Salon: Docs Link Robert Gates To Trafficking Of Cooked Intelligence

[kpete]

A vote for more cooked intelligence?
Little-known documents link Rumsfeld replacement Robert Gates with the kind of trumped-up reports that unleashed the Iraq war.

By Mark Benjamin

REUTERS/Jason Reed

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., follows Secretary of Defense nominee Robert Gates, left, from a meeting in Washington on Nov. 20, 2006.

Dec. 4, 2006 | Robert Gates won't be forced to run much of a gauntlet Tuesday during his Senate confirmation hearing on the way to becoming the next secretary of defense. The former CIA director has bipartisan support. And during his interrogation, Washington's near-total preoccupation with the situation in Iraq will crowd out any serious probing of Gates' past, including his murky role in the Iran-Contra scandal and the cooking of intelligence on the Soviet Union during Gates' tenure at the CIA more than a decade ago.

Lawmakers from both parties seem to agree that Gates' speedy accession is owed to a key qualification -- that Gates is not Donald Rumsfeld. When he announced his support for Gates recently, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that fact is "the one thing he has going for him."

But in the rush to discharge Rumsfeld, the Senate may not fully explore a blemish in Gates' dossier that seems particularly relevant now. A close examination of Gates' record, including little-known documents obtained by Salon from the National Security Archive, shows that as Gates was rising through the echelons of the CIA in the late 1980s to be CIA director in 1991, he was involved in the trafficking of intelligence reports that relied on compromised sources to show an exaggerated foreign threat. With the U.S. struggling for an exit strategy from Iraq and eyeing adversaries like Iran, President Bush has selected a man to head the Pentagon who was once in charge during an intelligence fiasco not unlike the one that unleashed the Iraq war.

more at:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/12/04/robert_gates/

[Gloria]

1. Kick this sucker....

OK, Levin and Co.....now what?

[WiseButAngrySara]

2. When will this criminality end!?! k(pete)nr ...n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Well, they're pushing this through before January.

Dems can't do much, I guess. It would really piss me ff if they let appointments like this through after attaining the majority, though.

[brer cat]

4. And we are surprised?

I think the anyone-but-Rumsfeld vote will happen with no inquiries. Sad state of affairs.

[EST]

5. It was absolutely sickening, this morning, to see both Kerry and

Levin so relieved to be replacing Rumsfeld that they are willing to overlook the fact that Gates is just as big a crook as the rest of the bfee.

This sheer stupidity is so nauseating--I hate to call it typically dem "leader" behavior, but I am so angry that I find myself willing to tar them with that broad brush.

They are going to sigh in relief and hope and vote another goddamned criminal into power, without ever giving it the thoughtfulness it deserves.

Much as I personally like both of these senators and have repeatedly championed their exploits, this ignorant crap is going to put the democratic stamp of approval on Gates, making it virtually impossible to dislodge him when he proves to be the same sort of incompetent, petulant, evil crook as the rest of the zoo.

I am so sickened I will never support these gentlemen again.:puke: :puke:

[Skidmore]

9. Time to slap the donkey again.

I'm making some phone calls and writing some letters. We did not put these people in office this election for them to do more of the same. Anyone else with me?

[Doctor_J]

12. No, I thought I learned my lesson in 2004 when Kerry gave up in OH

Then I spent lots of time and money this time around and thought we were onto something when we "won" last month. But this vote makes it crystal clear that they are will dp nothing of substance to stall the nation's demise.

Let's get the civil war on and get this thing turned around for real.

[Diane R]

6. kicked

[DemReadingDU]

7. morning kick

[GeorgeGist]

8. Did you really think that...

entrenched politicians learned anything new in the last 6 years? It's always CYA time on Capitol Hill.

[bobthedrummer]

10. From The National Security Archive "The Robert Gates File"

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB208/index.htm

Related Iran/Contra BFEE links (many of the ISG have histories and connections mentioned in these links)

The late Representative Henry Gonzalez (D TX) had this entered into The Congressional Record (btw, he also wanted to impeach Poppy)

Kissinger Associates, BNL, And Iraq
http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1991/h910502g.htm

BCCI And Kissinger Associates
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/20kiss.htm

Gates is Poppy's guy...datadump thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2665635

That's the "new" SecDef and some of his BFEE history.

[Doctor_J]

11. Yup, that's our new SecDef

confirmed 95-2. And he helped Poppy and Ollie and the gang give guns to the contras. A real, honest-to-God traitor. Feeling better about the election yet?

Edit: Duh

[Wonk]

13. SecDef

k & r

[bobthedrummer]

14. "Constitution Takes a New Hit From Senators at Gates Hearing"

by Ray McGovern

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120706J.shtml