Think Progress

Bolton Calls For Congressional Witch-Hunt Into Anti-Bush ‘People In The Intelligence Community’

Yesterday’s National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concluded that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, pouring cold water on neoconservative calls for bombing Iran. Like his ideological kin Norman Podhoretz, former U.N. ambassador and Iran war hawk John Bolton has been attempting to slander the U.S. intelligence community’s collective judgments.

Iran has been pursuing nuclear weapons “for 20 years,” he defiantly declared today. To give weight to a single intelligence estimate “would be a mistake.” On Fox News today, Bolton went even further and called for a congressional investigation into U.S. intelligence agencies, stating that the report was politicized by intelligence officials who have their “own agenda”:

I really think the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have to look at how this NIE was put together because there are a lot unexplained points in here. [...]

I think there is a risk here, and I raise this as a question, whether people in the intelligence community who had their own agenda on Iran for some time now have politicized this intelligence and politicized these judgments in a way contrary to where the administration was going. I think somebody needs to look at that.

Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/12/boltonnie38.320.240.flv]

I’ve never based my view on this week’s intelligence,” Bolton proclaimed today. Just as he did before the Iraq war, Bolton is attempting to discredit any intelligence which contrasts with his fixation on more war in the Middle East.

While Bolton is calling for a congressional witch-hunt into the intelligence community, VoteVets is calling for an congressional investigation into the Bush administration for warning of a false Iran threat despite knowing the key findings of the NIE.

UPDATE: Digby parses out the perpetually wrong neocon worldview: “The real question is why anyone ever takes them seriously about anything.”




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120 Responses to “Bolton Calls For Congressional Witch-Hunt Into Anti-Bush ‘People In The Intelligence Community’”

  1. DieNowForPeace Says:

    My gay friends LOVE a mustache like that!


  2. Juan C. Says:

    I really think the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have to look at how this NIE was put together because there are a lot unexplained points in here.

    You must be referring to the 9/11 Commission Report


  3. mudsharks buddy Says:

    Is this guy a Nazi or what?


  4. joe cantwell Says:

    it's never a waste of time when they want to investigate, right?


  5. Krazny Says:

    So let me guess, since the NIE made Bush out to be either an incompetent idiot, or a flat out liar, it must be wrong?


  6. Guido OBGYN Lover Says:

    Maybe Bolton should just have Bush blow some more covert op's cover.


  7. tombaker Says:

    yes! a purge! perfect! anyone to the left of Tancredo up against the wall!!

    we'll round these damned dirty hippies up for once and for all!!

    somebody's got a yosemite sam complex

    and is a punkass righty loser


  8. ForTruth Says:

    Another representative of Isreal speaks.


  9. overlap Says:

    Ya!!!!

    Lets investigate Congress because theres also something funny going on with the " unexplained points" in the intelligence estimate that said Iraq had no WMD.

    "Funny" as in absolutely correct.

    New Neocon strategy:

    Investigate congress for anti bush ( supreme leader authoritarian figure ) ANYTHING...

    How can the national media let him on TV, and then let him get away with this s&%t ?


  10. Xisithrus Says:

    Bolton denies what the experts, those men and women out in the field, tell him?


  11. JPV Says:

    Yet another Neocon Zionist sympathizer rears his ugly, and I do mean ugly, head.

    Sigh...


  12. Juan C. Says:

    So let me guess, since the NIE made Bush out to be either an incompetent idiot, or a flat out liar, it must be wrong?
    Comment by Krazny

    No, I guess it is the famous secret "who outidiots who" competition between Bush and Bolton.


  13. ForTruth Says:

    Kinda sucks to see ol' Mustache-ride guy in a picture.


  14. Ben Dover Says:

    Who is John Bolton and why does anyone other than the Fox Opinion Network give a rats Cheney what he says? Yawn....


  15. nofltwlt Says:

    Everyone is anti-bush because bush is anti-American.

    Yes it is odd to that our illegitimate little woodenhead president is anti-American. However, just look at what he has done and not done and there is no way that one could say Bush has our interest at heart.


  16. Nevar Says:

    Bolt-ons just feeling cranky 'cause his personal Intelligence Estimate
    came in at minus 9....


  17. Namtillaku Says:

    Is this guy a Nazi or what?

    Comment by mudsharks buddy — December 4, 2007 @ 8:37 pm

    Fascist is a truer description.


  18. grover nerdkissed Says:

    MUSTACHE RIDES...FREE


  19. Roket Says:

    John Bolton’s answer to everything. “If you don’t like the messenger, then kill it.” Why you ask? 9/11 9/11 9/11


  20. republicans hate facts Says:

    Yeah, because what possible problem can having nothing but loyalists willing to cook the intelligence create? Like maybe invading Iraq? ROTFL!!!

    Bolton is as dumb as that mustache looks! He looks like a 1970s disco queen from studio 54 that's fallen on 'hard' times! Poor old queen!


  21. timotheus Says:

    In related news, Israelis are pissed off that the goyim dare to not follow the pre ordained plot:

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20071204/wl_mcclatchy/2773393


  22. Cayobo Says:

    This interview was scripted.

    I thought there was supposed to be a writers strike?

    Somebody needs to inform the Union there's a SCAB at FOX Noise.


  23. sacopenapa Says:

    BOLTON IS A JERK AND A LIER... THE SAME TYPE OF SCUM AS ROVE OR LIBBY!


  24. timotheus Says:

    Look for people to be let go in the CIA and NSA. Look for people with yarmulka's replacing them...


  25. tnrc75 Says:

    He's projecting again.


  26. CitiDC Says:

    Late in 1971, Nixon had summoned the White House personnel chief, Fred Malek, to his office to discuss a "Jewish cabal" in the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The "cabal," Nixon said, was tilting economic figures to make his Administration look bad. How many Jews were there in the bureau? he wanted to know. Malek reported back on the number, and told the President that the bureau's methods of weighing statistics were normal procedure that had been in use for years.


  27. Xisithrus Says:

    Bolton seems a bit perturbed by his failing importance..kinda like when a movie star is no longer famous, first the media comes around less and less and less, then people no longer recognize them on the street, they start writing books that none read, inevitably they start yelling at people "DONT YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!!???" and making scenes in public places


  28. had enough Says:

    Who does this Bolton creep think he is....We all know he is a thug caught on film beating a door in an effort to stop the counting of the vote for pres. '00.
    So now another hissy fit... because the facts are out AGAINST another attack on an innocent country?


  29. Xisithrus Says:

    Now, wait a tic, wasn't the intelligence community overhauled a few years back by the CIC?


  30. sacopenapa Says:

    Who beleives that the 2003 inteligence on Iraq's WMD was falty? No Rice... your answer does not count!


  31. slappy magoo Says:

    Look, we were ALL warned, back when Bush "won" the 2000 eleciton, that he and the sociopaths in his administration would be creating their own reality, and while we - judiciously, if you will - try to make sense of their reality, they'll be off creating even more and different realities. Well, in order to create your own reality, you have to deny ACTUAL reality, the reality everyone who ISN'T evil or a sociopath share. The biggest shame of this situaiton is, they continue getting away with making THEIR reality, THE reality. So of course, NATURALLY, if OUR reality doesn't jibe with theire, then ours is wrong, and must be punished. Little Lord Drunkleroy has been told time and time again how RIGHT, how SMART, how PRECIOUS he is, you think he and his minions are going to accept being told they're wrong NOW?

    God, I wish the media would grow a pair. How I wish for major newspapers and magazines to all print a headline "Bush: Liar" on the same day, a sign of strength, of solidarity, a way of letting this Administration know that their reality, their rewriting of history both recent and not-so-recent, will now and forever be rejected. There's only about a year left to make sure no child ever picks up a history book in school that propagandizes all that Bush has done as somehow good. There's only a few months left to make sure the 08 GOP candidates know any attempt to spin these catastrophes as anything other than catastrophies will be rejected en masse. So little time, and yet, so many things can be accomplished.


  32. Xisithrus Says:

    [[2004]] Bush has already used executive orders to give the director of central intelligence (DCI) enhanced authority over intelligence budgeting. He has also created a National Counterterrorism Center...

    Hrrh. Intwesting.


  33. CitiDC Says:

    Least we forget Johnny never had enough friends in Congress to get officially appointed for his job. He instead scofflawed it as long as he could.


  34. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    I am the eggman

    they are the eggmen

    I am the walrus

    goo goo g'joob.


  35. WaltTheMan Says:

    Can't we connect this guy and Larry Craig - that hairlip would feeel so niice!


  36. dan_allnews Says:

    "politicized these judgments in a way contrary to where the administration was going"

    Makes it sound as if he thinks the CIA exists only to carry out the Bush administration's agenda... as he probably does.


  37. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    How I wish for major newspapers and magazines to all print a headline “Bush: Liar” on the same day, a sign of strength, of solidarity, a way of letting this Administration know that their reality, their rewriting of history both recent and not-so-recent, will now and forever be rejected.

    Comment by slappy magoo — December 4, 2007 @ 9:29 pm

    The reason they won't is because the military-industrial complex and Zionists run radio, television, newspapers, and the entertainment industry. Even Hillary is a Zionist supporter, and we will be given two choices in 2008, both AIPAC recipients.


  38. Zooey Says:

    MUSTACHE RIDES…FREE
    Comment by grover nerdkissed — December 4, 2007 @ 9:00 pm

    Couldn't pay me enough.....


  39. alpuz3 Says:

    Bolt-on.


  40. MCMetal Says:

    Iran has been pursuing nuclear weapons “for 20 years,” he defiantly declared today. To give weight to a single intelligence estimate “would be a mistake.”


    Like recess appointing someone completely lacking any diplomatic skills whatsoever as the US Representative to the UN you Wilford Brimley wanna' be ?


  41. MCMetal Says:

    …any attempt to spin these catastrophes …

    Not difficult to spin when intelligence suggests that Iran halted it’s nuke program under Bush’s watch and Democratic leaders admit that the surge is working. If you want history to paint Bush as a demon, you probably need to at least get your guys on board first.

    Comment by CaptainMantastic — December 4, 2007 @ 9:46 pm


    Demons tend to be evil , but intelligent ; not exactly a Chimpy staple there.......


  42. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    Comment by CaptainMantastic — December 4, 2007 @ 9:46 pm

    Geez, when I heard the "ching-ching-ching" of Jingle Ballsâ„¢ approaching TP, I first thought it must be Li'l Footie, come ta spread his holiday joy, but...

    Lo 'n behold, it's Capt Masterbastic, all decked out...

    I guess the Jingle Ballsâ„¢ worked so well fer Footie, ya jes' hadda follow suite. Ho Ho Ho... (thas my Imus impression, actually... pretty good, huh?)


  43. alpuz3 Says:

    what else happened under der Bush's watch, Flapin' manspastic?


  44. jb Says:

    Staple his mouth shut.


  45. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    …any attempt to spin these catastrophes …

    Not difficult to spin when intelligence suggests that Iran halted it’s nuke program under Bush’s watch and Democratic leaders admit that the surge is working. If you want history to paint Bush as a demon, you probably need to at least get your guys on board first.

    Comment by CaptainMantastic — December 4, 2007 @ 9:46 pm

    You have to be a parody, correct? What I think you sociopaths and Neo-Conartists are hoping for is some massive takeover of the internet and book publishing. This way, you can put out Information Cleansing and Half truths.

    The Ministsry of Truth concerned itself with Lies. Party ownership of the print media made it easy to manipulate public opinion, and the film and radio carried the process further.

    The primary job of the Ministry of Truth was to supply the citizens of Oceania with newspapers, films, textbooks, telescreen programmes, plays, novels - with every conceivable kind of information, instruction, or entertainment, from a statue to a slogan, from a lyric poem to a biological treatise, and from a child's spelling-book to a Newspeak dictionary.

    Winston worked in the RECORDS DEPARTMENT (a single branch of the Ministry of Truth) editing and writing for The Times. He dictated into a machine called a speakwrite. Winston would receive articles or news-items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, in Newspeak, rectify. If, for example, the Ministry of Plenty forecast a surplus, and in reality the result was grossly less, Winston's job was to change previous versions so the old version would agree with the new one. This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs - to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance.

    When his day's work started, Winston pulled the speakwrite towards him, blew the dust from its mouthpiece, and put on his spectacles. He dialed 'back numbers' on the telescreen and called for the appropriate issues of The Times, which slid out of the pneumatic tube after only a few minutes' delay. The messages he had received referred to articles or news-items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to rectify.

    In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices. To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages; to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and on the side wall, within easy reach of Winston's arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building.

    As soon as Winston had dealt with each of the messages, he clipped his speakwritten corrections to the appropriate copy of The Times and pushed them into the pneumatic tube. Then, with a movement which was as nearly as possible unconsicious, he crumpled up the original message and any notes that he himself had made, and dropped them into the memory hole to be devoured by the flames.

    What happened in the unseen labyrinth to which the tubes led, he did not know in detail, but he did know in general terms. As soon as all the corrections which happened to be necessary in any particular number of The Times had been assembled and collated, that number would be reprinted, the original copy destroyed, and the corrected copy placed on the files in its stead.

    In the cubicle next to him the little woman with sandy hair toiled day in day out, simply at tracking down and deleting from the Press the names of people who had been vaporized and were therefore considered never to have existed. And this hall, with its fifty workers or thereabouts, was only one-sub-section, a single cell, as it were, in the huge complexity of the Records Department. Beyond, above, below, were other swarms of workers engaged in an unimaginable multitude of jobs.

    There were huge printing-shops and their sub editors, their typography experts, and their elaborately equipped studios for the faking of photographs. There was the tele-programmes section with its engineers, its producers and its teams of actors specially chosen for their skill in imitating voices; clerks whose job was simply to draw up lists of books and periodicals which were due for recall; vast repositories where the corrected documents were stored; and the hidden furnaces where the original copies were destroyed.

    And somewhere or other, quite anonymous, there were the directing brains who co-ordinated the whole effort and laid down the lines of policy which made it necessary that this fragment of the past should be preserved, that one falsified, and the other rubbed out of existence.


  46. jb Says:

    get your guys on board first.

    Comment by CaptainMantastic — December 4, 2007 @ 9:46 pm

    Waterboarding is torture.


  47. Zooey Says:

    Capt Masterbastic

    Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — December 4, 2007 @ 9:52 pm

    Mondo fantastic. :-D


  48. fstuart Says:

    I'm sick of these people that want war at any-other-person's life but will not in any way risk their lives. All they do is want WAR WAR WAR and more WAR. If they want it, let them be the first in line to fight it! Bolton needs to get in line, as there are plenty ahead of him, right GW and DICK!


  49. Michael Lafferty Says:

    Wow. Ambassador Bolton: certified nut. And, apparently off his medication for that interview.

    Bombastic idiot! See the thought balloon: 'I know more than all of those intelligence agencies put together, and I have always known more.' Don't forget: he earned the Ambassador title as a result of having been selected for the job by President Bush. Or, by whomever tells him who he has selected for a particular job. Or, whatever.

    Inauguration Day 2009 cannot come soon enough.


  50. jb Says:

    Bolton's mustachioed tough guy act is befitting a men's room stall not a major News show.


  51. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    Mondo fantastic. :-D

    Comment by Zooey — December 4, 2007 @ 10:03 pm

    Thank you... thank you very much... yer a wunnerful audience.!! :-D!!!

    Following this latest, absolutely disgusting revelation about the Brusch Regime and their relentless drive to justify attacking Iran even though they KNEW Iran had pretty much shut down its nuke weapon program FOUR YEARS ago, the tenor of responses to the trolls like Masterbastic and Keltoi has rapidly gotten even more hostile, huh?

    And now the Idiot-In-Chief is trying to claim he only heard the news a few days ago? Almost... BEYOND... BELIEF!!!!


  52. jb Says:

    Oh yeah, Fox News is a close approximation of a men's room stall.


  53. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    Or, by whomever tells him who he has selected for a particular job.

    Comment by Michael Lafferty — December 4, 2007 @ 10:10 pm

    And exactly what sort of "job" was he selected for?

    Perhaps "Masterbastic" would know more about this.


  54. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    Oh yeah, Fox News is a close approximation of a men’s room stall.

    Comment by jb — December 4, 2007 @ 10:12 pm

    Do you mean it stinks and is full of Crap?


  55. jb Says:

    Do you mean it stinks and is full of Crap?

    Comment by Brain From Planet Arous — December 4, 2007 @ 10:15 pm

    That and it is a favorite haunt of repressed self loathing Rebulicks.


  56. Fan of Man Says:

    um 3/4 of the WORLD is guilty then...


  57. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    That and it is a favorite haunt of repressed self loathing Rebulicks.

    Comment by jb — December 4, 2007 @ 10:16 pm

    As Larry Craig would testify, you just said a mouthful!


  58. jb Says:

    Really how can these bat shit crazies say this stuff with a straight face?


  59. Michael Lafferty Says:

    Or, by whomever tells him who he has selected for a particular job

    As in, "…I picked Wolfie to do that? Isn't he still runnin' the bank? Why the heck did I do that? Condi doesn't like Wolfie, does she?"

    "No, Mister President. The Secretary has great respect for your decisions. She is on board."

    "Damn well better be! She was no one 'til I plucked her out of that liberal college out west. Hey: have you heard? Those who can, can. And those who can't, end up… you know… Can't get fooled again!"

    "Yes, Mister President."

    "Thank you, Dick. Hey - what's for dinner?"


  60. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    I would not like to be in a stall next to John Bolton. Just the sound of him groaning and needing a High Colonic Irrigation would be enough to get me out of there pronto.


  61. jb Says:

    I would not like to be in a stall next to John Bolton. Just the sound of him groaning and needing a High Colonic Irrigation would be enough to get me out of there pronto.

    Comment by Brain From Planet Arous — December 4, 2007 @ 10:20 pm

    They lap it up at Fox News.


  62. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    Really how can these bat shit crazies say this stuff with a straight face?

    Comment by jb — December 4, 2007 @ 10:19 pm

    I think they believe they are living out Orwell's 1984. The difference is that they do not comprehend the power of the internet, which did not exist in 1948, when it was written. I remember Tim Leary saying in the late 70s in Phoenix that computer technology would facilitate interpersonal communication, and eventually smoke out corruption in politics. This was nearly 15 years before the internet was fully realized. So watch out for a shutting down of the internet, or at least an attempt at it. The recent Violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism bill, which was signed by Democrats as well as Republicans, is such an attempt. I think we should picture what we would do without the internet, except for commerce by large corporations. Would it be passing CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, Short Wave, Cell Phones, or just talking? It is like preparing for Bush declaring Martial Law. Think about what you would do..........


  63. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    They lap it up at Fox News.

    Comment by jb — December 4, 2007 @ 10:23 pm

    Faux News..........One Big Enema.


  64. shaun Says:

    shit these guys are idiots!! - i was and still am waiting for one of these neocon dipsticks to spin it in bush's favour - something like "iran halted their weapons programme because of our wonderfully conceived and brilliantly executed war in iraq!!!!" - has that gone completely over their heads?.... iran have been pursuing nukes for 20 years????....well what are these guys worried about? - if that's true then nuclear weapons technology is as elusive to iran as bin laden is to bush


  65. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    Maybe Iran was simply telling the truth and the Neo-CoNaZionists were all lying?


  66. jb Says:

    Think about what you would do……….

    Comment by Brain From Planet Arous — December 4, 2007 @ 10:29 pm

    I live here on the Oregon Coast and just experienced 40 some hours of no electricity, no cell phone, no phone in town at all and of course no computer or TV. Community is the thing that will see us through a major repression. Printed words...pamphlets, leaflets have been used in the past to inform and organize. I believe that the people would find a way to rise up.


  67. jb Says:

    Can Iran lie more than this bunch of neoconartists?


  68. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    I believe that the people would find a way to rise up.

    Comment by jb — December 4, 2007 @ 10:34 pm

    That's what I think too. get solar panels and batteries, water, canned goods, toilet paper, dried pet food, protection, wood burning stove, and whatever to stay alive. Although the Militia guys are sometimes out there, I think this is one area where they are correct. Better to be prepared than broadsided without warning. I am somewhat mixed on 2nd Amendment issues, but I do not think it is a good idea to let the government and criminals as the only ones to own firearms.


  69. jb Says:

    The left certainly should be armed for self defense.


  70. Innocent Bystander Says:

    Forty years ago, people like Bolton would have been battling their demons in a straight jacket, strapped to a chair and facing a wall. Now they become UN Ambassadors and Fox News commentators.


  71. jb Says:

    Bolton is a good reason to keep tazers in use. That guy could use a few volts.


  72. lefty Says:

    The left certainly should be armed for self defense.

    In the words of your lying moron in chief, BRING IT ON.


  73. AngryOne Says:

    President Bush's amen corner in the conservative commentariat is apoplectic over the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran. After all, the report's conclusion that Tehran suspended its nuclear weapons program inn 2003 knocked the legs out from their "World War III" rhetoric. And as you'd expect, the same people who helped bring you the war in Iraq are now quick to claim CIA incompetence and conspiracies are behind the new assessment.

    For the details, see:
    "Right Claims Iran NIE a CIA Plot Against Bush."


  74. Merlin Says:

    Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the new finding wouldn't deter Israel or the United States from pressing its campaign to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.

    Interesting that the Prime Minister speaks so authoratively for the US regarding its foreign policy. Certainly gives some credence to Ace/Plunger who posts about Israel all the time.


  75. MapleStreet Says:

    I still can't connect the dots. The intelligence community is seen as rather conservative and has, as its champion, Bush Sr. I've seen a lot of evidence of Shrub politicizing presidential appointments.

    So how did the coverts become the enemy of Shrub ?


  76. jb Says:

    One unprovoked unjust war of aggression based on lies is not enough to impeach, so maybe a second will do the trick.


  77. austex Says:

    Captain Kangaroo on steriods - oh my


  78. Juan C. Says:

    The left certainly should be armed for self defense.
    Comment by jb

    The left has always been under attack. It certainly was born when the owners of factories forced children to work, when they forced people to work for 18 hrs/day in subhuman conditions, when govts. denied the women vote and when the czars were eating fancy dishes while 5 millions of Russians starved to death outside the castles...

    so, moron, you don't stand a chance against the left.


  79. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    Interesting that the Prime Minister speaks so authoratively for the US regarding its foreign policy. Certainly gives some credence to Ace/Plunger who posts about Israel all the time.

    Comment by Merlin — December 4, 2007 @ 11:18 pm

    As do I also. It is the Right Wing of Israel though, not the whole country.....The Likud/Zionists. Simply look at PNAC and AIPAC, and what influence they have on Foreign Policy, as well as all the Neo-Cons who are dual citizens of Israel and the USA. Also of interest is the support by Fundamentalist Christians of Israel.


  80. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    Captain Kangaroo on steriods - oh my

    Comment by austex — December 4, 2007 @ 11:24 pm

    And the Viagra... don't forget the Viagra.

    Is it true Bolton simply gets taller when he takes Viagra?


  81. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    So how did the coverts become the enemy of Shrub ?

    Comment by MapleStreet — December 4, 2007 @ 11:18 pm

    Because they dared contradict one of Kommander Kodpiece's main tenets, that Iran simply MUST be attacked, now, no matter what?


  82. Marie Says:

    Yosemite Sam says,
    "To give weight to a single intelligence estimate would be a mistake"

    I say, To give weight to a single estimate by this warmongering neocon, Podhoretz-like cretin would be a mistake.


  83. Brain From Planet Arous Says:

    Is it true Bolton simply gets taller when he takes Viagra?

    Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — December 4, 2007 @ 11:40 pm

    His heart murmurs and his testicles shrink.


  84. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    I would have thought his testicles had already atrophied severely.


  85. toasterhead Says:

    I still can’t connect the dots. The intelligence community is seen as rather conservative and has, as its champion, Bush Sr. I’ve seen a lot of evidence of Shrub politicizing presidential appointments.

    So how did the coverts become the enemy of Shrub ?

    Comment by MapleStreet — December 4, 2007 @ 11:18 pm

    The neocons always distrusted the old CIA of Bush Sr. For many decades they have felt that the agency's facts conflicted with their preconcieved notions about the world. This is why they started working in the 1970s to undermine the CIA's credibility, and somehow a few neocons like Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz managed to convince then-director George H.W. Bush to approve a team of outside experts called Team B to rewrite the National Intelligence Estimate to their liking.


  86. toasterhead Says:

    Bolton is a good reason to keep tazers in use. That guy could use a few volts.

    Comment by jb — December 4, 2007 @ 10:52 pm

    I bet his mustache would start spinning around like a bathing chinchilla.


  87. Proud American Liberal Says:

    John Bolton is dumb as a box of rocks. The whole country is anti-Bush.


  88. toasterhead Says:

    John Bolton is dumb as a box of rocks. The whole country is anti-Bush.

    Comment by Proud American Liberal — December 4, 2007 @ 11:55 pm

    Nah, just 76% of it. The other 24% are also dumb as a box of rocks.


  89. jb Says:

    so, moron, you don’t stand a chance against the left.

    Comment by Juan C. — December 4, 2007 @ 11:26 pm

    I'm not sure how my post was taken, as I agree totally with you. Nearly all that's good about this country has come from the left side and I think its worth protecting.


  90. Krazny Says:

    So how did the coverts become the enemy of Shrub ?

    Comment by MapleStreet — December 4, 2007 @ 11:18 pm

    By not agreeing with him. By not fixing the facts around the plan to invade Iran.


  91. Max-1 Says:

    .

    John Bolton = L I A R!

    Because the president asserts that Iran is still enriching, it must be so. Even when the NIE contradicts the "FIXED FACTS" around the truth.

    That's one hell of a catapult flinging dung machine in action, his mouth is.

    .


  92. rockyroad Says:

    It's Tuesday.

    Bolton says:

    “I’ve never based my view on this week’s intelligence,” Bolton proclaimed today. Just as he did before the Iraq war, Bolton is attempting to discredit any intelligence which contrasts with his fixation on more war in the Middle East."

    Well Mr. Bolton, it's Tuesday, third day of the week. If you "never" that either means that you "never" since yesterday, or you've known for years.

    Good to know, you've "always" been on the case, not that you haven't "always" known (since yesterday).

    Kisses.


  93. rockyroad Says:

    Oh, I failed to recognize that when Bolton says "never, until this week," he means that, back in the day, when his tarot card reader advised him that THIS week, he would be informed that Iran didn't have a WMD capability, he wouldn't actually KNOW it until this week.

    "Yeah, that's the ticket."


  94. LibertyLover Says:

    412 more days and this guy is "outta there" too.


  95. Willy Says:

    Neocon intelligence operations at work:

    1) Develop the policy,
    2) Mold the intelligence to support the policy.

    Neocon methodology makes the intelligence community superfluous. Think how much money can be saved since the intelligence services can all be dismantled when the neocons run the show. Go Team Bush!


  96. Merlin Says:

    Bolton Calls For Congressional Witch-Hunt

    You can almost smell the desperation eminating from the right. Since 2005 the true origin of the stench that offends our nostrils has become more and more clear.
    Bolton's rabid calls to do away with the UN were widely accepted as "the right thing to do" when he was ambassador. Toasted as a strong leader, even though he was preaching garbage. Today he still preaches garbage, but is now seen for the mad attack dog he is.

    Were all this harmless, one could feel sorry for the embarrassing feelings their pronouncements create. However, as these criminals spew their hate and soulless crap, all I see in my minds eye, is the royalty of France during the French revolution as the mounted the steps of the guillotine.


  97. delafield Says:

    I wonder if Israel is going to have the same amount of influence over the next President of the United States, Republican or Democrat. Name the last President who was not a "rubber stamp" for war mongering Israel.


  98. lm945 Says:

    "I've never based my view on this weeks intelligence."

    Tell us something we don't know. You can't base anything on something you don't have.


  99. MiMiCcs Says:

    They are still installing the centrifuges which are used to enrich uranium for their peaceful nuclear program. Highly enriched uranium can be produced if they have installed enough of them. Without the highly enriched uranium you can not build a nuclear weapon, so having or not having a weapons program may not be as significant as some make it out to be, at least not to the neocons.

    Don't get me wrong, I think Iran would be willing to give up it's nuclear program if we negotiate with them, but like with Iraq and WMD, we are not worried about their program or weapons, it is all about the oil, and an Iran-China-Russian alliance means our access to their oil is limited. Regime change is the only way to prevent this.

    Also, if you read the report, the NIE hedged a bit and said that from mid 2007, it's intelligence estimate that Iran was not developing a weapons program was downgraded from high to moderate. Remember Cheneys 1% doctrine. High is


  100. MiMiCcs Says:

    . Remember Cheneys 1% doctrine. High is


  101. rockyroad Says:

    If you're told in 2001 or 2006 that a threat either exists or does not exist, and that you won't know about it until it either demolises a building in Septemper 2001 or is published in by the Intelligence Assessment in 2007, and choose to ignore the intelligence, you're either a Bush wonk that may receive the medal of honor, but who should be punished as a co-conspirator, or Bush himself.

    Tried to allude . . . how clear must this be, must a hijacked plane be driven into your home before you will see?, or are you just a stupid wonk or bind man in denial who fails to see . . . as the adm continues to lie to us.

    ["you" is simply used for convenience, doesn't truly mean, "you" - seems like a simple emough concept, but BART freaks over these convenient oversimplifications - misses the point entirely]


  102. rockyroad Says:

    That horribly disjointed statement is the result of a collaboration of liberals. We should probably not attempt to collaborate again. Sort of like the dems.

    Each point has merit on its own, but wow, bring us all together, what a mess. You get the point.


  103. Doc Rock Says:

    Anti-Bush people in the intelligence field? Maybe they know something we don't know!


  104. Menehune Says:

    goo goo ga joob


  105. bernard quatermass Says:

    "To give weight to a single intelligence estimate would be a mistake”

    Unless it is the one I happen to like.


  106. theswan Says:

    Don't forget John, your supposed to be backing the annapolis peace process, not starting the next war.


  107. Uncle Ho Says:

    man, these neoNazis are just plain unf**kingbelievable. The tribunals at Nuremberg did not hang enough of these fascist pigs.


  108. Leftside Annie Says:

    Two words: BATSHIT CRAZY.


  109. slappy magoo Says:

    Comment by CaptainMantastic — December 4, 2007 @ 9:46 pm

    You'd almost have a point, IF Iran's backing off of their nuclear program had anything to do with Bush's success as a leader AND if Democratic "leaders" actually did admit to the surge working, and were able to back up those claims with evidence. Since they don't and you don't, you just kind of come across as ignorant and wrong. Sorry.


  110. tombaker Says:

    the trolls just keep sounding more insane by the day - God! this is entertaining.


  111. daytripper Says:

    Digby parses out the perpetually wrong neocon worldview: “The real question is why anyone ever takes them seriously about anything.”

    yet most people give them the benefit of the doubt on 9/11.

    WTF !!!!


  112. daytripper Says:

    #

    I still can’t connect the dots. The intelligence community is seen as rather conservative and has, as its champion, Bush Sr. I’ve seen a lot of evidence of Shrub politicizing presidential appointments.

    So how did the coverts become the enemy of Shrub ?

    maple, probably the most untalked about "big" news in the US today is the ongoing and escalating war in the military and intelligence communities. infact it is highly likely that the only thing preventing these vulcans from turning it all into party apparatus is rational (true patriot) heads in both communities.
    what the media will bearly allude to is that neither community was "onboard" for war in iraq, and is likely no where close to being convinced in irans case. we know this because rumsfeld had to create his own intel group (OSP), due to the inconvenience of the actual intelligence, as compiled by professionals..

    This gets to the very heart of the far-right of the GOP and the neoconservative view. its not big government they detest, its elected, representative and scrutinised government they detest. that is why, everytime they are in power we always see paralell institutions spring up, which have no oversight or congresssional control. think plumbers, iran contra etc. And it is quite clear what happens to those who disagree. Ask the stack of professional soldiers who retired early, career intel staff who quit and outed agents.

    Americans should be very concerned for the safety of their democratic institutions.


  113. Darryl Mason Says:

    John Bolton was tossed overboard by the US State Department during an interview on Australian TV tonight.

    US Undersecretary of State, Nicholas Burns, said Bolton was wrong on his claims that Iran has nuclear weapons and that the US is planning to strike Iran.

    "He does not represent the US government...We very much disagree with him."


  114. John Hair Says:

    John Bolton claims "Mistake!" I can tell you the mistake that was really made, when his parents didn't eat the litter that he was wallowering around in. jwh


  115. PaulD Says:

    VIDEO

    Chris matthews asks a neo-con "is Iran a strategic threat"? and DEMANDS AN ANSWER

    http://test.redlasso.com/service/svc/clip/playClip?fid=9fcb21ca-effa-40b8-aa36-8856d7b71ea4


  116. Diana Moneymaker Says:

    God bless america and bolton's mustache.


  117. tombaker Says:

    Gaffney was just on the Tweety Show having Tweety laugh in his face for daring attempt to pin this up ala Bolton - it was hi-larious, and Gaffney was visibly pained with the beating.

    Crazy Righty Pat Buchanan piled on, and gnawed on dubbie's empty head like a houd worries a well-worn soupbone, to boot.

    Now Tweety's on to how the Bible-slinging goper candidates are all going to beat each other over the head with a crucifix until there's one man standing - yeeeeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaaaa mo fo's!!!!!!!


  118. mettycat Says:

    The Neocons like Bolton have just been kicked in the groin. I have yet to hear anyone claim that the NIE is false. The only people doing that are the Neocons like Bolton. No foreign intelligence agency has come forward to claim its false nor have any military personnel. They would know about Iran's operations because they would be the collecting the data. Bolton and the rest had better face the facts that no one except for a few die hard individuals believe them anymore.


  119. chabuka Says:

    Bolton, Podhoretz, Bush/Cheney, Rice and the rest of the criminally insane, armed and dangerous neo-cons inside the White House are the ones who should be investigated....


  120. ctcadguy Says:

    911 was an inside job!

    Send the criminals to the Hague!



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