| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
09 Mar 2005 12:35:55 PM |
| Object: |
Report on American intelligence proves Bush is, once again, passing gas. |
From The New York Times, 3/10/05:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/09/news/nukes.html
U.S. panel critical of intelligence about Iran
Information on arms said to be inadequate for firm evaluations
By Douglas Jehl and Eric Schmitt The New York Times
WASHINGTON
A presidential commission due to report to President George W. Bush
this month will describe American intelligence on Iran as inadequate
and not complete enough to allow firm judgments about that country's
illicit weapons programs, according to people who have been briefed on
the panel's work.
..
The commission's sharp indictment of U.S. judgments on Iran follows a
secretive 14-month review by the panel.
Bush ordered it last year to assess the quality of overall U.S.
intelligence about the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons.
..
The expected criticism will come while increasingly sharp warnings
from the Bush administration about what the administration says are
Iran's efforts to build nuclear weapons are being met with firm
denials in Tehran, which says that its nuclear program is intended
purely for civilian purposes.
..
The nine-member panel, headed by Laurence Silberman, a retired federal
judge, and Charles Robb, the former governor and senator from
Virginia, is also expected to be critical of American intelligence on
North Korea.
..
But in interviews, people who have been briefed on the commission's
deliberations and conclusions described the case of Iran as
particularly troublesome.
..
One person who described the panel's deliberations characterized the
state of American intelligence on Iran as "scandalous," given the
importance and relative openness of the country.
..
But the person said that Iran would be only one aspect of the
commission's findings.
..
They will also include recommendations for further structural changes
among U.S. intelligence agencies to build on the legislation that Bush
signed into law in December, creating a director of national
intelligence.
..
The panel is to complete a classified report to Bush by March 31.
..
It is expected to issue an unclassified version of the report at about
the same time, but it is not clear whether the criticism of
intelligence on Iran will be included in that public document, the
people familiar with the panel's deliberations said.
..
A spokesman for the commission, Carl Kropf, declined to comment about
any of the panels' conclusions.
It has met only in closed session although it has questioned a number
of senior officials.
..
"We're continuing to work through the report," Kropf said, "and we're
going to present it by the end of March."
..
The Senate intelligence committee has recently begun its own review of
the quality of intelligence on Iran.
..
Republican and Democratic congressional officials have expressed
concern that there may be similarities between the case of Iran and
the case of Iraq.
..
Iraq turned out to have destroyed all of its chemical and biological
weapons nearly a decade before the Bush administration invaded in 2003
to eliminate what it asserted was an existing arsenal.
___________________________________________________________
The Bush Crime Family never learns, does it.
Harry
.
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