and you're the ultimate hypocrite for believing Bush is a real veteran of ANYTHING....
President Bush is trying to convince everyone that the nation is turning a corner, but when it comes to the intelligence community under his administration, we're still headed in the wrong direction. First it was Bush's opposition to the creation of the 9/11 commission. Then it was the outing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Now, this week, we have the dual headlines of a new leak and the president's partisan choice of Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) as the new CIA director.
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge - after gratuitously complimenting the president - raised the terror threat in Washington, DC and New York City based largely on three-to-four-year-old information. Later, the administration leaked the name of Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan - a double agent working for Pakistani intelligence - as the source of the latest al Qaeda intelligence that resulted in the new threat.
The Bush administration's decision to leak his name disrupted his operation, and forced Khan into hiding. One anonymous Pakistani intelligence official had this to say: "Let me say that this intelligence leak jeopardized our plan and some al Qaeda suspects ran away."
The Bush administration compounded its intelligence problems with the selection of Goss (R-FL) to succeed the departed George Tenet. Although Goss is a CIA veteran, he's also well-versed in partisan sniping - earlier this summer, the Bush campaign tapped him to rebut a speech by John Kerry on national security. Goss, for his part, called Kerry's address "little more than political 'me-tooism'" that "neglected the president's historic achievements."
And that's not all. Despite his ties to the CIA, Goss dutifully toed the Republican Party line by refusing to take seriously the investigation into the Plame leak, calling it little more than "wild and unsubstantiated allegations, which are being obviously piled on by partisan politicians during an election year." And, for good measure, he added, "Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation."
Ah, the face of future intelligence gathering under the Bush administration.
Bush's latest actions undermine the intelligence community and demonstrate once again that, in this administration, nothing is off limits when it comes to playing politics. That's why BushRecall.org is continuing its efforts to recruit volunteers in swing states, collaborate with other anti-Bush organizations, and expand our internet presence. Every week brings us closer to the important election of our lifetime - and BushRecall.org is going into overdrive to kick the Right Wing out of the West Wing. We need your help. |
