until George W. Bush ran for president. You see, they know Bush is a dangerous man and they love America more than party.

I know of a few other Moderate Republicans who have come to the same conclusion. These people are finally saying, "I didn't leave the Republican Party. The Republican Party left me."

Why do you think the Democrats gained seats in the 2006 mid-terms?

[johnshaft4]

Notice that the author fails to mention that Larry Franklin who worked directly under Douglas J. Feith was arrested for spying for "our friends" the back stabbing AIPAC Zionists. Jewish/Zionist traitor Franklin was sentenced on Jan 20, 2006 to 12 years 7 months in the Fed pen for passing the REAL intel to the Israelis that he got from Feith.
Jonathan Pollard, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, PNAC/AEI and AIPAC etc., etc....all Jew/Zionist traitors to the US...Google "Israeli traitors and spies" for enlightenment. Who needs these back stabbers? Screw Israel.

[samthetvcat]

So the intellitence agencies use 'competitive analysis' - like each team is assigned a different theory and then they find evidence in support of that theory and build a case, much like lawyers would do. That's interesting. Well, in law the triers of fact (the jury or judge in non-jury cases) are looking for truth. If the end-user of the 'competitive intelligence' in this analogous system is Bush and his cronies and they're not looking for truth but rather a 'case' to bolster their case for war, then there really isn't any problem at all with the intelligence agency, is there?

We all assumed there was some incompetent guy over at the CIA or whatever that trusted bad information or interpreted it incorrectly, but if this reporter from Weekly Standard is correct about the way DOD is set up, the problem is Bush and the intelligence corporate structure is just fine. Like if it was this guy's job to make a case that there were WMD's (just like a lawyer would make a case for a seemingly guilty client like say Scott Peterson in favor of his innocence), then if anyone's judgment is bad at accurately predicting future outcomes it would be Bush's.

And that also means that for him to be claiming that there are problems with the intelligence process means he's just scapegoating them - Bush is the problem.

[samthetvcat]

PS (part 2)
Personally I think it takes a personal stake for somebody to want to win using this tactic - like Johnny Cochrane had a public audience watching and a 'dream team' reputation to uphold. I don't see a nameless faceless analyst having such a personal investment that they would push so hard for a win.

I think the real issue is whether Bush had bad judgment (ie he was negligent in culling through the intelligence that was provided to him) or whether Bush had bad judgment (ie he knowingly used the 'Saddam has WMD's' report without citing the other report to get people to support the invasion of Iraq because he thought the end would justify the means).

[samthetvcat]

PS (part 1)
I guess one could wonder well isn't it possible the person who was assigned the 'Saddam has WMD' argument was just more persuasive than the 'Saddam's just a paper tiger' argument, and therefore it was completely reasonable for Bush to be persuaded into believing that Saddam did in fact have WMD's.

To that I would argue that the truth is very powerful and there are limits to what one can persuade others to believe that seemingly contradicts the truth. Like Johnny Cochrane was able to persuad a jury to believe that OJ was guilty but not beyond a reasonable doubt by injecting the issue of racism and justice into the mix - he knew his audience, what mattered to them, and he played off that to get a 'win'. We all know Bush was predisposed to interpreting intelligence in a way that would allow him to invade Iraq - so the only question that seems to remain with regards to the intelligence system is whether the analyst in charge of the 'Saddam had WMDs' argument may have played off this to 'win'.

[samthetvcat]

PPS (lol!)

My posts are made within the context of the time pre-war where a fair number of people had already decided that Saddam didn't have WMD's and it was Bush's assertion that people needed to rely on the classified intelligence reports that caused many people to change their minds. I mean like even Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks all knew there Saddam didn't have WMD's for crying out loud.

[samthetvcat]

omg wait - I misunderstood this guy's strange logic . . .scratch everything I wrote below! LOL

(I don't believe for a minute though with everyone and their dog being so vocal about Saddam not having WMD's that Cheney and Bush would rely solely on this Feith guy's interpretation of intelligence)

[bluestardad]

Navy Sailors as Infantrymen
There are right now Navy Seamen being used in the role of Combat Infantrymen in Iraq because the Marines and Army are stretched so thin. These Seamen get a rush thru Small Unit training program and are given a rifle and are integrated into combat arms maneuver units.

[observantx]

That such an effort would be initiated should have come as no surprise to anyone who remembered that Paul Wolfowitz %u2014 Doug Feith's superior at the Pentagon %u2014 was a member of "Team B" which, provided an alternative analysis of the Soviet WMD threat.

Hmmmm. "Alternative analysis".

Let's call Doug Feith's alternative analysis exactly what it was: self serving bullsh*t.

The facts and assessments from the CIA and the other intel sources weren't *** enough for DarthnGeorge and the rest of the neokon Koolaid Rangers. So they literally made it up. In other words we were taken to war on false premises and outright LIES.

The deaths of over 3,100 of our military rests in the bloody hands of these men, who were so eager for this campaign that they fabricated stories about Saddam's conection to 9/11, Saddam's WMDs, Saddam's support of Al Quaeda, Saddam's nuclear program, and Saddam's mobile bioweapon laboratories, etc. None of it was true.

Not. One. Single. Bit.

This is treason. We know the penalty for treason. Let us start the process of removing these criminals from office and making them pay in whatever small measure they can make restitution for the needless deaths of our sons and daughters and the danger they have put this country into.

Make no mistake about it. These men knew exactly what they were doing, and STILL went ahead with this war, knowing that American men and women would die or be maimed for their own personal greed and power.

[grumpas]

Bush could have saved himself an expensive and destructive war if he had used US intelligence properly! What I have read the information that there were no weapons of mass destruction was there then! That is why a lot of us American's were completely against the invasion to begin with (I have always been for war when it is necessary in defense of my country but this was no the case with Iraq), there was no facts backing up Bush's statements! Most of what he was saying were things he wanted to believe! He tried to insure his legacy by taking out Saddam Hussein! I am certain that's why he wants to send in more troops! To invade Iran! All the man is interested in is what war can do for his image! He is a royal nut case!

[johnshaft4]

Why isn't Douglas J. Feith required to register as an Agent of a foreign government (Israel)?
Feith's AIPAC buddy, fellow Zionist Lawrence Franklin, who worked under Feith at OPS was sentenced to over 12 years in prison for spying for Israel. Know thy enemy...

[truth_reason]

"fuzzybear9" great idea. I agree, but the time will come...soon i hope. Hopefuly the goverment will see reason before it comes to that. Im for a New American Order: Truth,Reason,Honor,Justice.

[bluestardad]

GUYS YOU GOTTA READ THIS!

http://www.aipac.org/forms/join_aipacClubs.htm


The Elite Minyan group - you mean for a minimum of only $100,000 dollars
a year I too can shape world policy? Tell me more!

I especially like the bit about enjoying "the exclusivity you deserve."

This thing borders on parody, but alas, unfortunately it is all too real.

[consciousnes]

If over 400 congressmen get access to secret information, it won't be secret anymore.
I know there has been missinformation, but to give everyone access to everything, is more stupid then saying that no one has ever died at the hands of guys like Hitler and Saddom.
You are right, we need a new government based on truth, honor and justice, not a congress that is bent on throwing it political party weight around.
Actually, I think party politics should be illegal. Of course that would not stop a group of lawmakers from getting to gether and making deals that benefit themselves. etc, etc, etc.

[bluestardad]

GUYS YOU GOTTA READ THIS!
http://www.aipac.org/forms/join_a
ipacClubs.htm
The Elite Minyan group - you mean for a minimum of only $100,000 dollars
a year I too can shape world policy? Tell me more!
I especially like the bit about enjoying "the exclusivity you deserve."
This thing borders on parody, but alas, unfortunately it is all too real.
You may have noticed the coming surge of American public opinion against using our military to promote the agenda of other Countries! American people are learning it is ok to disagree with a President who is friends of Saudi Arabia and who gives them special treatment on the world stage at the expense of American lives. 95% of killing done in Iraq is done by Sunnis Sponsored by Saudi Arabia! For years no one would say anything against promoting the Israeli agenda for fear of being labeled an anti-Semitist but now America is learning it is also acceptable to disagree with Israeli promoters like AIPAC members who would gladly sell thousands of American soldiers lives to promote Israeli interest! Now these same policies and neocons are pushing our soldiers toward another war in Iran. American military is made to protect American interest not fight proxy wars in the interest of other countries! American blood and treasure should be spent only in American interest! As for the Rest of us Americans, The Statue of Liberty Stands in New York Harbor and is not Kneeling in the desert of the Middle East!

[ademeyer]

Er, Mr. Tanjii does remember it was the office of the Vice President that coordinated the outting of a CIA agent, blowing not only her cover but that of the firm where she worked? And the reason for revealing this intelligence secret...politics. It seems to me the executive branch of the administration has misused intelligence more than the Congress in the last six years.

[frankbowers]

Our nation need to take gw bush out of his office and then tar and feather him. Perhaps the next president then would know not to lie and deceive the public and then hide behind his lawyers and the illegal immigrants who he praises for making his friends richer. the best of good byes from frank bowers

[mbcsmith]

Bush could have saved himself an expensive and destructive war if he had used US intelligence properly! What I have read the information that there were no weapons of mass destruction was there then!

Not according to the French, British, German and Russians.

[bluestardad]

Email your senators and representatives tell them your views! http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_in
formation/senators_cfm.cfm or http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

[dallison7]

If over 400 congressmen get access to secret information, it won't be secret anymore.

Posted by Consciousnes

The legislative branch of our government is 'equal to' the executive branch. Our form of government is NOT A DICTATORSHIP. Congress is comprised of sub-committees and those designated to the task are as intitled to REAL intel as the President. This is called OVERSIGHT, it's purpose is to stop someone like Bush from stealing our freedom. Bush and company have lied repeatedly to congress in an attempt to do just that, and they have almost succeeded!! Only our HEROS in congress like Murtha, Biden, Hagel (and yes, I know Hagel is a republican) can stop the outright murder of what has always been the greatest country on earth.

[clemenhagen1]

#1. They cooked the books. The intelligence proved to be flawed because they "fixed the intelligence around the policy" as stated in the Downing Street Memo. Feith and the others had the job of spinning false analysis of fixed intel.

#2. Much of the information they spun came from what should clearly have been seen as unstable sources. Curveball, a drunk exile, found nobody to take his claims serious except the U.S. The same can be said for the convicted fraud, Chalabi. These exiles possessed a clear agenda, told the U.S. what they knew Bush's crew wanted to hear, and now they blame the CIA! How can anyone not be incredulous?

#3. The waged war on any in the intelligence or political community who challenged their fiction. They not only outted Valerie Plame to get back at her husband, they exposed an entire CIA company, Brewster-Jennings. Why? To send a clear message to any in the intelligence community that they would stop at nothing, including treason and putting operatives lives at risk, in order to defend the fraudulence and fabrications that constituted their "slam dunk" case for an illegal war.

[clemenhagen1]

#1. They cooked the books. The intelligence proved to be flawed because they "fixed the intelligence around the policy" as stated in the Downing Street Memo. Feith and the others had the job of spinning false analysis of fixed intel.

#2. Much of the information they spun came from what should clearly have been seen as unstable sources. Curveball, a drunk exile, found nobody to take his claims serious except the U.S. The same can be said for the convicted fraud, Chalabi. These exiles possessed a clear agenda, told the U.S. what they knew Bush's crew wanted to hear, and now they blame the CIA! How can anyone not be incredulous?

#3. The waged war on any in the intelligence or political community who challenged their fiction. They not only outted Valerie Plame to get back at her husband, they exposed an entire CIA company, Brewster-Jennings. Why? To send a clear message to any in the intelligence community that they would stop at nothing, including treason and putting operatives lives at risk, in order to defend the fraudulence and fabrications that constituted their "slam dunk" case for an illegal war.

[meritocrat]

Rant part I:
Mr. Tanji%u2019s column ended where it should have started, %u201C%u2026quality, insightful, and timely intelligence is paramount to our success.%u201D True, but one critical adjective is glaringly (and purposefully) absent, namely, %u201Cobjective.%u201D As an intelligence professional, I can tell you that this element is most essential to whatever use intelligence products may be applied. What this Congress is righteously pursuing is a public airing of the gross manipulation of objective intelligence that the neoconservatives in and formerly of this Administration undertook to ensure national and international support for their %u201Cgrand%u201D plans.

[meritocrat]

Rant II:
Why is objectivity so important to intelligence assessments? Intelligence analysis is often like an attempt to duplicate someone%u2019s secret 400-page diary. Rarely do you get access to the actual book, instead you must proceed after meeting the person on the street, seeing the outside of their home, obtaining a glimpse of a paragraph on page 13, sifting through some of their trash and thumbing through a family picture album that represents the last few years of key events. Obviously, much is often up to interpretation and conjecture, leaving lots of room for error %u2013 and/or manipulation. It is, in fact, easier to write a diary that suits a predetermined storyline than it is to approximate the original. This Administration set forth with a predetermined story and diligently cherry-picked and made paramount the tidbits of evidence that met their storyline regardless its ambiguity, dubiety, or continuity with other evidence of much greater quantity or quality. Analysts were conscience of the fraud be also knew that publicly or even privately disagreeing with the Administration%u2019s assertions put their livelihoods and freedom at risk. Thus, this easy manipulability was and is the Achilles%u2019 heel of intelligence.

[meritocrat]

Rant III:
The consolidation of the entire IC under the Director of National Intelligence, a Presidential appointment, only further eroded any objectivity. To give the IC the objectivity it needs, a court of senior analysts must be created that is independent of both the Legislative and Executive Branch, with appointments and terms similar to Supreme Court Justices. These senior analysts could impartially review IC products, and produce independent NIEs. Knowing the IC as I now do, I can tell you until such impartiality is achieved, we cannot, and the world will not, trust any assertion our IC makes, ever again.

[meritocrat]

Rant IV:
As one who had an extensive breadth and depth of knowledge of prewar intelligence on Iraq which included compartmented information well above the classification of the NIE, I will vehemently assert until my last breath that the NIE did not represent an objective assessment. It was not written or edited by those most qualified within the US intelligence community; it avoided and undercut them. It was, in fact, a self-serving, reasonless prospective designed to achieve a political sales job. Drafts were personally edited by the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, and their single-minded henchmen with particular attention paid to massaging the executive summary and the accompanying briefings, beyond which very few Congressmen were compelled or had the means to explore. When Mr. Snow incessantly reminds us all that Congress voted in 2002 to authorize the war, he forgets to mention that it was (and remains) this Administration who provided executive oversight of the entire US IC and directly manipulated it to sell Congress the Iraqi WMD snake oil. Mr. Snow, when conmen defraud little-old ladies of their life savings, do we send them all to jail together?

[meritocrat]

Rant V:
Citizens of these United States must be shown how the IC was prostituted to perpetrate this outright fraud which has already cost the lives of more young servicemen and women than were lost on September 11, 2001, not to mention an accrual of one trillion in unsecured debts. At best, this fraud was a zealous, moronic, %u201Cfaith-based%u201D attempt to sew the seeds of liberal democracy within a region and state whose well-known and ancient inter-sectarian and ethnic conflagration doomed it to failure. At worst, this Administration%u2019s motive to launch OIF was an unforgivable, unconscionable, and yet deliberate partisan political act to secure another four years of power. At least in the latter case, it can be seen as a success. Justice seekers take heart; God will doubtlessly offer only a microgram of pity upon their souls.

[oleander8]

To: Meritocrat

Thank you, for your remarks. Unfortunately not enough people will read and appreciate them. You should be a guest contributor to a widely read column.

[observantx]

Every member of this administration needs to be taken into custody and investigated for the extent to which they set into motion the misguided and unnecessary war in Iraq.

The initiation of the war in Iraq was an act of treason. The lying to Congress and the American people about the necessity and reasons to begin war in Iraq was an act of treason.

The unwarranted spying on American citizens, the unlawful kidnapping, transport into false imprisonment and torture of individuals if not an act of treason, is a gross violation of rights granted by the Constitution of the United States.

In addition, any members of Congress, the intelligence community, business community, lobby groups or political action groups who aided and abetted this administration's gross and treasonous conduct need to be taken into custody and investigated.

It is time to clean house. It is time to rid ourselves of this foul disease of our body politic.

[ademeyer]

I agree with ObservantX, clemenhagen1 and Meritocrat. Its such a relief to read the truth for a change. Thanks for your posts.

[briannorwood]

Hey Mr. Tanji:

In your eloquent dismissal of those of us who have a problem with these gestapo type, war mongering neocons running amok in this administration, there's just one little point you failed to mention...

That is, one of those estimates was correct, while the other was dead wrong.

Can you guess which one was which?