If you are a fan of the NYT, are reality challenged or have BDS, please skip this. It might make your head explode.
:-)
Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, we can read the NIE
for ourselves and, within a matter of minutes, discover
that the intelligence corroborated Bush's view and that
the national press is misleading us.
We Don't Need Your Filter
Media Blog
Stephen Spruiell Reporting
The press is in full anti-Bush spin mode. The main line of attack is that, in authorizing the leak of some parts of the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, Bush misled the public about the overall nature of its findings (see several examples linked below).
The NIE itself is available here.
fas.org
Read the first three paragraphs, which sum up the NIE's findings:
<<< Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction
We judge that Iraq has continued its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs in defiance of UN resolutions and restrictions. Baghdad has chemical and biological weapons as well as missiles with ranges in excess of UN restrictions; if left unchecked, it probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade. (See INR alternative view at the end of these Key Judgments.)
We judge that we are seeing only a portion of Iraq's WMD efforts, owing to Baghdad's vigorous denial and deception efforts. Revelations after the Gulf war starkly demonstrate the extensive efforts undertaken by Iraq to deny information. We lack specific information on many key aspects of Iraq's WMD programs.
Since inspections ended in 1998, Iraq has maintained its chemical weapons effort, energized its missile program, and invested more heavily in biological weapons; in the view of most agencies, Baghdad is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. >>>
Reporters are busy parsing other parts of the NIE, purporting to show that Bush misled the public on this or that claim. As liberal blogger Bob Somerby put it,
<<< "They’re doing exactly what Bush has done; they’re presenting selective material in the attempt to mislead you. Of course, we tend to approve of such behavior—when we’re misled in a way which we like." >>>
But the overall conclusion of the NIE is clear: Despite some ancillary objections from the State Department, the prevailing view of the U.S. intelligence community supported Bush's argument that Saddam was violating his U.N. obligations and posed a threat to the United States.
Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, we can read the NIE for ourselves and, within a matter of minutes, discover that the intelligence corroborated Bush's view and that the national press is misleading us. Here's a note for those reporters: The filter doesn't work when we all have access to the same documents.
media.nationalreview.com
washingtonpost.com
nytimes.com
mercurynews.com
dailyhowler.com
fas.org |
