Former Cheney Aide’s Efforts To Discredit Iran NIE Are Contradicted By Cheney Himself
Former Cheney Aide’s Efforts To Discredit Iran NIE Are Contradicted By Cheney Himself
In an article this morning titled “NIE authors accused of partisan politics,” the Washington Times’ Jon Ward attempts to undermine the credibility of the intelligence community’s recent assessment that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Ward’s article consists of ad hominen attacks from unnamed “officials” who claim the new NIE is just “a politically motivated document written by anti-Bush former State Department officials.”
David Wurmser, who until recently was Vice President Cheney’s Middle East adviser, is the only critic of the NIE that Ward quotes on the record:
“One has to look at the agendas of the primary movers of this report, to judge how much it can really be banked on,” said David Wurmser, a former Middle East adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, who has worked with the report authors.
Ward’s article is disingenuous in many respects. Ward asserts that there were “three former State officials primarily responsible” for the report. But, as Slate’s Fred Kaplan pointed out yesterday when asked about this canard, “the NIE is not ‘a team of three in the State Department.’ It’s the product of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.”
Additionally, Wurmser and his fellow anonymous critics are contradicted by an ideological fellow traveler in the administration who, unlike them, has actually seen the full report: Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney told the Politico that he doesn’t “have any reason to question” the report:
Q Sir, did you believe the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Did I believe it?
Q Yes, do you believe the new one that’s out — or is there a reason to question those conclusions?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: I don’t have any reason to question the — what the community has produced, with respect to the NIE on Iran. Now, there are things they don’t know. There are always — there’s always the possibility that the circumstances will change. But I think they’ve done the best job they can with the intelligence that’s available to give us their best judgment on those issues.
Wurmser and other hawks have been rushing to discredit the NIE, but it’s clear they’re grasping at straws when even Dick Cheney won’t go along with their character assassinations and conspiracy theories.
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47 Responses to “Former Cheney Aide’s Efforts To Discredit Iran NIE Are Contradicted By Cheney Himself”
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“Iran is in their last throes. snarky
December 7th, 2007 at 12:03 pmThat Wurmser sounds like a weasal
December 7th, 2007 at 12:07 pmInteresting link to some DC insider info on why BushCo was forced to release the NIE conclusions:
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/ sic_semper_tyrannis/ 2007/ 12/ the-senate-and.html
December 7th, 2007 at 12:09 pm[Darth Cheney]: Now, there are things they don’t know….
“… and there are things they know that they don’t know, and there are things that they don’t know that they know … and … well … I don’t know….”
Maybe if Darth knows things that the combined and best efforts of the intelligence agencies “don’t know”, he ought to point them out. Time for the “B Team”, I guess!!!!
Cheers,
December 7th, 2007 at 12:14 pmIsn’t the “attack the messenger” tactic getting a little old?
December 7th, 2007 at 12:16 pmfwiw, here’s a comment from pat lang:
The “jungle telegraph” in Washington is booming with news of the Iran NIE. I am told that the reason the conclusions of the NIE were released is that it was communicated to the White House that “intelligence career seniors were lined up to go to jail if necessary” if the document’s gist were not given to the public. Translation? Someone in that group would have gone to the media “on the record” to disclose its contents.
It is no wonder that the AEI crowd and their congressional helpmates are running around with their hair on fire over this estimate. In sharp contrast to the ease with which the neocon Jacobins were able to control the content of the October 2002 NIE on Iraq, this time they failed utterly to use a national intelligence estimate as a propaganda tool.
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/
December 7th, 2007 at 12:18 pmAwww, poor wittle Dickie’s dreams are shattered, he can only have two illegal immoral wars.
He’s a liar, that tried to lie the country into a 3rd war when he knew that Iran was not pursuing making a nuke.
Bush/Cheney
Hague Trials ‘09
Buck Fush
December 7th, 2007 at 12:18 pmWormy, like his master Darth, are on the hook, hanging in the meat locker, waiting for the steely knives to carve them up.
Impeach, dammit!
December 7th, 2007 at 12:18 pmWORMser?
-GSD
December 7th, 2007 at 12:20 pmThese morons can’t keep their lies straight.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:20 pmI don’t have any reason to question the — what the community has produced, with respect to the NIE on Iran. Now, there are things they don’t know.
- - - - -
Yes, there are things only Dick Cheney knows. There are things regarding Iran’s nuclear program only Cheney has access to. Not even the Iranians themselves know what Dick knows. He’s clairvoyant
He’s Nostradickmus.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:20 pmFrankly, there’s little of anything I would believe from any quarter of our current government.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:21 pmThat Wurmser sounds like a weasal
Comment by Jason — December 7, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
His wife is pretty slimy, too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyrav_Wurmser
December 7th, 2007 at 12:21 pmI cant believe that a group of people, basically pundits on a keyboard, think they KNOW more than 16 intelligence agencies.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:22 pmwow, cheney was actually honest, for once.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:25 pmdarladoon; How can you POSSIBLY utter cheney and honest in the same sentence? Cheney is the most dishonest VP since Nixon held that post.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:36 pmsir: as only vice president,shouldn’t you keep your fingers out of the presidents business?
December 7th, 2007 at 12:36 pmThe Washington Times would not even exist if not for funding from a strange foreign cult.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:37 pmI cant believe that a group of people, basically pundits on a keyboard, think they KNOW more than 16 intelligence agencies.
Comment by Xisithrus — December 7, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
I can darn well believe it. RNC/West Wing keyboard commando first class Cold_Hard_Left is absolutely sure to within the certainty of his ability to LIE that he knows more than 16 intelligence agencies.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:49 pmwow, cheney was actually honest, for once.
Comment by darladoon — December 7, 2007
Maybe they shocked his heart and his mind? Whatever, I hope he continues to be honest.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:50 pmcomment by VerbalKint — December 7, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
Crackpot realism knows no bounds =)
December 7th, 2007 at 12:52 pmOne only need look at the Joe Klein saga to understand exactly what’s going on here, it makes it so much easier to dismiss.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:53 pmThe overall goal is still to discredit the obviously biased NIE. -Frank M
How do you know its biased? Bush overhauled the intelligence community and created the DHS and the Counter-terrorism control center to make sure the intelligence was better. Are you saying that 16 agencies are biased? Please elaborate as to why you think its biased.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:55 pmNothing new here. Vice President is just playing the good guy here. The overall goal is still to discredit the obviously biased NIE. VP cannot go and say outright that the report is BS.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
Now that is funny.
Yup, old smilin’ Dick is just being the good guy, like he always is.
You can’t make this sh!t up.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:00 pmHow do you know its biased? Bush overhauled the intelligence community and created the DHS and the Counter-terrorism control center to make sure the intelligence was better. Are you saying that 16 agencies are biased? Please elaborate as to why you think its biased.
Comment by Xisithrus — December 7, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
It makes Cheney & Bush look like lying prats, therefore, ipso facto, it is “biased”. Just like FoxNoose is “fair and balanced.” You must have dropped your Orwell glasses, Xisithrus, or you’d be able to see this more clearly.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:01 pmI’d trust them more on this issue than any of our agencies which, clearly, have begun to campaign against Bush administration.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 1:02 pm
Huh? 16 agencies giving their honest assessment is campaigning against the Bush admin? And you trust the Israel intelligence more because why?
And I dont mean your opinion but REAL reasons.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:08 pmYou must have dropped your Orwell glasses, Xisithrus, or you’d be able to see this more clearly.
Comment by gummitch — December 7, 2007 @
Forgive me I stepped out of the straussian reality based world for a moment =)
December 7th, 2007 at 1:09 pmBackbiting Righty Cannibals
a veritable orgy of falseness and insincerity - what a wonder to behold
December 7th, 2007 at 1:11 pmFrank: “The overall goal is still to discredit the obviously biased NIE.”
How can a report which is the composite, peer-reviewed conclusions of 16 separate intelligence agencies be “biased?” Sorry, that just doesn’t make any sense. Is there any depth to which pathetic neocon cultists won’t sink to defend their cult leaders?
December 7th, 2007 at 1:13 pmOn Dec. 4 I posted that the shrubs rhetoric changed subtly in the past several months from how Iran wanted to “build†nuclear weapons to how Iran wanted to acquire the “knowledge†of nuclear weapons. I don’t think that I looked deep enough. Think about this: do you mean to tell me that we did not know this program was halted for four years? Do you really believe that we just found this out recently? Talk about an intelligence breakdown. Yes, these corrupt and manipulative s.o.b.s knew the truth but they HAD to have known this before August 2007.
Here goes my conspiracy theory. Iran halted their program in 2003. Valerie Plame Wilson is outed in 2003. Who had the most to gain from this outing? What was she working on?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ steve-clemons/ cheney-teams-plame-leak-_b_15579.html
Talk about convenient. They can kill two birds with one stone by sending Joe Wilson to Iraq to debunk the WMD story and shut down one of the groups trying to discover if Iran is building nuclear weapons with one blow.
Yes, we need to know what they knew and when they knew it but we need to look way before August 2007 if we want the real answers. So go ahead – investigate the NIE. Remember to ask them why didn’t this become knowledge for FOUR YEARS.
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/ sic_semper_tyrannis/ 2007/ 12/ the-senate-and.html
The truth is out there…
December 7th, 2007 at 1:13 pmFrank doesn’t trust his own governments intelligence apparatus, that has kept us safe since 911? WOW. I hear from the Bushies how strong Bush is on national security and how their have been no attacks on the US since 911 [Something our intelligence works to do] and now, because of an NIE by those same people, Frank now trusts the Israel intelligence and not the overhauled Bush one???
WTH Frank?
December 7th, 2007 at 1:14 pmComment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 1:02 pm
Your posts can best be described as crackpot ideas.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:17 pmDick Cheney on Nov. 9th, 2007: “We’re in a position now, clearly, especially when we look at Iran, where it’s very, very important we succeed in our efforts, our national security efforts, to discourage the Iranians from…producing nuclear weapons.”
Hey Frank, Cheney already knew that 16 various intelligence operations had concluded that Iran had shut down its program in 2003. Would you call the above statement a distortion, a misrepresentation or an outright lie? Why has Cheney been arguing for a military strike against Iran when he knew our intelligence agencies had concluded they were not working on weapons? That’s the question you neocons need to answer.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:17 pmFrank: “Vice President is just playing the good guy here.”
Sorry, but anyone who, at this point, thinks the VP is a “good guy” is simply insane.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:18 pmComment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
You also said that US intelligence agencies “have begun to campaign against Bush administration.”
As I said: Crackpot.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:39 pm#35: As I said, I trust the Israeli intelligence more ON THIS ISSUE. It’s not that our elint or ground assets are bad, but Israelis have been doing this for generations. They’re years ahead of us when it comes to penetrating Iranian or Syrian government and military.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
And the fact that they’re telling you what you want to hear isn’t a factor at all. Sure.
If the Israelis have actual intel, they would share it. Since they didn’t, we can presume they don’t have it, or we can presume they have their own agenda, which has little or nothing to do with citizens of the United States.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:42 pmPoor Frank. He’s simply afraid and ruled by his fear. Fear, of course, makes people stupid.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:43 pmFrank’s fear has made him stupid. As evidence, he offers us his opinion that our government should be taking its marching orders from another country’s intelligence agency. Great Frank. Great idea! Now, go take your nappy.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:45 pmFrank’s fear has made him stupid. As evidence, he offers us his opinion that our government should be taking its marching orders from another country’s intelligence agency. Great Frank. Great idea! Now, go take your nappy.
Comment by Ret. Col. Jack Ripper — December 7, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
Pure genius. Frank trusts the intelligence service of another country–which has actively spied on this country for decades–over our own intelligence agencies because, like the Bushies, he’s not getting the answers he wants. Shop around until you find one you like, Frank!
December 7th, 2007 at 1:48 pmThe Bosses always want to blame the workers after they’ve run the company into the ground with bad ideas, and we’re supposed to go along with the idea that “if it failed, the employees must’ve been bad”
whether it’s a regular business or a dept. of gov’t., that’s always the line - companies fail to compete because of the “cost of labor”, not because the CEO and the Board are hapless, preening gits, who spend more time shopping for “summer home window treatments” than they do considering their products, customers, or industry. I’ve witnessed that first hand.
Not satisfied with Government or the Economy - Thank a Republican MBA. They own both.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:09 pmAre we missing the strategy here: If you tell enough lies, the opposition will waste all their energy chasing down each and every one.
The more contraditions the better. Keep the dems busy chasing phantoms.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:33 pmBackbiting Righty Cannibals-comment by tombaker @ :11 pm
Personally, I prefer Cannibis. just saying. (:-D)
December 7th, 2007 at 2:58 pmI’m not sharing mine with the likes of them.
December 7th, 2007 at 4:07 pmdarladoon; How can you POSSIBLY utter cheney and honest in the same sentence? Cheney is the most dishonest VP since Nixon held that post.
if you’ll notice i said: “honest for once”
thanks
December 7th, 2007 at 5:22 pmbtw, nixon wasn’t VP
December 7th, 2007 at 5:22 pmNixon was a VP for 8 years. He was Pres for 6, so I think you’re both winners!
December 7th, 2007 at 6:43 pmbeen gone all week… i’ve got to jump in somewhere - it must be here…
from above:
…when even Dick Cheney won’t go along with their character assassinations and conspiracy theories. - Matt/TP
are you kidding?
THAT”S not the point … or, the ONLY point…
it’s not that he won’t go along - you KNOW he loves the dirt…
it’s THIS:
“…Now, there are things they don’t know. There are always — there’s always the possibility that the circumstances will change…”
he’s got sumpin’ up his sleeve a’right…
December 7th, 2007 at 8:43 pm