US 'selected' Iraq intelligence

[kaf11]

"A former CIA official has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" its intelligence on Iraq before the 2003 invasion."

This is something many of us believe, but now a senior official has come out to criticize the Bush administrations use of intelligence. This is a very serious charge and it certainly does not look good for Bush right now.

 

[clarky003]

linky pls , I actually want to see him and the people pulling the strings brought out and hard questioned by the public themselves, the comission, and other public bodies, no holdsbar.

 

[CptStern]

well this isnt all that new ..the downstreetmemos confirms bush knew they didnt have a case for war and that they need to sex it up to get the people behind him


"C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.


The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections.

The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force."


http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/memos.html

 

[kaf11]

linky pls , I actually want to see him and the people pulling the strings brought out and hard questioned by the public themselves, the comission, and other public bodies, no holdsbar.

bah, I went to bbc to get a link and forgot to post it, sorry.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4702054.stm


Stern, you're absolutely right about this being old news but its just very nice to see an important intelligence official stepping up and bringing this to public attention.

 

[CptStern]

no no I agree ..I was just thinking out loud ..it's good to get another inside perspective

 

[ríomhaire]

I'm not surprised in the least.

 

[gick]

Niether am I

 

[dream431ca]

Bah. I'm getting tired of the USA threads about what they did and all that. We know already, Bush lied, spied on USA citizens, and other things....why don't we close the whole discussion with: Thank God bush is out in 2008.

Oh, and Bush will not be charged with any of these crimes, no matter what else other people discover.