When It Rains, It Pours

[Nbadan]

Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq
Intelligence 'Misused' to Justify War, He Says

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/02/09/PH2006020902439.jpg
Anytime you see former FEDS being sworn in, it can't be good

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 10, 2006; Page A01


The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, and of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence and chaos after an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Paul R. Pillar, who was the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, acknowledges the U.S. intelligence agencies' mistakes in concluding that Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. But he said those misjudgments did not drive the administration's decision to invade.

"Official intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs was flawed, but even with its flaws, it was not what led to the war," Pillar wrote in the upcoming issue of the journal Foreign Affairs. Instead, he asserted, the administration "went to war without requesting -- and evidently without being influenced by -- any strategic-level intelligence assessments on any aspect of Iraq."

"It has become clear that official intelligence was not relied on in making even the most significant national security decisions, that intelligence was misused publicly to justify decisions already made, that damaging ill will developed between [Bush] policymakers and intelligence officers, and that the intelligence community's own work was politicized," Pillar wrote.

*sic*

Pillar describes for the first time that the intelligence community did assessments before the invasion that, he wrote, indicated a postwar Iraq "would not provide fertile ground for democracy" and would need "a Marshall Plan-type effort" to restore its economy despite its oil revenue. It also foresaw Sunnis and Shiites fighting for power.

Pillar wrote that the intelligence community "anticipated that a foreign occupying force would itself be the target of resentment and attacks -- including guerrilla warfare -- unless it established security and put Iraq on the road to prosperity in the first few weeks or months after the fall of Saddam."

In an interview, Pillar said the prewar assessments "were not crystal-balling, but in them we were laying out the challenges that would face us depending on decisions that were made."

Pillar wrote that the first request he received from a Bush policymaker for an assessment of post-invasion Iraq was "not until a year into the war."

That assessment, completed in August 2004, warned that the insurgency in Iraq could evolve into a guerrilla war or civil war. It was leaked to the media in September in the midst of the presidential campaign, and Bush, who had told voters that the mission in Iraq was going well, described the assessment to reporters as "just guessing."

Shortly thereafter, Pillar was identified in a column by Robert D. Novak as having prepared the assessment and having given a speech critical of Bush's Iraq policy at a private dinner in California. The column fed the White House's view that the CIA was in effect working against the Bush administration, and that Pillar was part of that. A columnist in the Washington Times in October 2004 called him "a longstanding intellectual opponent of the policy options chosen by President Bush to fight terrorism.

This is big.

:hat

[Vashner]

Huh? you have been defeated in almost every argument you have tried to make on this forum. Is that what you mean rains it pours?

Cause ya'll motherfuckers are out of power btw... keep posting your bullshit... cause that's all you got. Is bullshit.

Of course they planned for the war. Clinton planned for war with Iraq... the pentagon has attack plans for all enemies. Bush wanted to take out Saddam..

What's new dumbass? There was an election already after no WMD's where found.

Your about a day late and a dollar short just like every other fucking pathetic liberal anti american bullshit post.

[Nbadan]

Huh? you have been defeated in almost every argument you have tried to make on this forum. Is that what you mean rains it pours?

Cause ya'll motherfuckers are out of power btw... keep posting your bullshit... cause that's all you got. Is bullshit.

Of course they planned for the war. Clinton planned for war with Iraq... the pentagon has attack plans for all enemies. Bush wanted to take out Saddam..

What's new dumbass? There was an election already after no WMD's where found.

Your about a day late and a dollar short just like every other fucking pathetic liberal anti american bullshit post.

:lmao

[George W Bush]

Huh? you have been defeated in almost every argument you have tried to make on this forum. Is that what you mean rains it pours?

Cause ya'll motherfuckers are out of power btw... keep posting your bullshit... cause that's all you got. Is bullshit.

Of course they planned for the war. Clinton planned for war with Iraq... the pentagon has attack plans for all enemies. Bush wanted to take out Saddam..

What's new dumbass? There was an election already after no WMD's where found.

Your about a day late and a dollar short just like every other fucking pathetic liberal anti american bullshit post.

:lmao Vashie, sometimes I think your dumber than me :lmao

I'm George W Bush and I approve this message. :tu

[xrayzebra]

:lmao Vashie, sometimes I think your dumber than me :lmao

I'm George W Bush and I approve this message. :tu

The pimple has spoken! :lol

[101A]

Huh? you have been defeated in almost every argument you have tried to make on this forum. Is that what you mean rains it pours?

Cause ya'll motherfuckers are out of power btw... keep posting your bullshit... cause that's all you got. Is bullshit.

Of course they planned for the war. Clinton planned for war with Iraq... the pentagon has attack plans for all enemies. Bush wanted to take out Saddam..

What's new dumbass? There was an election already after no WMD's where found.

Your about a day late and a dollar short just like every other fucking pathetic liberal anti american bullshit post.


Y'all have laughed at this quote, called its author dumb, and pretty much ignored the content of his point, which is valid.

[boutons_]

Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq

Intelligence 'Misused' to Justify War, He Says

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 10, 2006; A01

The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, and of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence and chaos after an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Paul R. Pillar, who was the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, acknowledges the U.S. intelligence agencies' mistakes in concluding that Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. But he said those misjudgments did not drive the administration's decision to invade.

"Official intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs was flawed, but even with its flaws, it was not what led to the war," Pillar wrote in the upcoming issue of the journal Foreign Affairs. Instead, he asserted, the administration "went to war without requesting -- and evidently without being influenced by -- any strategic-level intelligence assessments on any aspect of Iraq."

"It has become clear that official intelligence was not relied on in making even the most significant national security decisions, that intelligence was misused publicly to justify decisions already made, that damaging ill will developed between [Bush] policymakers and intelligence officers, and that the intelligence community's own work was politicized," Pillar wrote.

Pillar's critique is one of the most severe indictments of White House actions by a former Bush official since Richard C. Clarke, a former National Security Council staff member, went public with his criticism of the administration's handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and its failure to deal with the terrorist threat beforehand.

It is also the first time that such a senior intelligence officer has so directly and publicly condemned the administration's handling of intelligence.

Pillar, retired after 28 years at the CIA, was an influential behind-the-scenes player and was considered the agency's leading counterterrorism analyst. By the end of his career, he was responsible for coordinating assessments on Iraq from all 15 agencies in the intelligence community. He is now a professor in security studies at Georgetown University.

White House officials did not respond to a request to comment for this article. They have vehemently denied accusations that the administration manipulated intelligence to generate public support for the war.

"Our statements about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein were based on the aggregation of intelligence from a number of sources and represented the collective view of the intelligence community," national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said in a White House briefing in November. "Those judgments were shared by Republicans and Democrats alike."

( fucking lie. Congress did not see all the intelligence, and above all the "doubts" about the "intellligence" )

Republicans and Democrats in Congress continue to argue over whether, or how, to investigate accusations the administration manipulated prewar intelligence.

Yesterday, the Senate Republican Policy Committee issued a statement to counter what it described as "the continuing Iraq pre-war intelligence myths," including charges that Bush " 'misused' intelligence to justify the war." Writing that it was perfectly reasonable for the president to rely on the intelligence he was given, the paper concluded, "it is actually the critics who are misleading the American people."

In his article, Pillar said he believes that the "politicization" of intelligence on Iraq occurred "subtly" and in many forms, but almost never resulted from a policymaker directly asking an analyst to reshape his or her results. "Such attempts are rare," he writes, "and when they do occur . . . are almost always unsuccessful."

Instead, he describes a process in which the White House helped frame intelligence results by repeatedly posing questions aimed at bolstering its arguments about Iraq.

The Bush administration, Pillar wrote, "repeatedly called on the intelligence community to uncover more material that would contribute to the case for war," including information on the "supposed connection" between Hussein and al Qaeda, which analysts had discounted. "Feeding the administration's voracious appetite for material on the Saddam-al Qaeda link consumed an enormous amount of time and attention."

The result of the requests, and public statements by the president, Vice President Cheney and others, led analysts and managers to conclude the United States was heading for war well before the March 2003 invasion, Pillar asserted.

They thus knew, he wrote, that senior policymakers "would frown on or ignore analysis that called into question a decision to go to war and welcome analysis that supported such a decision. . . . [They] felt a strong wind consistently blowing in one direction. The desire to bend with such a wind is natural and strong, even if unconscious."

Pillar wrote that the prewar intelligence asserted Hussein's "weapons capacities," but he said the "broad view" within the United States and overseas "was that Saddam was being kept 'in his box' " by U.N. sanctions, and that the best way to deal with him was through "an aggressive inspections program to supplement sanctions already in place."

"If the entire body of official intelligence analysis on Iraq had a policy implication," Pillar wrote, "it was to avoid war -- or, if war was going to be launched, to prepare for a messy aftermath."

Pillar describes for the first time that the intelligence community did assessments before the invasion that, he wrote, indicated a postwar Iraq "would not provide fertile ground for democracy" and would need "a Marshall Plan-type effort" to restore its economy despite its oil revenue. It also foresaw Sunnis and Shiites fighting for power.

Pillar wrote that the intelligence community "anticipated that a foreign occupying force would itself be the target of resentment and attacks -- including guerrilla warfare -- unless it established security and put Iraq on the road to prosperity in the first few weeks or months after the fall of Saddam."

( but in those very critical weeks, the Repugs put incompetent, ineffective, political hack/crony Paul Bremer in place who made the huge mistake of disbanding the army and police. )


In an interview, Pillar said the prewar assessments "were not crystal-balling, but in them we were laying out the challenges that would face us depending on decisions that were made."

Pillar wrote that the first request he received from a Bush policymaker for an assessment of post-invasion Iraq was "not until a year into the war."

That assessment, completed in August 2004, warned that the insurgency in Iraq could evolve into a guerrilla war or civil war. It was leaked to the media in September in the midst of the presidential campaign, and Bush, who had told voters that the mission in Iraq was going well, described the assessment to reporters as "just guessing."

Shortly thereafter, Pillar was identified in a column by Robert D. Novak as having prepared the assessment and having given a speech critical of Bush's Iraq policy at a private dinner in California. The column fed the White House's view that the CIA was in effect working against the Bush administration, and that Pillar was part of that. A columnist in the Washington Times in October 2004 called him "a longstanding intellectual opponent of the policy options chosen by President Bush to fight terrorism."

Leaked information "encouraged some administration supporters to charge intelligence officers (including me) with trying to sabotage the president's policies," Pillar wrote. One effect of that, he said, was to limit challenges to consensus views on matters such as the Iraqi weapons program.

When asked why he did not quit given his concerns, Pillar said in the interview that he was doing "other worthwhile work in the nation's interest" and never thought of resigning over the issue.

Pillar suggests that the CIA and other intelligence agencies, now under Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte, remain within the executive branch but "be given greater independence."

The model he cites is the Federal Reserve, overseen by governors who serve fixed terms. That, he said, would reduce "both the politicization of the intelligence community's own work and the public misuse of intelligence by policymakers."

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

===============================

There will be many more intelligence professionals who will finally get out the story of how the Repubs pre-2000 decision to go to war had nothing to do with any threat from Iraq.

[Nbadan]

The intelligence was cooked? The Hell you say!

:hat

[boutons_]

Vashner in all his benighted bias and knee-jerk ignorance couldn't win an argument or even make a coherent point if his clit-sized dick was at stake.

[Yonivore]

Vashner in all his benighted bias and knee-jerk ignorance couldn't win an argument or even make a coherent point if his clit-sized dick was at stake.
Well, certainly, admitting you know the size of another person's genitalia lends credibility to your arguments...I'm sure.

[boutons_]

having small dicks is widely known to cause the continuous anger in right-wingers. Specific knowledge not required. gtown and XZ can corroborate.

[Yonivore]

having small dicks is widely known to cause the continuous anger in right-wingers. Specific knowledge not required. gtown and XZ can corroborate.
I see...and you have some study, or something, that supports this assertion?

Maybe it's only widely known by those who would concern themselves with the size of other people's genitalia.

[George W Bush]

Vashner in all his benighted bias and knee-jerk ignorance couldn't win an argument or even make a coherent point if his clit-sized dick was at stake.

:lmao

I'm a stupid president and I approve this joke. :tu

[George W Bush]

having small dicks is widely known to cause the continuous anger in right-wingers. Specific knowledge not required. gtown and XZ can corroborate.

I was just gonna mention gtown, then I saw his name.

:lol

[gtownspur]

having small dicks is widely known to cause the continuous anger in right-wingers. Specific knowledge not required. gtown and XZ can corroborate.


Funny how you equate showing anger with having small dicks, in that case you'd probably have an extremely small package, but that's ok with the Dipshit who poses as GW, any dick will do for him. Seriously you cunt, think what you say before you speak.

[Yonivore]

50 million French people can't be wrong!
Yeah, they can...and have been, many, many times.

[gtownspur]

:lmao

I'm a stupid president and I approve this joke. :tu

Wow, what a cheap way to make fun of a President by impersonating him and parodying him. But serves you well, you'd never have to awnser for any bullshit you spew. I guess you'll go on as this persona since it guards you from any critical thinking and criticism.

You're either a low life cumbag who wishes to hide behind an impersonation, or you're the alternate personality of either boutons or NbaDan who figures that his spamming is to no effect. In either case, you're just an assclown.

[Yonivore]

Wow, what a cheap way to make fun of a President by impersonating him and parodying him. But serves you well, you'd never have to awnser for any bullshit you spew. I guess you'll go on as this persona since it guards you from any critical thinking and criticism.

You're either a low life cumbag who wishes to hide behind an impersonation, or you're the alternate personality of either boutons or NbaDan who figures that his spamming is to no effect. In either case, you're just an assclown.
You're just feeding the monkies (monkeys? -- I can never remember), gtown. Put him on ignore where he belongs.

[gtownspur]

What do you mean, i cant ignore boutons.

[Yonivore]

What do you mean, i cant ignore boutons.
I haven't put boutons on ignore either.

I'm talking about the idiots like GWB and GW.B and Nbadan and a few more that I no longer bother with...Johnny Marzetti is another; and, a couple of others...

[gtownspur]

They're all the same person.

[gtownspur]

i dont believe in ignoring people. It's no fun.

[Yonivore]

They're all the same person.
No wonder. I thought mouseism was dead.

[Yonivore]

i dont believe in ignoring people. It's no fun.
It detracts from serious discussions. Maybe Kori will start a "Stupid AKA forum" or something so y'all can go flame each other's aliases.

[gtownspur]

i have no alias, i am my own.

Dont lump me in with those clowns.

[Yonivore]

i have no alias, i am my own.

Dont lump me in with those clowns.
My point exactly.

That's why they're on ignore and you're not.

[ChumpDumper]

They're all the same person.They aren't.

[gtownspur]

Wow,

For being a lawyer, you sure love to give out free legal defense.

[ChumpDumper]

It's not defense.

It's a fact.

Those screen names aren't all for one person.

I know.

You don't.

Accept it and quit being a bitch.

[gtownspur]

Sorry if your panties are in a wad Chump.

I dont give a rats ass if you know or not.

They're all a brick on the wall.

[ChumpDumper]

I dont give a rats ass if you know or not.Which is why you keep posting about it.

Took you long enough to put two posts together, didn't it?

Or did you even do that?

[gtownspur]

Do you know how to read? i wasnt referring to how i knew who was who, but of how you claimed you knew who was who.

[ChumpDumper]

So what is your issue with my claim?

Spit it out.

You said free legal defense.

What does that mean in relation to screen names?

[gtownspur]

That your bitch ass wasnt in discussion and that you came to their defense. I was beign sarcastic but you're obviously a moron.

[ChumpDumper]

What defense?

It was information, mainly for Yoni -- since he didn't seem to sense sarcasm either.

But please, do tell me what conversations on an open forum I can't be a part of That would be helpful

[gtownspur]

It's your choice. i'm not going to tell you where to post. I dont know where the hell you got the idea that i'm banning you from speaking here.

Quit victimizing yourself. That's something a bitch would do.

[ChumpDumper]

Obviously someone else can't detect sarcasm.

[Yonivore]

Obviously someone else can't detect sarcasm.
Why don't you two get a room and quit dragging every freakin' thread in the forum down with your "man love" spat.

[Mr Dio]

i dont believe in ignoring people. It's no fun.


Something your parents did to you in your childhood? Oh wait, you're still a child! :lol :lol

[George W Bush]

Something your parents did to you in your childhood? Oh wait, you're still a child! :lol :lol

:lol

Oh, leave gtown, tx.
alone.
He's a lil girly man like me.

I like sissy boys, like me, who want others to
do the fightin' for us. He's smart like me,
he won't go fight the war himself
and loves talkin' about manlove.

I'm George W Bush and I approve this message. :tu

[xrayzebra]

:lol

Oh, leave gtown, tx.
alone.
He's a lil girly man like me.

I like sissy boys, like me, who want others to
do the fightin' for us. He's smart like me,
he won't go fight the war himself
and loves talkin' about manlove.

I'm George W Bush and I approve this message. :tu

The pimple has spoken! :lol

[George W Bush]

The pimple has spoken! :lol

Old horsy, why is you stalkin' me?

And quit talkin' about both our dingalings.

God Bless America :tu

[xrayzebra]

Old horsy, why is you stalkin' me?

And quit talkin' about both our dingalings.

God Bless America :tu

The pimple has spoken! :lol

[George W Bush]

The pimple has spoken! :lol

I don't know spanish.

[gtownspur]

^Is it your sole purpose in life to ass kiss anyone who levies an insult towards me?

You're such a fake ass bitch.

[George W Bush]

fake ass bitch.

you rang?

[Mr Dio]

^Is it your sole purpose in life to ass kiss anyone who levies an insult towards me?

You're such a fake ass bitch.


How cute! :lol
My little Bukkake Pivot Bitch Gaytownspur is hurt that people laugh at her. :lol
Now you feel your dad's pain. :lol

[gtownspur]

you rang?


THere's a start.

I was trying to be nice by saying you're just an impersonator.

[gtownspur]

How cute! :lol
My little Bukkake Pivot Bitch Gaytownspur is hurt that people laugh at her. :lol
Now you feel your dad's pain. :lol


The only thing that's cute is your moms lingerie peice she sporting while giving me head.

Bet that makes you jealous that i can cream on your mom and type at the same time.

[gtownspur]

Wow where the hell is Dio..having my sloppy seconds with his mom??


1,...2,...3...


WHat a bitch.

[SA210]

How cute! :lol
My little Bukkake Pivot Bitch Gaytownspur is hurt that people laugh at her. :lol
Now you feel your dad's pain. :lol
:lmao fairytownspur

[gtownspur]

Cock Suck210,

why are you defending mr dio?

He's not going to dump a load on your face...

[SA210]

Cock Suck210,

why are you defending mr dio?

He's not going to dump a load on your face...
and the gay fantasy fairy insults continue :lmao

[gtownspur]

Calling you a fag is not construed as homoerotic.

Seriously you try to hard.

SO when are you gonna pull out Dio's cock and put your money and stop stalking me.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Dio-wn3d

[SA210]

Calling you a fag is not construed as homoerotic.

Seriously you try to hard.

SO when are you gonna pull out Dio's cock and put your money and stop stalking me.


Funny that you feel something was homoerotic or even that the word came up in your mind.

Keep saying all your stalker homo statements in all these threads back and forth to everyone,
because actions speak louder than words :lol

[gtownspur]

Well i speak only words, you know not my actions, reference your mother, she knows and I'm her number one customer.