The Continuing Pattern Of Lies

The report is out this morning that the CIA predicted all the problems of toppling Saddam Hussein. The Senate Select Committee On Intelligence will release selected portions of pre-war intelligence that warned of the consequences of going to war in Iraq.

Among other things, the 40-page Senate report reveals that two intelligence assessments before the war accurately predicted that toppling Saddam could lead to a dangerous period of internal violence and provide a boost to terrorists. But those warnings were seemingly ignored.

Seemingly ignored? I'd say so, but it's just more of the same from this administration. If the assessment had been positive the report would have been declassified over four years ago. The fact that this info was not released is just the continuing trend of lies and wishful thinking.

In January 2003, two months before the invasion, the intelligence community's think tank — the National Intelligence Council — issued an assessment warning that after Saddam was toppled, there was “a significant chance that domestic groups would engage in violent conflict with each other and that rogue Saddam loyalists would wage guerilla warfare either by themselves or in alliance with terrorists.”

It also warned that “many angry young recruits” would fuel the rank of Islamic extremists and "Iraqi political culture is so embued with mores (opposed) to the democratic experience … that it may resist the most rigorous and prolonged democratic tutorials."

In other words what happened is just the opposite of what Bush and Cheney and that whole gang predicted and they had intelligence that their predictions were not based on any facts but on politically appropriate lies.
This is the statement Cheney made the day before the start of the war. He was not only wrong, but he knew it was a lie. It seems that Mr. Cheney believed Chalabi more than the CIA.

“Now, I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.”

There was more than one assessment. In a briefing book prepared for a Sept. 2002 White House meeting there was a paper included titled: ‘The Perfect Storm: Planning for the Negative Consequences of Invading Iraq.’ It had a list that is like the CIA had a crystal ball.

• Anarchy and the territorial breakup of Iraq;
• Region-threatening instability in key Arab states;
• A surge of global terrorism against US interests fueled by (militant) Islamism;
• Major oil supply disruptions and severe strains in the Atlantic Alliance.”

Both of these CIA assessments warned of the possible consequences and Bush ignored them. They even warned that Bush would be creating terrorists and making terrorism worse. Bush has strengthened our enemy and placed us all in more danger. It is time for everyone to realize this.

What's my reaction on all this? Yawn, ho hum. There is no surprise here. I would be surprised if these reports did not exist. The only question I have is how much more is out there and will we ever have the whole story.

Jim Martin

Thanks to Michael van der Galien for the link.