David Corn states that the key revelation in the memo was that Bush was dishonest with the American public about his intentions in the build up to war.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=3324
There are some very interesting reader comments about the unraveling situation in Iraq. One stating that perhaps fraggings are beginning to occur.
"Yes, just as happened in the final, collapsing stages of America's War Against the Vietnamese in Vietnam, the lower-ranking enlisted men and dragooned, reluctant natives get tired of taking all the casualties for no reason that anyone can explain or justify "
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/11/international/middleeast/11iraq.html?hp&ex=1118462400&en=f
0dbb9f09f8293e1&ei=5094&partner=homepage
There is another reader comment pointing out the named US sources who support the contention that intelligence was being fixed.
Reader comment on David Corn's article:
Corn: "And while two reports--one produced by Senate Republicans; the other written by a panel appointed by Bush--reported no evidence of intelligence-tampering had been found, there were numerous media reports in which intelligence analysts claimed (yes, anonymously) that pressure was applied."
Comment:
Not always anonymously.
Several intelligence community people have spoken openly about cooked intelligence, administration pressure, and so on. I note a few---there are probably others I have missed.
A handy list (I include some published information for readers who might be unfamiliar):
- Richard Clarke, head of the special counter-terrorism unit. Left, complained.
- His successor, Rand Beers. Took over from Clarke, left, complained.
- Michael Scheuer, the head of the CIA station in charge of intel on Bin Laden (note: this is the first time the CIA developed a station just devoted to a man, to a person, not to a country.) He wrote a book complaining about how Bush handled terrorism, the war on Iraq, and the intel surrounding all this.
- Bruce Hardcastle was a senior officer for the Middle East for the Defence Intelligence Agency. Let go cause he wouldn't go along with Bush's manipulation of the intel. (See note below from an old article on "Bruce Hardcastle").
- Greg Thielman, state department's bureau of intelligence and research (INR), complained during the run-up to war that intel was being misused. He resigned, complained. (See note below from an old article on "Greg Thielman").
- Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, a veteran analyst for the Pentagon, worked with Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans, the neo-cons own little intel network inside the Pentagon. She resigned, and has written article after article exposing them. (See link below to an interview with her).
- Vincent Cannistaro, the former CIA head of counterterrorism operations and intelligence director at the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan.
Here's what this list gives us. A career Colonel who worked with the OSP, the head of the State Department's bureau of intelligence, the head of mideast intelligence for the DIA, the CIA officer who has been in charge of of the special unit on Bin Laden ever since it was created in 1996, the first White House chief of counter-terrorism AND his successor, and a former CIA head of counterterrorism operations and intelligence director at the National Security Council. Interestingly, and unless I am mistaken, all of them are hawks politically.
They all complain that Bush manipulated the intel to get his war on Iraq; they also complain that Iraq is the wrong war, and that the real war was with Bin Laden.
I can't think of anything like this in the past. This many insider whistle-blowers going public duing a build-up to war and/or during a war? Isn't that unprecedented?