I knew I should have turned left at...

[JohnnyMarzetti]

At least Yoni still has hopes for his beloved Dumbya.

[Yonivore]

The comfort at which you condemn tens of thousands to death on the word "maybe" continues to stagger the imagination.

Oh c'mon, you and your ten- ing-thousand. Was, or was it not, concluded Iraq sought to buy uranium from Niger? Quit trying to weasel away.

I said it was reckless.

How so? And, was it true?

That's the section that uncovers all the blackouts? You really have trouble with the simplest of sentences.

They also concluded the Bush Administration didn't manipulate the intelligence in order to form a pretext for war.

If they did, it's blacked out.

page 276. Jeeze...that's the last time I'm finding anything for you.

(U) The DDI told Committee staff that the Vice President had visited CIA about five to eight times total between September 2001 and February 2003 and that she had participated in most, if not all, of the sessions. She said usually a group of analysts and their collection counterparts would brief the Vice President on key findings on a particular issue. She said “he was usually in receive mode during the presentation and then asked questions afterwards.” She said “they were really good exchanges. I think the analysts felt that he was listening. Like I said, he was in a receive mode during their presentations. It wasn’t interrupting from the start with let me give a different point of view or don’t you think this or anything along those lines.”

(U) One of the CIA delivery analysts told Committee staff that he thought the purpose of the visits was “factfinding.” He said, They wanted to know what our analysis was. They listened and that was it. There was no pressure back on us to change it or to manipulate it in any way. They just wanted to know what our analysis was, and we told them and that was it.

(U) A CIA nuclear analyst said he had been in a meeting with the Vice President about Iraq-Libya issues and said that the Vice President asks a lot of questions, but said he never had the feeling that the Vice President was trying to lead any of the analysts down a certain path. The analyst said he believed the Vice President was interested in learning what the analysts knew and what they did not know.

And on it goes for several pages of the same...there's a whole section on the question of allegations of policymakers trying to shape or influence the intelligence.

Conclusion, there were no attempts to drive the intelligence in a particular direction by this administration.

[ChumpDumper]

Oh c'mon, you and your ten- ing-thousand. Was, or was it not, concluded Iraq sought to buy uranium from Niger? Quit trying to weasel away.

No weaseling. A former PM thought maybe. Let the killing begin. It's not like Iraq didn't already have uranium, which makes this misadventure in bad intel all the more stupid.

Blah, blah, blah

Are you highlighting the blacked out parts? Do you still not understand the words?

[Yonivore]

No weaseling. A former PM thought maybe. Let the killing begin. It's not like Iraq didn't already have uranium, which makes this misadventure in bad intel all the more stupid.

So, where is the uranium they already had? And, wouldn't that be a violation of UNSC resolutions -- wouldn't also contradict your whole "Bush Lied and People Died" credo?

Are you highlighting the blacked out parts? Do you still not understand the words?

There are no redactions in the section on influence that I saw. Conclusion 83 and 84 are clear in the unredacted portions. What could follow to contradict the first paragraph?

[ChumpDumper]

So, where is the uranium they already had?

Most of it is here, but who knows how much was made off with after the invasion?

And, wouldn't that be a violation of UNSC resolutions

Nope, all the high-yiled stuff was already taken away and the equipment for processing all the stuff was gone too. All the remaining stuff was under seal and inspected by the IAEA until 2002.

[Yonivore]

Most of it is here, but who knows how much was made off with after the invasion?

So, where'd he get it?

And, are you really concluding -- in direct contradiction to the CIA, this administration, British Intelligence, and Joseph Wilson -- that Iraq didn't seek to buy uranium from Niger?

I gotta have your direct answer to that question.

[ChumpDumper]

wouldn't also contradict your whole "Bush Lied and People Died" credo?

Not my credo. Lots of folks did die though.

And, are you really concluding -- in direct contradiction to the CIA, this administration, British Intelligence, and Joseph Wilson -- that Iraq didn't seek to buy uranium from Niger?

I wholeheartedly agree that a PM thought that an Iraqi businessman might have been starting a conversation about possibly buying yella cake.

[Yonivore]

Not my credo. Lots of folks did die though.I wholeheartedly agree that a PM thought that an Iraqi businessman might have been starting a conversation about possibly buying yella cake.

Okay, what do you suppose the Iraqis wanted to talk about, with Niger? Presuming, of course, the PM is wrong -- and that he doesn't know the first thing about Niger's economy and what Iraq would be wanting to establish a business relationship over.

You just can't admit it. Can you...

That's okay though.

[ChumpDumper]

You just can't admit it.

I already did. Facts are facts. Maybes are maybes. Deaths are deaths.

[Yonivore]

I already did. Facts are facts. Maybes are maybes. Deaths are deaths.

It all goes back to this post.

Why did the administration work so hard to discredit a man with whom they ultimately agreed

A) I don't believe the administration was working to descredit him as much as it was trying to show they didn't send this lying Bozo to Niger. Wilson did a perfectly fine job of discrediting himself.

B) I believe there was justification for invading Iraq based on past behavior, contemporaneous reports such as the attempt to buy banned weapons components from Niger (as has been the topic of this thread), the allied-influenced deterioration of sanctions, Iraq's ties to terrorism, and a reasonable presumption he would be working against the U.S. if sanctions were ever lifted -- all at a time when we were at war with an asymetrical enemy.

Apparently, you don't.

I haven't convinced you, nor you me. Oh well.