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I always enjoy watching the spun-sugar tendrils of the cotton-candy wingnut worldview being woven into place. In the wake of today's NIE revelation that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, take it away Instahack:
This story lets the Bush Administration take credit for pressuring Iran into stopping its weapons program by invading Iraq -- meaning that the invasion really did end a major WMD threat -- and also punt further serious action on the Iran issue to the next administration. Cui bono? I think it's pretty obvious. . . .
Somewhat less obvious would be the past twelve months (emptywheel says six months) of saber rattling and fearmongering on the part of an administration that had access to this information, but maybe we'll get that in the next snippet of wisdom.
Remember it less than a month ago that dishonest hack Mike McConnell said:
The director of national intelligence said Tuesday he does not plan to make public any of the key findings of a soon-to-be-completed assessment on Iran's nuclear program.
Mike McConnell said to do so could expose U.S. intelligence capabilities and enable Iran to change its practices.
The National Intelligence Estimate is intended to lay out the entire intelligence community's best estimate on the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program. The Bush administration maintains Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons, but the Iranians say the program is to meet the country's energy needs.
At the time McConnell said we wouldn't have him to kick around any more it if all turned out to be bullshit:
McConnell also said Tuesday he would resign if he determined administration officials were cherry-picking intelligence to support their positions. Some members of Congress and other critics of the war in Iraq have accused the Bush administration of selectively making public intelligence that supported its case for invading Iraq.
McConnell said the "first mission" of the intelligence community is to "speak truth to power."
"If it were cherry-picked in an inappropriate way, then for me, that's a professional obligation to object, and I would submit my resignation," he said.
You can have it on my desk by tomorrow morning, Mike.
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Bedlam is dreaming of rain.
The report is a year old and the info is two years old..and Bush knew the Iran nuke program was on hold when he talked WWIII..will MSM call him on it?……….
I let downstairs know, but didn’t link right (again) (sigh).
Caught red-handed this time…fixin’ the facts to lie us into war.
Impeach!!
Are you taking bets?
Me thinks someone just spit in Cheney’s eye.
The bastard has been trying to tweak this NIE just like the last one.
Kevin Drum has interesting speculation on how/why the NIE was released.
Link
emptywheel’s on the same topic next door. Here’s a commenter on V.D. Hanson trying to spin it:
Guess the talking points got around the wingnuts by mass listserves.
That would be a negative..
Somehow I think Mr. McConnel is gonna be around a bit longer…
and Bush knew the Iran nuke program was on hold when he talked WWIII
Slipped his mind.
/Kevin McDonald
Members of Hanson’s Horribles might want to be careful about reminding folks of what was known about Iran in early 2003. Might get us to thinking too much.
But..but… but… JPod’s head is exploding all over Rudy and Judi’s couch. What? No third invasion for the Wartime Preznit?
Yah gotta figger that not only is the dome on Darth Cheney’s lying little head fucking exploding, but the NeoShits are having vapors over McConnell’s NIE. How long until the wingnuts start questioning his service to our country? My bet, just slightly longer than it took to come up with the idea that HRC hired the hostage-taker in NH.
Panties in a twist? The description of the modern-day fascist republican party.
OT..I think Hillary is pissed off..from speech today:
MyDD
Thompson truly is lazy…he’s touting the NIE on Tweety…as the latest information…then he says that he would be interested to know if the information is from intelligence or from the Iranians…
I’m sure I just heard him say that…he just babbles a bunch of doublespeak…
Helllooo…Mr. Thompson…..Ummmmm….N. Intelligence E.
D’oh……
Memo to “sef”…Wolf, not Tweety.
You know I am no supporter, but I like that kind of speech.
Goddess help us if Thompson were ever to be
electedappointed…he’s way worse in coherence terms than Reagan was at his worst…Unfingbelievable. Airhead.Thank you, Jane!
Yes, Mr. McConnell! We expect to receive your resignation tomorrow! I wonder how Miss Prissy Perino will dance away from this one?
I have an ulterior motive for wanting McConnell gone. I keep getting his name mixed up with the ranking member of the Senate (Mitch?)
Bob in HI
I’m sure Obama can retaliate with…well, you were so “present” that you voted for the Iraq war Hillary….
Honestly, they both should be all over the Administration about the Abramoff stuff, the Iran stuff, the Iraq stuff.
Stop the slings and arrows and stop making the Rovians happy.
Boneheads.
Cherry-picking? Wouldn’t it be accurate to call it Cheney-picking?
Speaking of the devil, have you seen this photo of Dick endangering the lives of children as he steers a bumper car with the look of a crazed draft-dodger?
Unfortunately, yes, the Minority Leader in the Senate is sometimes known as “Mitch.” But you can also use his
beardwife to help differentiate the two. I do it by calling him “Mr Chao”. After all, he’s the Senator from Big Bidness and she’s the fox guarding the henhouse as Labor Secretary.And don’t forget to throw Mukasey in there too for resignation for doing the bidding of the WH already. He said under oath that he would resign if the WH asked him to do something that is for the benefit of the WH and not for the American people. He’s already on the line, and if doesn’t help Fitz get those documents to Waxman because of WH pressure….he should be history and resign.
I think one needs to follow the money. If Cheney has shorted OIL. Then we know why there is a sudden release of good news about Iran. Anyone know what the price of Oil is doing today?
I urge everyone to actually read the report - it is only 9 pages and the real meat is contained in the last 4 pages. Reading it reminds me of reading the UK White Paper issued before the Iraq invasion. Anyone that reads either of these carefully knows that neither Iraq (then) or Iran (now) is in any danger of obtaining nuclear WMD for several years - even if they start again and go all out.
As I see the difference this time around is that the Intel Community finally got some backbone. Now if only the MSM and the Democrats get some backbone, maybe we can save the world from another disastrous Shrub/Cheney adventure.
I go back and forth on that..The “main event” is going to be brutal and very ugly…Is it good to warm up in the primary? Hillary and Edwards probably don’t need the experience but if Obama is the nominee he really needs to get beaten up in the primary and get his game plan sorted out. As I am sure Hillary can attest, imagining personal attacks and actually experiencing them are very different. Obama needs the experience before the general election.
I am calling for Mr McConnel to keep his word and resign forthwith for being a mendacious lying scum prevaricator.
It sounds like this is McConnell’s Declaration of Independence. I don’t know about you guys, but I think this is behavior that should be encouraged.
The whole concept is rather odd…When the Iranian enrichment program was announced, (and I have forgotten the exact numbers) but it was on the order of 40,000 centrifuge cascades would be needed in order to produce bomb quality and quantity U-235. The last that I read, the Iranians had a few thousand working. And if bomb making was so easy, how is it the N. Koreans spent years, set off one dud and then quit.
Breaking News! The Hillary campaign reports that Barack Obama has been planning his Presidential campaign since kindergarten. Worse, he was mixing milk money with campaign funds.
WMD is not longer the rationale for invading Iran. The excuse will be Iranian terrorists killing Americans over the border in Iraq is the reason Bush will give before bombing.
The fact that Glenn Reynolds thinks Iran’s not having a nuclear program is a) good for BushCo and b) justifies the invasion of Iraq once again reminds us all, once again, that Glenn Reynolds is really a tremendous Putz.
Glad you brought that up, Frank33. Here’s the link to the story on the Chicago Tribune’s DC blogThe Swamp. The comments are something to behold. Looks like a huge back-fire for Ms. Rodham Clinton. Now to find the “rest of the story…”
According to this article and map (scroll all the way down) over 50k Iraqi refugees living in Iran now.
It won’t work.
Hmmmm…maybe they are throwing all that crapolla at each other now (as pointed up in the comment above), so as to diffuse the impact of those kinds of attacks should either one become the nominee and face those charges from the pukes. I’m still guessing it will be Edwards though…but who knows….
I used to occasionally read Reynolds on MSNBC while waiting for Altercation to be posted. I was also usually disappointed in all aspects of reason and logic displayed by someone who presented himself as such a superior intellect.
I say focus on impeachment, since this proves a pattern of lying to the American people to get us to sacrifice for their oil wars…They really need to be called out on this. Screw the spin - they covered up and they lied…again.
They even had to send Hadley out in damage control mode…
Check!
Now, let’s get checkmate, once and for all.
Everything this administration says is a lie.
If it’s republican, it’s a lie.
That didn’t sell either. Remember, think it was just last week, that NYT showed that 41% of insurgents are Saudi & Iranians not so much.
Bumper sticker?
Two, two, two blogs in one!!
Laura Doty, YGM fb :)
Flippin back & forth.
Finally got back into the Lake. had to change my name slightly, but am happy to return.
As to substance. This government is hopeless. People are finally catching up to the fact and are no longer in denial. Only the MSM holds out, but not for long. The imploding thuglican presidential election is going to change a lot of things in Washington, some of which impinge on the possibility of impeachment hearings. It’s the hearings we want, not the actual senate procedure. As the clock ticks down, the thuglican support for this President will continue to shrivel and wither, and who knows, maybe our people will grow spines!
I’m liking this, and EW deserves much more traffic than she’s been getting for her outstanding work. Kudos to FDL and EW!!
I’d love to hear the “Wilsons” take on all of this….
Does this mean that Hillary knew when she voted for Kyl/Lieberman that Iranians had stopped their Nuclear weapons program in 2003? What did Hill know and when did she know it? What did Kyl and Lieberman know, for that matter, and when did they know it?
Great Idea. Waiving to Joe & Valerie. Perhaps Jane could make a special appearance request.
Uh, GREAT Q. Don’t know if she was one of the insiders, but we must know.
Le mad B is dreaming of iran
Is someone from Hillary’s camp reading us here? Still it’s kind of lame. Hillary after all voted for Kyl-Lieberman. And her describing her vote as a vote for diplomacy is a bit odd too. Isn’t that what she said about the 2002 AUMF against Iraq and look what that got us?
If it was available, remember one has to go sit down and you know, actually read it. (as in pre AUMF days)
Good news for Bush!? Just like North Korea acquiring and testing a thermonuclear device was ‘good’. What morons.
The sun came up this morning- good for Bush, quite the quandary for liberal Democrats.
OT..for a little laugh..”Keith Olbermann Reads Tom Tomorrow”
C&L
No kidding!! Great question!!!
Someone should ask “Jay” if he knew this..Now that it is public he can’t use secrecy..or maybe the WH gave the Senate Intel Comm. a “redacted” copy.
And for that matter, who else on the intelligence committees knew this???
I want answers!!
Everyone who knew should be held to account!!
This is truly so outrageous!
I’ve been meaning to post something about the half-truths and lies — there’s no other word — expressed by Hillary Clinton in a letter to constituents about Iran.
I received her letter was sent in response to this email I sent on September 25:
Here are annotated excerpts from just the first paragraph of the form letter sent in response on Oct 18:
Really? How so? Iran has not attacked neighbors, occupies no territory, does not have a nuclear weapons program, and is a signatory of the Nonproliferation Treaty. Would that Israel or Pakistan could say the same.
First clause true, second clause a hyped misquote, as Juan Cole has assiduously clarified. But also, as our vaunted media too seldom point out, Ahmadinejad is not the true leader of Iran and most importantly is not the country’s commander in chief.
This is just a flat-out, provocative lie. Ahmadinejad may have boasted of Iran’s legal (under the NPT) uranium enrichment program, but he has consistently denied that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. This is like saying that Larry Craig has been the leading spokesperson for his homosexual identify.
I could go on into the body of the letter but have to run. Suffice to say that I don’t appreciate being lied to by my Senator, especially when her lies support the war whoops of crazed neocons and double-especially when the Senator in question is a’hankering for the Presidency.
She is not on the Intel Committee..but Whitehouse and Feingold are..if anyone will spill the beans..they would.
Oh………….and this has my hackles up bigtime:
Pelosi/The Gavel:
“While we should harbor no illusions about the intentions of some Iranian leaders, the new Iran NIE suggests there is time for a new policy toward Iran that deters it from restarting its nuclear program while also improving relations overall.
The NIE also illustrates the effectiveness of international monitoring and targeted sanctions to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These tools, and efforts such as the Nunn–Lugar program to secure loose nuclear materials that Congress expanded this year through the passage of the 9/11 Commission recommendations legislation, can be employed successfully to deter the production or acquisition of the components needed for nuclear weapons.”
Nuh, Uh……Pelosi.
We have been lied to again, that is the issue!!!
That is exactly the issue..if the Senate Committee had access to the report..I would have expected at least Feingold to to call bullshit..the info is at least two years old.
OT..A tiny piece of sanity:
Appeals court strikes down faith-based prison program
C&L
maybe I’m being defensive of my senator (Russ), but I’m guessing he did call bullshit two years ago. But he had no leverage two years ago. He does now. And, he may have leverage in areas we haven’t even thought of yet to use as a negotiating chip…
There are I think two separate issues here. The Iran NIE cameout in November so you can’t blame Congress for not knowing its contents.
In a larger sense though, the NIE is a consensus document, the product of our government’s myriad intelligence agencies. So for all of our intelligence agencies to be OK with signing off on the finding that Iran susended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, that is a very clear indication that this information has been percolating through the intelligence community for some time. So many members of Congress especially those on the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees should have had this information for months if not a year.
[in corner, quietly practicing, U.S. say it has the right to kidnap foreign [in this case British] citizens.”
Rats.
still having probs. linking.
U.S. says has right to kidnap foreign citizens.
What do we need to do to get the MSM to call the Bush Junta on this? All I ask for is an honest assessment of the NIE, what it says, when it was written, when the Admin had knowledge of it, and all the things “they” said despite knowing otherwise. Is that too difficult to ask of all these supposed professional journalists?
Off-topic, this is my first post on the “new” FDL. I tried all weekend, but was denied saying that my email address was already in use. So I used my wife’s, which being at work, was inaccessible til today. Is there a way to get “me” logged on with my real email?
Oh. For heaven’s sakes. www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news…..982640.ece
It was classified, so even if they knew, none of them could declassify it, however, they should have pushed for “doubt“…I never heard anyone say, I “doubt” Iran has a current nuke program. No one has ever said that.
FYI, New post upstairs
New post link
It’s more important to us out here in the Rest of the World than to most of you folks, but if Iran has stopped its programme there must be a reason. Admin spokesmen (and non-spokesmen like that nice Mr Bolton) have been speaking out here in the UK saying loudly that European engagement has been rubbish and Iran has been taking advantage of us poor fools who don’t understand. Remind me, who didn’t understand?
thanksineededthat
On a slightly different topic, the Administration has been saber rattling against Iran off and on since since the SOTU speech of January 29, 2002 where the meme of the axis of evil was first trotted out.
The campaign this year began on February 10, 2007 with Michael Gordon’s article with its unsubstantiated charges that EFPs and other weapons were being supplied to Shia militias in Iraq.
A few weeks later on February 24 Dick Cheney during a trip to Australia warned of the dangers of Iran being allowed to become a nuclear power.
Eureka Springs@34 re: Iraqi refugees in Iran–
Thanks for the link, but I’m disappointed with the map. I’ll bet I know where most of them are: in the SW corner of Iran, in Khuzistan, where I used to do field work. There’s a large plain between the mountains and the border, and its mostly Arab anyway, but it’s also desert (with seasonal marshes). The city of Ahwaz is right in the middle of it.
Recall that the two main Shi’ite organizations in Iraq, the Badr Organization, and the Moqtada al-Sadr militia, both have close ties to Iran (see Wiki). Most of Iran is NOT Arab, however, and the Shi’ite centers in Iraq consider themselves senior to the Iranian Shi’ites.
Bob in HI
I can’t help wondering what would be the response if a US attorney for the UK said that in a US Court. Sometimes it’s hard to love the USA as I do.
Sometimes it’s hard for this American to hold her head up. I’m grateful to non-U.S. friends for their understanding that U.S. civil society is something other–and better–than its gov. (At least, 75 % of us–give or take).
Knut @45 (I want the automatic quotes back!!!)
I agree with your impeachment strategy: getting the hearings started in the House is key. That will refocus public attention, and Republicans in the Senate will finally give up on Buscheney.
Bob in HI
LS, you quote:
I don’t see why the bolded parts amount to a “lie.” Please explain. There have been far more outrageous statements made than this, mostly by the Buscheney administration. Please explain.
Bob in HI
Pelosi is not lying. The Administration has been lying, and she is smoothing it over by saying that it give an opportunity to talk to the Iranians…etc., I am pointing out that the Administration has been lying to us about what they know, just like they did prior to Iraq. That is the lie I am referring to. My feeling is that she should be outraged that the country has been lied to, via the withholding of the NIE information, and the drumbeat for war with Iran…
She should be calling them flat out on their lies. Period. Instead, she is schmoozing, coddling, and twisting her South Sea Pearls. She is a coward.
I hope that helps…
ratbastahd-try emailing media DOT firedoglake AT gmail DOT com. That’s Suin. Give her your old email address and explain the problem. Or get a new gmail address and use it for posting here and other places. That’s a good way to keep your blogging email address separate from everything else.
Somebody might ask the President tomorrow that given the NIE report, what was the purpose of the Israel attack on Iran? We were all led to believe that Israel was taking out a nuclear facility but now that seems blatantly false. So why did Israel attack Iran? Why are they not condemned at the UN?
Please disregard above post. Israel attacked Syria… my bad