Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Illusions, Partisanship and War

Instapundit links us to Norman Podhoretz's factual summary of the intelligence regarding Iraq and weapons, and the consensus which existed leading up to war. It is clear from the primary sources that there was bipartisan agreement on Saddam and the weapons threat, and intelligence service consensus across nations allied with the US about Saddam and the weapons threat. Those who oppose the war will undoubtedly complain that Podhoretz is the father of the neocons. So what? This precludes him from reciting the facts correctly? They are indisputable.

Joseph Wilson will undoubtedly be called to testify in Lewis Libby's trial by the defense. While he has shown a tremendous propensity to lie to reporters, he is ulikely to lie in court - he didn't in his senate testimony, which ultimately debunks his own NYT op-ed piece (if only the MSM would notice). It should be great fun, and quite illuminating. The sooner the better.

5 comments:

  1. Please read this and save
    the titles of the 10 documents. Advise that calls and emails to Senators
    and Congressmen are in order
    to get these docs released
    NOW!

    http://weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=6329&R=C7A522937

    Information Wants to Be Free
    Ten documents the Bush administration should insist the intelligence community declassify.
    by Stephen F. Hayes
    11/09/2005 12:00:00 AM

    ON SUNDAY, the New York Times and the Washington Post ran stories based on excerpts of a newly declassified Defense Intelligence Agency document provided by Senator Carl Levin, the number two Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The stories concerned the interrogation of Ibn Shaykh al Libi, a senior al Qaeda official who told U.S. officials that Iraq had trained al Qaeda in chemical and biological weapons. The DIA was skeptical of his story; the CIA less so. Al Libi recanted in January 2004. Levin released the excerpts to demonstrate his assertions that the Bush administration exaggerated prewar intelligence on Iraq and al Qaeda.

    According to the Times, Levin made his declassification request of the DIA on October 18, 2005. The excerpts were declassified on October 26, 2005. The entire process, it seems, took eight days.

    Why did the DIA work so quickly? I have been trying since late spring to obtain documents on Iraq and al Qaeda from the DIA. The documents are unclassified. My requests--including several Freedom of Information Act filings--have been denied. (I will be detailing these efforts in THE WEEKLY STANDARD later this week.)

    In any case, it's good to know that at least on some requests, U.S. intelligence agencies can move with such alacrity. The Bush administration and congressional Republicans should learn from Levin. There are dozens of documents and reports that, if declassified, might provide context to Levin's tendentious claims that there was no relationship at all between Iraq and al Qaeda. Some of them are U.S. analyses of the Iraq-al Qaeda relationship; others are documents from the former Iraqi regime. They should all be declassified. Here are ten:

    READ THE REST.

    DIA Hmmmmm ABLE DANGER Hmmmmmm

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  2. Joe Wilson testifying at Scooter's trial? For the defense? Oh, that will be absolutely delicious. He'll be pissed off to even be called as a defense witness.

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  3. Podhoretz's selective use of "facts" are quite disputable, as Kevin Drum so nicely points out here: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_11/007530.php

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  4. Anon- so you disagree on the consensus notion?

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