But I entertain an even darker suspicion. It is that the intelligence community, which has for some years now been leaking material calculated to undermine George W. Bush, is doing it again. This time the purpose is to head off the possibility that the President may order air strikes on the Iranian nuclear installations. As the intelligence community must know, if he were to do so, it would be as a last resort, only after it had become undeniable that neither negotiations nor sanctions could prevent Iran from getting the bomb, and only after being convinced that it was very close to succeeding. How better, then, to stop Bush in his tracks than by telling him and the world that such pressures have already been effective and that keeping them up could well bring about "a halt to Iran's entire nuclear weapons program"-especially if the negotiations and sanctions were combined with a goodly dose of appeasement or, in the NIE's own euphemistic formulation, "with opportunities for Iran to achieve its security, prestige, and goals for regional influence in other ways."

So, the CIA is lying to the President of the United States of America, so that he won't bomb Iran's nuclear weapons.

I don't know what's scarier. The idea that Bush would bomb Iran unprovoked, or that the CIA is lying to the Commander-in-Chief, or that this nutjob might be in charge of something important if Rudy wins.

Anyone considering voting for Giuliani needs to do the world a favor and just shoot themselves.

The question isn't whether or not you're paranoid...

It's whether you're paranoid enough.

BobtheFascist: So we're looking at another Plame situation?

Consider the scary possiblity that Plame had the intel back in 2003 about Iran's abatement, and that was the real reason she was outed. Iraq was a fait accompli at that point.

No Such Agency: Smellvin:
STOP PUTTING THE TRUTH OUT THERE FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC, YOU EVIL PEOPLE! IT UNDERMINES BUSH!

Well, reality does have a well-known LIBERAL bias.

It is my gut impression that the NIE is staffed by "elites" who graduated from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and other so-called universities of distinction. These people are very dangerous. A very high percentage of them, maybe even the majority, embrace a deceitful pacifism.

It doesn't take much to convince me that graduates of so-called "universities", who have supposedly "learned things" - especially "elites" who spent more time with a textbook than a good ole American pigskin - would be embroiled in a Liberal conspiracy to undermine God's President.

"Accredited post-secondary institutions" are the tinfoil hats Atheists and Liberals use to keep God out of their brainwaves.

LOl isn't "It is my Gut impression" Conservative-soeak for "I know absolutely nothing about this but I'm going to pontificate anyway?"

Besides given that the NIE is the unamious view of ALL !^ of the us Intel agencies, how the hell could it be a CIA plot to make bush look bad? For those not keeping up on the intercine poltics of the spook world, the CIA's power has fallen so far under Bush that they no longer directly brief the president, or have a seat in the national security council ( the DNI has replaced them).

But I entertain an even darker suspicion. It is that the intelligence community, which has for some years now been leaking material calculated to undermine keep George W. Bush from utterly farking up as much of the world as possible, is doing it again.

Fixed.

This is one of those blog entries that should have started with, "You know what, Stuart? I like you. You're not like the other people, here, in the campaign business..."

I must confess to suspecting that the intelligence community, having been excoriated for supporting the then universal belief that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, is now bending over backward to counter what has up to now been a similarly universal view (including as is evident from the 2005 NIE, within the intelligence community itself) that Iran is hell-bent on developing nuclear weapons...


Universal belief? UNIVERSAL BELIEF??

We were THERE, Norm. It was only four years ago. You think all Americans are so farking stupid that we can't remember what happened four farking years ago?

I am so sick of these damned neoconservatives and their agenda for perpetual farking war. I am sick of their lies, LIES, LIES.

I don't know which offends me more: the constant drumbeat for more war from these chickenhawk traitors, or the fact that they obviously view the intelligence of the American public with such blatantly cynical contempt.

And if Giuliani wins, we will have to listen to at least four more years of this bull out of this lying worthless shiatstain because he'll be on the cabinet. Ugh.

Just farking die already, Norm.

you can't spell 9 I U 1 1 A N I without 911!

seriously, guys... this is your leading candidate for the GOP nomination? a cross-dressing, thrice-married, pro-gay, anti-gun, pro-choice martinet who's policy team has more neocons than the white house?

glad to hear "conservatives" can really get behind him. i guess 9/11 DID change everything after all.

IlGreven:

...er, um, you do realize that your lord and savior Bush graduated from Yale, don't you?

...and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.