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| Home Front: Politix |
| Bolton calls report on Iran 'quasi-putsch' |
| 2007-12-09 |
| U.S. intelligence services attempted to influence political policy by releasing their assessment that concludes Iran halted its nuclear arms program in 2003, said John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Der Spiegel magazine quoted Bolton on Saturday as alleging that the aim of the National Intelligence Estimate, which contradicts his and President Bush's position, was not to provide the latest intelligence on Iran. "This is politics disguised as intelligence," Bolton was quoted as saying in an article appearing in this week's edition. Bolton described the report, released Monday, as a "quasi-putsch" by the intelligence agencies, Der Spiegel said. The hawkish Bolton has long criticized Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, who has said that there was no hard evidence that Tehran was pursuing nuclear weapons. ElBaradei said the report "somewhat vindicated" Iran, which has denied allegations that it was secretly trying to build nuclear weapons. Just in time to get the word "quasi-putsch" nominated for the Best New Word or Phrase 2007 awards. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #11 An Israeli intel analyst says: "The Syrians were working on their nuclear project for seven years, and we discovered it only recently. The Americans didn't know about it all." |
| Posted by: moody blues 2007-12-09 21:34 |
| #10 Diddn't get it right on India, didn't get it right of Pakistan---why break a winning streak? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2007-12-09 21:18 |
| #9 I'm now reading that Pat Lang, former DIA guy, is pointing the finger at certain senior CIA analysts as having threatened to leak the report, at the risk of jail time. He has not named names though. |
| Posted by: moody blues 2007-12-09 20:48 |
| #8 The first mistake of the NIE was letting those malicious idiots write it up. On the other hand, there is a fair amount of amusement value when the "newspapers of record" and just about anyone who knows anything about Iran or the malicious idiots have slammed the report (and the writers) in the most public forum they can find. *wistful sigh* Oh, to be at some of the dinner parties next weekend! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-12-09 19:12 |
| #7 The Ukraine connection is reported in the The Times (UK). The head of Ukrainian intelligence met with MI6 in 2004 and said Iran was "pestering" the Ukrainians for access to their nuclear technology. It's becoming obvious that the first mistake of the NIE was allowing any of it to be made public in the first place. Since, as Cheney says, "everything leaks", the only solution would be to eliminate the NIE as a formal mechanism. Break up the intel reporting into smaller pieces so that any leak can be denied by claiming it is just one small piece of a larger intel puzzle. |
| Posted by: moody blues 2007-12-09 18:24 |
| #6 WND > IRAN is reportedly seeking nuclear info from Ukraine, and not necess the energy kind. D *** NG IT, BORIS YELTSIN WAS ON GUAM? Once again, PAULA ABDUL doth rememberin' too much, causin' the Pacific/Tropics to faint in horror by kicking a coconut??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-12-09 17:56 |
| #5 I'm waiting for the handwringing and recriminations after Iran sets off its nuke. The MSM/etc. will then blame Bush for it. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-12-09 15:13 |
| #4 By the end of 2007 the Intelligence community can "estimate" what Iran did in 2003. I'll await the 2011 report as I am more intersted in what Iran is currently doing. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2007-12-09 13:57 |
| #3 And none of that comes close to explaining why the Iranians are also so suddenly cooperative, within bounds... They're stalling until "Pres Hillary" (Shudder) Is in office, recall their attitude toward women. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-12-09 13:38 |
| #2 It is too important to be mere politics, that is, these agencies would never risk their livelihood to attack a lame duck president It is not hard to understand when you understand it is not about hating President Bush, they are simply on the other side. The other side being any side against America and western civilization as we knew it in the 20th century. I've met some of these people (well, not these people, but people like them) and this is about being smarter and better than everyone else. There is a reason they like being refered to as "intellectual elites". They hold the keys to wisdom. Why they hate Bush so much is because he exposed them for the petty, traitors that they are. They are so brainwashed in political correctness and in hating all things Anglo Saxon and western that they will not realize the damage they are causing until western civilization is actually gone. |
| Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 2007-12-09 11:21 |
| #1 I fear we may never learn the real reason for this clearly facetious NIE. It is too important to be mere politics, that is, these agencies would never risk their livelihood to attack a lame duck president. What could they possibly gain versus what could happen to them if they lost? Bush might still have enough power to rattle them to their bones. He could chew the heck out of them, and not lose any sleep over it. And they know this as well. That being said, Bush probably supported or even ordered the NIE. But again, the inertia of these agencies is such that it would be like a man pushing an elephant. Which in turn implies that it was more than Bush doing the pushing. And none of that comes close to explaining why the Iranians are also so suddenly cooperative, within bounds... |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-12-09 10:00 |