If the CIA is responsible, then why weren't they the sabre-rattlers?

[PurityOfEssence]

It's such an obvious question, it answers itself: if the CIA was a bunch of nervous nellies, then they would have been the ones running willy-nilly to Congress, the Administration and anyone else who would listen to start a war to rid us of this present/gathering/imminent/ho-hum threat to our very existence. They did no such thing.

The facts are obvious: their estimates were so lukewarm that Cheney had to go to Langley and personally strongarm the spooks. Even this wasn't enough: the Administration had to create a special agency within the civilian appointees in the Pentagon. At each step, Tenet tried to take out language about nuclear weapons. At each step, there were many dissenters on just about every point of threat: people openly questioned the remote drones, the blanket usage of "long range missiles" to cloak the reality that the longest could only go 112 miles, the conflation of "aiding terrorists" to suggest aiding terrorists against the U.S. and many other issues. David Kay and the Republicans have repeatedly shrugged and shirked responsibility by saying that "everyone got it wrong", when many people got it right.

The CIA was dragged kicking and screaming to give "proper" information to the Administration, and even then couldn't bring its collective self to gin it up enough. The obvious seed-crystal for this abomination was the Administration itself. At every turn, they lied, distorted and deflected. Nobody came running to them; they started this. Paul O'Neill says that getting Hussein was a big topic at his first cabinet meeting in January of '01. Rand Beers quit the NSA because he said that all the Administration wanted to do was find justifications to do what they'd long since determined to do. Richard Clarke says precisely the same, specifically saying that they wanted to pin 9-11 on Hussein.

For this to have been the CIA's fault, they would have had to be the ones starting the frenzy and feeding the fire; they did neither, and indeed, did the opposite.

The very idea that it was any entity other than the Administration simply doesn't hold water. There's no brilliance needed to see this; it's simple and makes obvious sense. "They tried to kill my Dad."

[fearnobush]

1. Please tell everyone you come in contact with these truths. Write to

the whore media and to your reps. tell them you will not support them unless they side with the truth about the Office of Special Plans and the cherry picking of data they are now blaming the CIA on.

[KeepItReal]

2. The *most* bellicose statement I heard from the CIA pre-war was:

*IF* Iraq had nuclear, biological and/or chemical weapons, they would only use them *IF* we invaded Iraq.

Remember during Gulf War I, Bushdaddy made clear to Saddam in no uncertain terms that use of N.B.C. weapons (the original official term) would basically get them (Iraqis) nuked (or something like that).

[PurityOfEssence]

3. Makes ya wonder who came up with that term "Red Line"...

Remember that? It was even neatly drawn on the map like it was an official Racky-kinda thing. Wonder who came up with that? Musta been that Fad King from "Wag the Dog"...