Iraq Deja Vu: Cheney Pressuring Intel Analysts, Stifling Dissent, Manipulating Intelligence
Iraq Deja Vu: Cheney Pressuring Intel Analysts, Stifling Dissent, Manipulating Intelligence
Gareth Porter of Inter Press Service reports that Vice President Cheney has been thwarting the release of a long-overdue National Intelligence Estimate on Iran because it doesn’t deliver the casus belli for war:
A National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran has been held up for more than a year in an effort to force the intelligence community to remove dissenting judgments on the Iranian nuclear program, and thus make the document more supportive of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney’s militarily aggressive policy toward Iran, according to accounts of the process provided by participants to two former Central Intelligence Agency officers.
The current dispute over the Iran NIE bears striking resemblance to the controversies that played out over pre-war Iraq intelligence in at least two important ways:
1) Administration Stifling Dissent
NOW: According to IPS, the draft Iran NIE was reportedly completed a year ago, but the White House rejected it because it contained dissenting views. A former intelligence officer said, “They refused to come out with a version that had dissenting views in it.”
THEN: Prior to the Iraq war, the Air Force, Energy Department, and State Department all issued dissenting views on the state of Iraq’s progress towards a nuclear program. Those dissenting views later turned out to be correct, and in the process, greatly undermined the administration’s credibility. The lesson learned by the White House apparently is that this time they need to demolish dissent.
2) Administration Pressuring Analysts
NOW: Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi told IPS that “intelligence analysts have had to review and rewrite their findings three times, because of pressure from the White House.” The draft Iran NIE, for example, did not conclude that there was confirming evidence that Iran was arming the Shiite insurgents in Iraq, according to Giraldi.
THEN: Prior to the Iraq war, Cheney and his chief of staff Scooter Libby visited the CIA headquarters approximately a dozen times to engage the CIA analysts directly on the issue of Iraq’s nuclear development, “creating an environment in which some analysts felt they were being pressured to make their assessments fit with the Bush administration’s policy objectives.”
The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh has reported that, despite there being very little evidence that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb, the White House is “stovepiping” intelligence and hiding information from the CIA that makes a case for war.
In February, the intelligence community released a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq that reported Iran was not “a major driver of violence” inside Iraq, disputing administration claims to the contrary. Former CIA officer Giraldi says the the White House is looking for “a document that it can use as evidence for its Iran policy.” Fortunately, not all analysts are willing to “fix the facts around the policy.”
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44 Responses to “Iraq Deja Vu: Cheney Pressuring Intel Analysts, Stifling Dissent, Manipulating Intelligence”
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That the reason he sleeps all day?
November 8th, 2007 at 8:03 pm“The facts are being fixed around the policy.”
Sound familiar?
November 8th, 2007 at 8:04 pmAs if we needed more proof that Bushco are enemies of liberty.
Hey, can anyone help me accredit a quote? One of the Founding Fathers said, “Liberty can not exist without dissent”. or “Without dissent there is no liberty”. I can’t seem to remember who made this, very accurate, statement. Perhaps it doesn’t matter since “dissent” and “liberty” are both endangered species?
November 8th, 2007 at 8:10 pmEven Pakistan is better off. Busharuf may be the sole authority in Pakistan but even Busharuf cannot take his country to war simply because the people will not stand for it.
In America, it’s different. Americans may not like the destruction of their own country and the killing of another million innocent people, but the American people will not get off the couch if their country is dragged into yet another quagmire. They just hope and pray that it does not happen.
Maybe it’s because it’s not American children that are going to die or a golf game will not have to be cancelled, only some unidentified Muslims on the other side of the planet are going to die?
Maybe. Now, if Muslims were dogs, cute puppies, we’d get some real outrage going….
November 8th, 2007 at 8:12 pmIraq Déjà Vu: Cheney Pressuring Intel Analysts, Stifling Dissent, Manipulating Intelligence
Hey, if it worked once…
November 8th, 2007 at 8:18 pmjust why DO they, bushco, want to attack iran?
the REAL reason(s)…
why, with all the information that directs reasoning AGAINST any attack, is it such an important mission, to ignore good sense and logic…?
why?
November 8th, 2007 at 8:26 pmgetting here late… reading down the threads… come across this:
Lieberman: ‘Paranoid, Hyper-Partisan’ ‘Left-Wing Blogs’ Wrote ‘Conspiracy Theories’ On Iran
guess LIEbermann hadn’t been able to read this IPS report…
November 8th, 2007 at 8:31 pmwonder if it will help to change his mind…
naaah…
The neo=cons wanted to restart the cold war back when and looks like they are at it again. Russia has said that an attack on Iran will be considered an attack on Russia
November 8th, 2007 at 8:38 pmI can’t print what I would like to say right now. I guess this will make good material for “Vice 2″ to follow “Vice” by Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein.
Man this makes me mad. What BETTER reason to go forward with the impeachment hearings and get this under control and get this turkey OUT! Before he TOTALLY destroys our entire country. If he is leaning on the Intel guys again, then he wants to make this bombing of Iran. If impeaching him is the only way to reel him in or kick him out, then let’s do it. Call Congress now.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:39 pmhttp://tpzoo.wordpress.com/ 2007/ 11/ 06/ write-to-the-judiciary-today/
My Favorite Bush Quote Of The Day!!!!
You can’t be the president and the head of the military at the same time. - George Bush 11/08/2007
So then, when is he going to resign as Commander and Chief?
BAHAHAHA, the man just gets STUPIDER and STUPIDER by the day!
November 8th, 2007 at 8:40 pmAnd the attack on Iran, and Iran’s response to it, will be the excuse used by Bush, and Cheney to pull a Musharraf!
November 8th, 2007 at 8:50 pmMaybe the press won’t be so complicit this time, even though they have been doing a pretty good job of being complicit thus far. It’s no wonder so many people think that Iran is a threat to us by all the warmongering that has been going on. How many people have read in their local paper that the IEC says that there is zero proof that Iran is trying to make a bomb? But everyone has read in their local paper that Iran is months away from having a nuclear bomb.
When are the sheepeople really going to wake up and take back the country that the Bush crime family has stolen.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:51 pmWhat about the absolute DEAD SILENCE the last two days after Dennis Kucinich stood in the House and invoked Privilege to introduce his resolution, that was the most exciting day I have had watching anything on C-SPAN. For the first time in years, I had hope in my heart that SOMETHING would happen to stop this madness and there would finally be some accountability.
NO PRESS reports. Dead silence. That is complicit behavior.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:56 pmgag..gag…cough cough…ughhhhhhh. This man is a f***ing POS beyond anything that ever was…ughhh…cougn cough…gag…gag
November 8th, 2007 at 8:59 pmThis is truly threatening. The man is apparently operating unilaterally - Dr. Strangelove - and no one is able to stop him. Incredibly, he can pull up the old game plan from 2002 and it runs amazingly well in 2007!
Will the msm remain silent this time around?
What exactly does Cheney have to gain in this course of action? All snarky sarcasm aside, why is the man continuing on this path?
November 8th, 2007 at 9:00 pm#15- Money, and power!
November 8th, 2007 at 9:03 pmWhen is this senile and dangerous dog of war going to be put (politically speaking) to sleep?
November 8th, 2007 at 9:03 pm#15, he is operating out of global interests and ideals, not national ones. This is frightening beings he is a heartbeat (though a mechanical one) away from the presidency.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:07 pmDarth Dicky Cheney is the most sinister VP the US has ever had. He makes Nixon’s VP Agnew to look good in comparison.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:09 pmMaybe the press won’t be so complicit this time
again, i appreciate your posts, bilbo & i find your sunny optimism charming.
but the press has *ALREADY* been complicit & there is no evidence that they will discover journalistic ethics anytime soon.
theres no profit in it.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:10 pmPic of Cheney looks like he eats bats and small animals > lol.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:10 pmBeings Cheney is basically the invisible acting president, he makes Nixon look like a saint. Nixon at least still cared about the country first.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:11 pmBut Kucinich is just a “fringe liberal whacko”, right?
Impeach that effing monster….NOW!
November 8th, 2007 at 9:17 pmNancy and Harry,
November 8th, 2007 at 9:22 pmImpeachment is not just for blowjobs!
how come he’s not wearing his cowboy hat?
November 8th, 2007 at 9:25 pmImpeach, Try, Convict and Remove.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:29 pmSorry, please make that, Impeach, Try, Convict and Remove from Office.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:29 pmSorry, please make that, Impeach, Try, Convict and Remove from Office.
Comment by Oval12345678 aka James K. Sayre — November 8, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
yeah and find out who the hell stole his cowboy hat!
(probably “w”)
November 8th, 2007 at 9:33 pmAnd after we are well into our third quagmire…the neo-cons will again say…”well Congress looked at the same intel package we were looking at before we went it”
It’s time for a REVOLUTION.
NOW.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:54 pm#16 and #18
November 8th, 2007 at 10:00 pmDo you think he thinks he can live forever? He is on borrowed time as it is. Soon that battery operated heart is going to have to give up.
Impeach with prejudice
November 8th, 2007 at 10:03 pmI can’t wait until Cheney has his final heart attack and DROPS DEAD.
God, please forgive me for feeling this way, but this EVIL coxucker needs to go to hell, with YOUR help, Lord…
November 8th, 2007 at 10:17 pmI’m curious.
Today, our fearless leader is quoted in USA Today as recently saying this to a group of German reporters…” If you want to see WW III, you know, a way to do that is attack Israel with a nuclear weapon”.
Why would that mean WW III - automatically. Anybody?
November 8th, 2007 at 10:18 pm. . . and when you find the colonel . . . . . terminate his command . . .
terminate the colonel’s command . . . .
terminate . . . . with extreme prejudice . . .
November 8th, 2007 at 10:43 pmWhy would that mean WW III - automatically. Anybody?
Comment by tobage — November 8, 2007 @ 10:18 pm
——————-
One possible explanation is that he is SELLING fear (to the Germans, no less) of that nonexistent possibility to justify bombing Iran either by Israel (most probably) or the US.
Remember Condi’s “mushroom cloud” fearmongering? Same thing, in my view.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:49 pmI guess the equivalent of Dick Cheney in Iran would be some crazy ayatollah.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:52 pmI guess the equivalent of Dick Cheney in Iran would be some crazy ayatollah.
Comment by Vincennes — November 8, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
——————
If I may say so, don’t let yourself be fooled by the propaganda. The ayatollahs who run Iran (not Ahmadinejah, he just runs day to day affairs and has no control over foreign affairs or nuclear issues) are not crazy and even helped the US against the Taliban. After that, they made this proposal to the US through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran:
Washington ’snubbed Iran offer’
November 8th, 2007 at 11:12 pmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6274147.stm
Breaking ranks at the CIA. Held up for one year. There’s pressure behind that kind of persistence.
What does Siebel Edmonds have to say?
Give all the whistle-blowers your appreciation.
November 9th, 2007 at 2:23 am“Demolish dissent”. Are we talking about the actions of an executive in the administration of the U.S. or a dictatorship? Cheney’s actions must be illegal. Are they jailing the dissenters..in the U.S.?
November 9th, 2007 at 2:46 amIf Cheney manages to pull that off and hurt the Iranian people, Pelosi, Hoyer and Emanuel should be added to the list of those indited for war crimes.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:08 amIf I may say so, don’t let yourself be fooled by the propaganda. The ayatollahs who run Iran (not Ahmadinejah, he just runs day to day affairs and has no control over foreign affairs or nuclear issues) are not crazy and even helped the US against the Taliban. After that, they made this proposal to the US through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran:
Washington ’snubbed Iran offer’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6274147.stm
Comment by foreyes — November 8, 2007 @ 11:12 pm
And just days after this Bush put Iran in as one of the “Axis of Evil”. Real smart!
November 9th, 2007 at 9:51 amDarth Cheney is plotting and planning to start Armageddon and bring on the Rapture?
So….why should today be different?
November 9th, 2007 at 11:26 amPredictions of the next 911 by a Professional Geologist.
http://www.H2onE2.com Glacial Respiration, Conceptual Ring of Ice, The End of Linear Western Religion
A Geological Exploration of an E2 Earthen Planet And the H2 Human Species
Author: B Billy Marse, Professional Geologist
Brief Description:
http://www.H2onE2.com is an exploration of the universe, geology, climate, biology, humans, psychology, folklore and ancient structures to uncover the beginning and disclose the end of linear western religion. The true DaVinci Code behind the bible is not a supreme spiritual power but a scientific record of climate change described as Glacial Respiration. The Greek philosophers originated the practice of communicating a hidden idea or message in the short story format, as a metaphor. In the bible, metaphors conceal historic climate change within the fanciful stories. The theory of Glacial Respiration explains the myth behind the Holy Grail, structures such as the Great Pyramids, Stonehenge, Easter Island and is the knowledge that was collected in the Jewish Ark of the Covenant.
The environmental changes of Glacial Respiration determine all biological evolution and can explain why higher forms of intelligent humans developed. Further, Glacial Respiration releases the secret hidden by the Knights Templars, Masonic Order and all religions. Uncovers an advanced Blue-Blooded semi-industrial Atlantian Civilization that was built and destroyed many times over for the last million years. The book ends with an explanation of how linear western religion will be physically ended and describes the construction of the doomsday device capable of fulfilling its own self defining prophesy, “Revelationsâ€. H2onE2 is a mind-expanding experience that stimulates the soul, instinct, intellect and is an almanac to the past, present and future of humanity. Rise, awaken and evolve into H3 human consciousness.
The discovery:
November 9th, 2007 at 4:53 pmAs a Professional Geologist, I attempted to link the Dust Bowl/Great Depression to a pre-glacial condition or mechanism and ended up writing the book H2onE2. I felt that there was a strong connection between the Dust Bowl and transition back into Glacial Winter. I did notice that my professors scientifically crumbled every time I mentioned the relationship. I could not go back in time or locate indisputable proof. The proof came from understanding all educational disciplines including history and theology. I soon discovered that all religious text both eastern and western continually described significant climate change conditions relating to Glacial Respiration. For years I fought off mixing science and religion until I discovered that the origins of all religions were founded or created to help humans psychologically survive the harsh earthen environment. Without reason I soon accepted that the world’s complicated religions were the same. This came true and I continued to write and discover. Everything came into place as though I was unlocking a 10,000-year-old puzzle. I also realized this puzzle was opened before I discovered it, by someone else, some other group. If so, further understanding of this knowledge might be extracted from significant historical events. Lastly, this is the vital information needed to make future predictions.
u77j57j
This FACIST criminal should be WATERBOARDED BEFORE BEEING SENT TO SYRIA IN A RENDITION FLIGHT TO BE INTERROGATED. WAR CRIMINAL!
November 11th, 2007 at 1:46 pm