Steve Hadley just finished lying on Cspan II about the NIE

[ChairmanAgnostic]

one reporter quoted from the report itself on the lack of involvement of Iran, contrary to Hadley's own press conferences for the past three months.

hadley had to spin like a top, and came accross sounding like a jerk. No one in the room believed anything he had to say. Of course, his next step was to stop the briefing.

[rodeodance]

1. te he. thanks

[rodeodance]

2. here is a link to the Report

http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20070202_release.pdf

[blogslut]

4. Here's the text of the Iran assessment

"Iraq’s neighbors influence, and are influenced by, events within Iraq, but the involvement of these outside actors is not likely to be a major driver of violence or the prospects for stability because of the self-sustaining character of Iraq’s internal sectarian dynamics. Nonetheless, Iranian lethal support for select groups of Iraqi Shia militants clearly intensifies the conflict in Iraq. Syria continues to provide safehaven for expatriate Iraqi Bathists and to take less than adequate measures to stop the flow of foreign jihadists into Iraq."

I suppose one could spin the second half of the paragraph but it won't spin very weel.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. thanks.

in plain english, Bush and Co are lying, again.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. Do they mention the Saudi's and their support for the Sunni's?

Let me guess ... no?

[blogslut]

10. Bullet points from the Key Judgements

* Many Sunni Arabs remain unwilling to accept their minority status, believe the central government is illegitimate and incompetent, and are convinced that Shia dominance will increase Iranian influence over Iraq, in ways that erode the state’s Arab character and increase Sunni repression.

* The absence of unifying leaders among the Arab Sunni or Shia with the capacity to speak for or exert control over their confessional groups limits prospects for reconciliation. The Kurds remain willing to participate in Iraqi state building but reluctant to surrender any of the gains in autonomy they have achieved.

* The Kurds are moving systematically to increase their control of Kirkuk to guarantee annexation of all or most of the city and province into the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) after the constitutionally mandated referendum scheduled to occur no later than 31 December 2007. Arab groups in Kirkuk continue to resist violently what they see as Kurdish encroachment.

* But traditional regional rivalries, deepening ethnic and sectarian violence in Iraq over the past year, persistent anti-Americanism in the region, anti-Shia prejudice among Arab states, and fears of being perceived by their publics as abandoning their Sunni co-religionists in Iraq have constrained Arab states’ willingness to engage politically and economically with the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad and led them to consider unilateral support to Sunni groups.

:)

[bigtree]

5. It does play down the Iranian influence in Iraq, then says it intensifies the conflict

from the report (your fantastic link):

"Many Sunni Arabs remain unwilling to accept their minority status, believe the
central government is illegitimate and incompetent, and are convinced that Shia
dominance will increase Iranian influence over Iraq, in ways that erode the state’s
Arab character and increase Sunni repression."

"Iraq’s neighbors influence, and are influenced by, events within Iraq, but the
involvement of these outside actors is not likely to be a major driver of violence or
the prospects for stability because of the self-sustaining character of Iraq’s internal
sectarian dynamics. Nonetheless, Iranian lethal support for select groups of Iraqi Shia militants clearly intensifies the conflict in Iraq."

[LondonReign2]

3. Can anyone dig out that quote from the report?

That would be handy for future reference.

[fasttense]

7. The NIE doesn't mention Saudi involvement. Where is Bin Ladden

again?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. it doesn't in the PUBLIC portion. the private portion runs 99 pages

just like the 9/11 report erased all metion of Saudi terra-ists, I can bet you dollars to falafels that they are mentioned and fingered in the secret portion