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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Is this a rantburger being quoted ???
2003-11-19
Fred, please delete this if I’m making a fool of myself, cause my memory is vague on this. But when I read this quote, it reminded me of something that I read on rantburg. Anyone recognize this quote in the Washington Post, by Walter Pincus, as their own...or did I just read this same quote in the WP?

"This doesn’t prevent Pincus from letting his sources rip the memo. One anonymous "former senior intelligence officer" quoted by Pincus sniffs that the memo is not an intelligence product but ’data points ... among the millions of holdings of the intelligence agencies, many of which are simply not thought likely to be true.’"

It's probably not a Rantburger being quoted. I've made a few remarks on the distinction between raw data and finished intelligence. The quality of raw intel can vary widely, from solid to amorphous, usually depending on the source, but also depending on a lot of other factors, like its physical quality. Anyone in the analysis and reporting chain knows this, from the collectors to the head cheeses. It sounds like the guy doesn't like the conclusions reached, so he's pooh-poohing the data and ignoring the cross-checking process or pretending it didn't occur. A lot of finished product comes from taking fragmentary or suspect data and cross-checking it to see if it has any value or validity. Once it's been included into those "millions of data points" it's available for later product to be cross-checked against.
Posted by:B

#12  No one quotes Rantburg anymore it's too crowded.
Posted by: Shipman   2003-11-19 6:45:06 PM  

#11  Old Patriot, thanks for your comments. When I post to this site, I like to think that decision-makers get useful information from here and thus I try to keep it relevant. Thanks again Fred and hello to all my fellow posters/commentors/senior Administration officials spending time at Rantburg!
Posted by: Seafarious   2003-11-19 5:34:33 PM  

#10  Old Patriot, there are a few people in Germany now reading Rantburg who also would never make a comment online, including... err, no comment!
Posted by: True German Ally   2003-11-19 3:05:39 PM  

#9  "im'age ry, n. 1. images in general...."

From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1941 edition (6 years before GWB was born)
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2003-11-19 1:17:21 PM  

#8  Bomb - my 26-year military career was spent looking at photography - can you actually believe the government spends good money to let people do that? It was great!

Better "imagery" than the other way we used to refer to ourselves when asked to do the impossible (some general officers and government 'officials' never understand that you can't see THROUGH large metal and concrete objects to see what's inside, or what's underneath). In those circumstances, we referred to ourselves (but refused to accept from outsiders) as "imaginary" interpreters - giving the idiotarians what they wanted, knowing it had no basis in reality.

BTW, I retired in 1991, long before Bush II was even considering running for president.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-11-19 1:14:46 PM  

#7  ..imagery..

Sounds like a Bush-ism. ;)
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2003-11-19 1:02:28 PM  

#6  I got a telephone call AND an email from Doug Pasternak, who claimed he was a news producer for NBC in Washington, DC, a few days ago. His call (and the follow-up email) was basically to try to get me to discredit some of the imagery used in Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations. Unfortunately for him, the piece he tried to use was totally worthless for what he was trying to do, and I think my answers rather floored him.

I've done some imagery analysis for various people after my retirement, including Farah at WND. He may have gotten my name and telephone number from there, or it may have been from something I said on Rantburg. I don't try to hide, even if there is a price to pay in spam and other unsolicited emails (SPAM is NOT the worst thing you can get in your email box). There are a lot of Rantburg readers who never make a comment online, including several in Washington, DC, politics.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-11-19 12:23:38 PM  

#5  Fred's too busy destablizing the Middle East, or was it Pakistan? I missed the last cabal meeting.
Posted by: Steve   2003-11-19 12:19:20 PM  

#4  Wudn't me.
Posted by: Fred   2003-11-19 11:15:19 AM  

#3  quoted? Disclaimer time, Fred ;-)
Posted by: Frank G   2003-11-19 11:09:34 AM  

#2  well, it's an interesting idea, isn't it? It's just a matter of time before Fred and some of the rest of you start to be quoted.
Posted by: B   2003-11-19 9:29:38 AM  

#1  That same quote is in yesterday's posting on "The Memo". It appears that you did read it on Rantburg, but it's not a Rantburger being quoted.
Posted by: Dar   2003-11-19 9:19:43 AM  

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