Robert Kagan says declassify the NIE on Iraq. He does so in the course of making an absurd argument, but still, it should be done. Apparently Pat Roberts is on board as well.
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Declassify
26 Sep 2006 09:18 am
Comments (4)
The NIE on terrorism is so yesterday. Dubya is looking to the future. Serene in his faith, speaking in code to the religious right, Bush sails on, across a sea of commas. Forget about an "October Surprise." Prepare for a "November Surprise" instead -- one coming after the election. That looks to be Bush's best chance to try to solve the Iraq problem once and for all by attacking Iran and bringing "real democracy" to the Middle East at last, before any meddling new Congress can stop him. Bush knows everything will be fine. He's working his way through the commas and approaching the end of the sentence. He's the democracy-bringer, and he's doing God's will.
I am worried this is all posturing designed to deflect from the real impact of the NIE (although that Kagan is on board makes me worry a little less -- he tends to be fairly honest, even if disagreeable in his views).
Maybe I'm paranoid, but when I heard Roberts, et al., claim "the Dems. are cherry picking the NIE and if you'd read the whole thing, you'll realize it says something different" and then start agitating for the whole thing to be released, I figured it was a set-up. By pushing for the whole thing to be released, Roberts, et al., are giving people a sign that "they really do think the NIE supports their case" and since people are so used to politicians selectively leaking evidence (because the GOP does it all the time), they'll think "the Dems. are spinning the evidence to be partisan", the media's latching onto the Dem side cause "we know the media's liberal" (gag) and Roberts, et al, by pushing for the NIE to be released, which is "unprecidented", "are the honest ones".
I fear it's all a game designed to influence public opinion and distract from the fact that the Dems. are, as usual, right here. Of course, the NIE won't be released (the media are already setting this one up -- that it would be beyond the pale to release the NIE), Negroponte or someone will be made the fall guy who blocks the release "to keep us safe and secure" (whereby if Dems. keep pressing for the release, they'll be tarred with "Dems. are not serious about national security" as per usual) and the truth will remain classified.
Until the Dems. are willing to play as dirty as the GOP, but head the GOP off at the pass, the Dems. will always be the second player in a 3x3 game of tic-tac-toe, and thus will never win on these sorts of tricks.
The office of intelligence director John Negroponte released a 3-1/2 page section of the April report "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States" compiled by the 16 U.S. spy agencies hours after Bush ordered it declassified.
Gte your copy here: http://dni.gov/press_releases/Declassified_NIE_Key_Judgments.pdf
Comments closed October 10, 2006.
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Heads in the Sand
For the record, the April NIE is not on Iraq per se. It's an NIE on terrorism. There is an NIE on Iraq currently in the works.
Posted by Jeff | September 26, 2006 10:07 AM