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Bill Richardson makes it short, sweet and brutal

Posted by VincebusEruptum from Jazz-from-hell.blogspot

Gov. Richardson released a statement re: the recent intel estimate that says Iran shelved their nuclear weapons program years ago, an assessment which differs greatly from what Bush, Cheney, and various neocons chihuahuas have yapped of late and insist on even now. The key bit of Richardson's very brief statement...

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Neocon hero comes to Bush's aid, suggests Iran intel report is work of US traitors

Posted by VincebusEruptum from Scholarsandrogues

Neocon extraordinaire Norman Podhoretz, who currently works as Rudy Giuliani’s foreign policy advisor, is engaging in some wild speculation today regarding the new National Intelligence Estimate report on Iran’s nuclear capabilities...

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House Intel Chair suspends staff member

Posted by Billbar from USA Today

The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has suspended a Democratic staff member pending an investigation into whether he leaked a high-level intelligence assessment to the news media. The committee's top Democrat said the suspension was "without basis." The leak to The New York Times of a National Intelligence Estimate on global terror trends caused a political uproar last month.

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A tough week for America

Posted by Jeff

The ongoing drama of the Iraq war has sapped this country of credibility, cash and the good will of our armed forces, but this past week or two has been even more depressing.

First, Bush openly advocates for a pro-torture/anti-Geneva conventions bill that eliminates Habeas Corpus. Then, the White House refuses to release the full results of the NIE study showing that Iraq is contributing to Islamic radicalists call for Jihad. Then, Condi Rice denies that she was briefed by the CIA just prior to 9-11. And finally, House GOP leadership refuses to take responsibility for harboring a pedophile at the top of their child protection platform in Congress.

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Blumenthal: At war, in denial

Posted by Billbar from Salon

This latest episode indeed illumines the "political purposes" of intelligence, its suppression and distortion, and highlights the administration's intense pressures on the intelligence community, even in this NIE, whose findings on the consequences of the Iraq war have imploded Bush's carefully crafted rhetoric on terror. Moreover, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has learned that another, new NIE on Iraq has been produced, and, despite her request for its public release, is being withheld by the administration, even from members of Congress, until January 2007, that is, until after the midterm elections.

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Bob Woodward Wants to Switch Sides in Iraq Now

Posted by Jeff from Talking Points Memo

According to Woodward, insurgent attacks against coalition troops occur, on average, every 15 minutes, a shocking fact the administration has kept secret. “It’s getting to the point now where there are eight, 900 attacks a week. That’s more than a hundred a day. That is four an hour attacking our forces,” says Woodward.

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Study Doesn't Share Bush's Optimism on Terror Fight

Posted by Billbar from New York Times

Yet the intelligence report bears none of Mr. Bush’s long-range optimism. Rather it dwells on Mr. Rumsfeld’s darker question, which he put cheekily as, “Is our current situation such that ‘the harder we work, the behinder we get?’ ” “I guess the overall conclusion that you get from it is that we don’t have enough bullets given all the enemies we are creating,’’ said Bruce Hoffman, a professor of security studies at Georgetown University.

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