Feb

9

Pre-OIF Intel "inappropriate", not Illegal

February 9, 2007 | By Sniper One |

I believe that people “cherry pick” Intel all the time. The Dems and Anti-War groups are “cherry picking” news stories and reports that put Iraq in the worst light possible. While those of us on the opposite side then to pick stories that show progress in Iraq.

Weather the process is unconscious or calculated, we all tend to try and justify our positions through the use of facts.

(Washington Post) Intelligence provided by former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith to buttress the White House case for invading Iraq included “reporting of dubious quality or reliability” that supported the political views of senior administration officials rather than the conclusions of the intelligence community, according to a report by the Pentagon’s inspector general.

Feith’s office “was predisposed to finding a significant relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda,” according to portions of the report, released yesterday by Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.). The inspector general described Feith’s activities as “an alternative intelligence assessment process.”

An unclassified summary of the full document is scheduled for release today in a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which Levin chairs. In that summary, a copy of which was obtained from another source by The Washington Post, the inspector general concluded that Feith’s assessment in 2002 that Iraq and al-Qaeda had a “mature symbiotic relationship” was not fully supported by available intelligence but was nonetheless used by policymakers.

At the time of Feith’s reporting, the CIA had concluded only that there was an “evolving” association, “based on sources of varying reliability.”

In a telephone interview yesterday, Feith emphasized the inspector general’s conclusion that his actions, described in the report as “inappropriate,” were not unlawful. “This was not ‘alternative intelligence assessment,’ ” he said. “It was from the start a criticism of the consensus of the intelligence community, and in presenting it I was not endorsing its substance.”

Twenty/Twenty hindsight shows us that the CIA was correct in it’s report, and the Pentagon was wrong. There was no “mature” relationship between Al Qaeda and the Iraq.

However, the fact that there were only tenuous ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda, and a lack of WMD’s does not mean that the war was illegal, or unjustified. There were many reasons to remove Saddam from power. Most notably, the violation of the ceasefire from the Gulf War.

Also Posting:

WaPo has issued this correction:

Correction to This Article
A Feb. 9 front-page article about the Pentagon inspector general’s report regarding the office of former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith incorrectly attributed quotations to that report. References to Feith’s office producing “reporting of dubious quality or reliability” and that the office “was predisposed to finding a significant relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda” were from a report issued by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in Oct. 2004. Similarly, the quotes stating that Feith’s office drew on “both reliable and unreliable reporting” to produce a link between al-Qaeda and Iraq “that was much stronger than that assessed by the IC [Intelligence Community] and more in accord with the policy views of senior officials in the Administration” were also from Levin’s report. The article also stated that the intelligence provided by Feith’s office supported the political views of senior administration officials, a conclusion that the inspector general’s report did not draw.The two reports employ similar language to characterize the activities of Feith’s office: Levin’s report refers to an “alternative intelligence assessment process” developed in that office, while the inspector general’s report states that the office “developed, produced, and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and al Qaida relationship, which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the Intelligence Community, to senior decision-makers.” The inspector general’s report further states that Feith’s briefing to the White House in 2002 “undercuts the Intelligence Community” and “did draw conclusions that were not fully supported by the available intelligence.”

Discussion about the “correction” can be found here, and here, and here.

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Filed Under: News of the Day, Operation Iraqi Freedom

  • Right Voices » Blog Archive » Carl Levin (D-MI) Gives “Cooked” Quotes To WaPo About “Dubious” Pre-war Intelligence pinged this post.
  • JammieWearingFool trackbacked with Massive WaPo Blunder...

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    Comments

    1 Comment so far

    1. Right Voices » Blog Archive » Carl Levin (D-MI) Gives “Cooked” Quotes To WaPo About “Dubious” Pre-war Intelligence on February 9, 2007 19:32

      [...] “7.62mm Justice” ™ Bookmark to: Tags: WaPo, , , Feith, , , , Sen., Carl, Levin, , , intelligence, , , Iraq [...]

    2. JammieWearingFool on February 9, 2007 20:38

      Massive WaPo Blunder…

      We’re so used to the relentless media bias that we’ve come to expect it on a daily basis. Considering the amount of times they screw up, the mainstream press unwittingly has become a boon for bloggers over the past several years. Today we have a whop…

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