Damning Report Says Pre-war intel Work Inappropriate but not Illegal

[mod mom]

Pentagon Says Pre-War Intel Not Illegal
Pentagon investigation concludes some prewar intelligence work inappropriate _ but legal








WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2007
By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer


(AP)


(AP) A "very damning" report by the Defense Department's inspector general depicts a Pentagon that purposely manipulated intelligence in an effort to link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida in the runup to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, says the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"That was the argument that was used to make the sale to the American people about the need to go to war," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. He said the Pentagon's work, "which was wrong, which was distorted, which was inappropriate ... is something which is highly disturbing."

The investigation by acting inspector general Thomas F. Gimble found that prewar intelligence work at the Pentagon, including a contention that the CIA had underplayed the likelihood of an al-Qaida connection, was inappropriate but not illegal. The report was to be presented to Levin's panel at a hearing Friday.

The report found that former Pentagon policy chief Douglas J. Feith had not engaged in illegal activities through the creation of special offices to review intelligence. Some Democrats also have contended that Feith misled Congress about the basis of the administration's assertions on the threat posed by Iraq, but the Pentagon investigation did not support that. Two people familiar with the findings discussed the main points and some details Thursday on condition they not be identified.



-snip
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/09/ap/politics/mainD8N61T3G0.shtml

[mod mom]

1. OK why isn't this illegal?:

"Levin has asserted that President Bush took the country to war in Iraq based in part on intelligence assessments _ some shaped by Feith's office _ that were off base and did not fully reflect the views of the intelligence community.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Levin said the IG report is "very damning" and shows a Pentagon policy shop trying to shape intelligence to prove a link between al-Qaida and Saddam."

[BOSSHOG]

4. It begs the question, nay shouts the question

what else have these PNAC criminals and their republican cohorts done that also isn't "criminal?" Its like a lemming saying limbaugh isn't a liar.

[mod mom]

2. UK Guardian (July '03)shadow rightwing intelligence network set up in Washington to second-guess CIA

The spies who pushed for war


Julian Borger reports on the shadow rightwing intelligence network set up in Washington to second-guess the CIA and deliver a justification for toppling Saddam Hussein by force

Thursday July 17, 2003
The Guardian

As the CIA director, George Tenet, arrived at the Senate yesterday to give secret testimony on the Niger uranium affair, it was becoming increasingly clear in Washington that the scandal was only a small, well-documented symptom of a complete breakdown in US intelligence that helped steer America into war.
It represents the Bush administration's second catastrophic intelligence failure. But the CIA and FBI's inability to prevent the September 11 attacks was largely due to internal institutional weaknesses.
This time the implications are far more damaging for the White House, which stands accused of politicising and contaminating its own source of intelligence.
According to former Bush officials, all defence and intelligence sources, senior administration figures created a shadow agency of Pentagon analysts staffed mainly by ideological amateurs to compete with the CIA and its military counterpart, the Defence Intelligence Agency.

-snip
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,999737,00.html

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Lies are not illegal when told by members of an occult cabal." - Commander AWOL

"So if you know anyone who belongs to an occult cabal of corrupt cronies, then you should acknowledge them as 'special' and therefore free to lie, lie, lie, in order to reap Massive War Profits. Oh yeah, too bad about YOUR kids in uniform (Karl told me to say that to make you all feel better)."

- Commander AWOL, chief republicon crony, AMERICAN OCCULTIST

[mod mom]

5. WaPo Pincus article on subject:Feith's office "was predisposed to finding a significant relationship

Official's Key Report On Iraq Is Faulted
'Dubious' Intelligence Fueled Push for War
By Walter Pincus and R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 9, 2007; Page A01



Intelligence provided by former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith to buttress the White House case for invading Iraq included "reporting of dubious quality or reliability" that supported the political views of senior administration officials rather than the conclusions of the intelligence community, according to a report by the Pentagon's inspector general.

Feith's office "was predisposed to finding a significant relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda," according to portions of the report, released yesterday by Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.). The inspector general described Feith's activities as "an alternative intelligence assessment process."




An unclassified summary of the full document is scheduled for release today in a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which Levin chairs. In that summary, a copy of which was obtained from another source by The Washington Post, the inspector general concluded that Feith's assessment in 2002 that Iraq and al-Qaeda had a "mature symbiotic relationship" was not fully supported by available intelligence but was nonetheless used by policymakers.

At the time of Feith's reporting, the CIA had concluded only that there was an "evolving" association, "based on sources of varying reliability."

-snip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020802387.html?sub=AR

[mod mom]

7. "produced intelligence assessments "inconsistent" with the U.S. intel community"

It stated that the office produced intelligence assessments "inconsistent" with the U.S. intelligence community consensus, calling those actions "inappropriate" because the assessments purported to be "intelligence products" but were far more conclusive than the consensus view.

UFB! To the Hague!

[KharmaTrain]

6. "Commander In Chief"...A World Unto Itself

Methinks one of the biggest abuses that needs to be addressed is the role of "Commander In Chief". Supposedly that's the title this tyrant is hiding behind in his EOs and Signing statements and other actions. In this "unitary" executive concept this regime illegally operates under, the "CIC" title supercedes that of president. Since this regime claims we're "at war", it justifies it's lies and abuses on this "threat" that has never been clearly defined...and for obvious reasons.

I've heard several people argue that boooshie has the power to play tin-horn dictator based on the Commander in Chief provisions using the guise of the IWR as his justification of using "war powers".

Here's hoping we get a full investigation into these abuses...close the loopholes to prevent an out of control executive from ever waging a war for profit again.