Comments on: John Bolton and the IC’s New Sourcing Rules http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:38:36 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: JohnLopresti http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-2/#comment-35335 JohnLopresti Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:33:54 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35335 <p>Some of the informed writers in the thread may have seen the AID public relations <a href="http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/Melody%20Townsel%20Interview.pdf">oversight</a> person’s deposition for the Senate Foreign Relations committee concering the multiple day standoff with Bolton at the time of her 1994 work in Kyrgystan. The depo describes her work in Kyrgystan leading a project for a year, and a corporate oversight meeting convened in Moscow in which she participated, at which latter venue Bolton as attorney for one of the companies had interaction with her that was extraordinary in texture. The historical setting of the time when she worked on the Kyrgystan project was as the transition from Soviet Union to the Newly Independent States configuration was taking place. The depo opens with background; Bolton begins to appear around p28 of this >100pp document.<br /> This is perhaps divergent from the new IC rules in the post’s title, but provides a little context for the issue of institutional controls in government and contractor programs.</p> Some of the informed writers in the thread may have seen the AID public relations oversight person’s deposition for the Senate Foreign Relations committee concering the multiple day standoff with Bolton at the time of her 1994 work in Kyrgystan. The depo describes her work in Kyrgystan leading a project for a year, and a corporate oversight meeting convened in Moscow in which she participated, at which latter venue Bolton as attorney for one of the companies had interaction with her that was extraordinary in texture. The historical setting of the time when she worked on the Kyrgystan project was as the transition from Soviet Union to the Newly Independent States configuration was taking place. The depo opens with background; Bolton begins to appear around p28 of this >100pp document.
This is perhaps divergent from the new IC rules in the post’s title, but provides a little context for the issue of institutional controls in government and contractor programs.

]]> By: radiofreewill http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-2/#comment-35215 radiofreewill Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:29:48 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35215 <p>This is what happens when the corrupted ‘wink and nod’ Republicans practice their Religion of ‘My President, Right or Wrong.’</p> <p>It’s not different than the sentiment embodied in ‘My Mother, Drunk or Sober.’</p> <p>But the Goopers don’t care, just as long as their Superiority Ideology is ‘Winning.’ In fact, they have proven to be world-class enablers, teaming-up with Bush and Cheney like barking guard dogs placed outside the chop shop.</p> <p>Power truly Corrupts people who Want to Believe their Own Myth of the World.</p> This is what happens when the corrupted ‘wink and nod’ Republicans practice their Religion of ‘My President, Right or Wrong.’

It’s not different than the sentiment embodied in ‘My Mother, Drunk or Sober.’

But the Goopers don’t care, just as long as their Superiority Ideology is ‘Winning.’ In fact, they have proven to be world-class enablers, teaming-up with Bush and Cheney like barking guard dogs placed outside the chop shop.

Power truly Corrupts people who Want to Believe their Own Myth of the World.

]]> By: radiofreewill http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-2/#comment-35212 radiofreewill Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:53:26 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35212 <p>Isn’t this August episode with McConnell and Bush concurrent with the ‘Rush Congress Out of Town Crisis’ at the time of the FISA Cave-in before the Recess?</p> <p>Did McConnell play Kabuki with Bush to trick the Congress into giving Bush ‘even more than he asked for’?</p> Isn’t this August episode with McConnell and Bush concurrent with the ‘Rush Congress Out of Town Crisis’ at the time of the FISA Cave-in before the Recess?

Did McConnell play Kabuki with Bush to trick the Congress into giving Bush ‘even more than he asked for’?

]]> By: Muzzy http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-2/#comment-35210 Muzzy Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:27:06 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35210 <p>I’m late to this days old NIE party but to me the source of much of the smokescreen and in particular, the aim of parsing of words by Bush and Dana Perino, seems to relate to how one arrives at the claim of what was ‘new intelligence’ by August. The ‘new intelligence’ appears to be that, after a brief period of reassessing Iran’s intent in announcing industrial scale production of nuclear fuel in April 2007, it was largely settled a few months later in August that the already established claims of pre-April NIE data still held - information that had been talked about high up for the better part of a year.</p> <p>Take this Perino quote today: </p> <p>“Director McConnell said that the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran’s covert nuclear program, but the intelligence community was not prepared to draw any conclusions at that point in time, and it wouldn’t be right to speculate until they had time to examine and analyze the new data,” Perino said in a statement issued by the White House.”</p> <p>It’s as if she’s conveying that the coventional wisdom of the NIE had been all along that Iran WAS pursuing nukes and that August represented a time where questions were first raised about the other yet confirmed belief - that they were not. It’s a shrewd way to take an interruption in the flow of NIE intel from 4/07-8/07 and casting is as having been the predominantly supported judgement of the NIE all the while.</p> I’m late to this days old NIE party but to me the source of much of the smokescreen and in particular, the aim of parsing of words by Bush and Dana Perino, seems to relate to how one arrives at the claim of what was ‘new intelligence’ by August. The ‘new intelligence’ appears to be that, after a brief period of reassessing Iran’s intent in announcing industrial scale production of nuclear fuel in April 2007, it was largely settled a few months later in August that the already established claims of pre-April NIE data still held – information that had been talked about high up for the better part of a year.

Take this Perino quote today:

“Director McConnell said that the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran’s covert nuclear program, but the intelligence community was not prepared to draw any conclusions at that point in time, and it wouldn’t be right to speculate until they had time to examine and analyze the new data,” Perino said in a statement issued by the White House.”

It’s as if she’s conveying that the coventional wisdom of the NIE had been all along that Iran WAS pursuing nukes and that August represented a time where questions were first raised about the other yet confirmed belief – that they were not. It’s a shrewd way to take an interruption in the flow of NIE intel from 4/07-8/07 and casting is as having been the predominantly supported judgement of the NIE all the while.

]]> By: Leen http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-2/#comment-35209 Leen Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:25:13 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35209 <p>Think Progress coverage of Phase II<br /> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/roberts-coverup/">http://thinkprogress.org/roberts-coverup/</a></p> Think Progress coverage of Phase II
http://thinkprogress.org/roberts-coverup/

]]> By: Leen http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-35208 Leen Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:23:39 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35208 <p>“John Bolton and his crowd have a history of taking “facts” from the ether and using those “facts” to start wars.” And that “crowd” (Bolton, Feith, Wurmser, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Hannah, Rhode, etc) are all still running free.</p> <p>Hello Senator Rockefeller where is the complete Phase II of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence? Is it true that Senator Rockefeller is not much different than Republican Senator Pat Roberts who did everything in his power to dilute and delay the completion of full report on the creation, cherry picking and dissemination of false WMD intelligence.</p> <p>Where is the completed Phase II of the SSCI? </p> <p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/15/phase-ii-stonewall/">http://thinkprogress.org/2005/…..stonewall/</a></p> <p>“The Committee staff work on two other sections of the investigation is not finished: whether public statements were substantiated by intelligence information and the use of intelligence information provided by the Iraqi National Congress.”</p> “John Bolton and his crowd have a history of taking “facts” from the ether and using those “facts” to start wars.” And that “crowd” (Bolton, Feith, Wurmser, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Hannah, Rhode, etc) are all still running free.

Hello Senator Rockefeller where is the complete Phase II of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence? Is it true that Senator Rockefeller is not much different than Republican Senator Pat Roberts who did everything in his power to dilute and delay the completion of full report on the creation, cherry picking and dissemination of false WMD intelligence.

Where is the completed Phase II of the SSCI?

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/…..stonewall/

“The Committee staff work on two other sections of the investigation is not finished: whether public statements were substantiated by intelligence information and the use of intelligence information provided by the Iraqi National Congress.”

]]> By: AZ Matt http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-35207 AZ Matt Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:15:45 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35207 <p>From Think Progress:</p> <blockquote><p>The NIE’s conclusion that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program came about after intelligence agencies obtained notes last summer of Iranian military officials complaining “bitterly” about the “decision by their superiors in late 2003 to shut down” a central part of the program.</p> </blockquote> <p>and George fudged alot:</p> <blockquote><p>…</p> <p>In August, I think it was John — Mike McConnell came in and said, We have some new information. He didn’t tell me what the information was.</p> <p>Now the White House is revealing that wasn’t true. In fact, Bush did know what the information was. CNN reports:</p> <p>President Bush was told in August that Iran’s nuclear weapons program ‘may be suspended,’ the White House said Wednesday, which seemingly contradicts the account of the meeting given by Bush Tuesday.”</p> <p>The White House statement released by Dana Perino tonight also states McConnell told Bush “the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran’s covert nuclear program.” </p> <p>…</p> </blockquote> From Think Progress:

The NIE’s conclusion that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program came about after intelligence agencies obtained notes last summer of Iranian military officials complaining “bitterly” about the “decision by their superiors in late 2003 to shut down” a central part of the program.

and George fudged alot:

…

In August, I think it was John — Mike McConnell came in and said, We have some new information. He didn’t tell me what the information was.

Now the White House is revealing that wasn’t true. In fact, Bush did know what the information was. CNN reports:

President Bush was told in August that Iran’s nuclear weapons program ‘may be suspended,’ the White House said Wednesday, which seemingly contradicts the account of the meeting given by Bush Tuesday.”

The White House statement released by Dana Perino tonight also states McConnell told Bush “the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran’s covert nuclear program.”

…

]]> By: Leen http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-35206 Leen Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:08:42 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35206 <p>I guess if those NSA intercepts that Senators Kerry, Biden, Chaffee, Dodd and Kennedy were demanding at the John Bolton nomination hearing they might be able to put Bolton in a much needed head lock and take him out. I watched those hearings and for a few minutes I thought that group of older gents might jump over the tables and release some whoop ass on Bolton. </p> <p>Was Bolton spying on Powell? Sure sounds like it. Why can’t they take this criminal out?</p> <p>“If the intercepts are ever released, they may disclose whether Bolton was a key figure in a counterintelligence operation run inside the Bush administration against the secretary of state, resembling the hunted character played by Will Smith in “Enemy of the State.” Both Republican and Democratic senators have demanded that the State Department, which holds the NSA intercepts, turn them over to the committee. But Rice so far has refused. What is she hiding by her coverup?”</p> I guess if those NSA intercepts that Senators Kerry, Biden, Chaffee, Dodd and Kennedy were demanding at the John Bolton nomination hearing they might be able to put Bolton in a much needed head lock and take him out. I watched those hearings and for a few minutes I thought that group of older gents might jump over the tables and release some whoop ass on Bolton.

Was Bolton spying on Powell? Sure sounds like it. Why can’t they take this criminal out?

“If the intercepts are ever released, they may disclose whether Bolton was a key figure in a counterintelligence operation run inside the Bush administration against the secretary of state, resembling the hunted character played by Will Smith in “Enemy of the State.” Both Republican and Democratic senators have demanded that the State Department, which holds the NSA intercepts, turn them over to the committee. But Rice so far has refused. What is she hiding by her coverup?”

]]> By: jnardo http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-35205 jnardo Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:08:14 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35205 <p>Today’s op-ed [The Flaws In the Iran Report] by John Bolton was a trip in a time machine back to Bush’s early days when he imported his Administration from the ranks of the American Enterprise Institute and the Project for the New American Century. His attack on the C.I.A. and the State Department echos Laurie Mylroie’s 2003 epic, Bush vs. the Beltway: How the CIA & the State Department Tried to Stop the War on Terror - the same tired arguments. “Too much of the intelligence community is engaging in policy formulation rather than intelligence” analysis” or “…many involved in drafting and approving the NIE were not intelligence professionals but refugees from the State Department, brought into the new central bureaucracy of the director of national intelligence.” He leaves out the obvious - that his kind of neoconservative discounting of the Intelligence Community and our Diplomatic Corps is exactly what got us into our current mess in the first place. His comment “…this ‘intelligence’ torpedo has all but sunk those efforts, inadequate as they were. Ironically, the NIE opens the way for Iran to achieve its military nuclear ambitions in an essentially unmolested fashion, to the detriment of us all.” mirrors the exact logic that sent us to Iraq on a wild goose chase in the first place. Our Intelligence Community has made its mistakes in the past, most often when politicians like John Bolton or Dick Cheney interfere with its functioning. But the neoconservatives have only made mistakes - over and over. John Bolton’s op-ed is a study in their tragic flaw - they respect no opinion, no expertise, that contradicts their own narrow, paranoid framework.</p> Today’s op-ed [The Flaws In the Iran Report] by John Bolton was a trip in a time machine back to Bush’s early days when he imported his Administration from the ranks of the American Enterprise Institute and the Project for the New American Century. His attack on the C.I.A. and the State Department echos Laurie Mylroie’s 2003 epic, Bush vs. the Beltway: How the CIA & the State Department Tried to Stop the War on Terror – the same tired arguments. “Too much of the intelligence community is engaging in policy formulation rather than intelligence” analysis” or “…many involved in drafting and approving the NIE were not intelligence professionals but refugees from the State Department, brought into the new central bureaucracy of the director of national intelligence.” He leaves out the obvious – that his kind of neoconservative discounting of the Intelligence Community and our Diplomatic Corps is exactly what got us into our current mess in the first place. His comment “…this ‘intelligence’ torpedo has all but sunk those efforts, inadequate as they were. Ironically, the NIE opens the way for Iran to achieve its military nuclear ambitions in an essentially unmolested fashion, to the detriment of us all.” mirrors the exact logic that sent us to Iraq on a wild goose chase in the first place. Our Intelligence Community has made its mistakes in the past, most often when politicians like John Bolton or Dick Cheney interfere with its functioning. But the neoconservatives have only made mistakes – over and over. John Bolton’s op-ed is a study in their tragic flaw – they respect no opinion, no expertise, that contradicts their own narrow, paranoid framework.

]]> By: Leen http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-35204 Leen Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:02:40 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/05/the-ics-new-sourcing-rules/#comment-35204 <p>I just don’t understand why anyone listens to anything Bolton says. Is he a contender for John Deans suggestion of the IMPEACHMENT OF LOWER LEVEL OFFICIALS? I guess if those NSA intercepts that Senators Kerry, Biden, Chaffee, Dodd and Kennedy were demanding at the John Bolton nomination hearing they might be able to put this guy in a head lock and take him out.</p> <p>The Generals Revenge/Sidney Blumenthal<br /> <a href="http://dir.salon.com/story/opinion/blumenthal/2005/04/28/powells_revenge/">http://dir.salon.com/story/opi…..s_revenge/</a></p> <p>Staff members on the committee believe that Bolton was likely spying on Powell, his senior advisors, and other officials reporting to the secretary of state on diplomatic initiatives that Bolton opposed. If so, it is also possible that Bolton was sharing this top-secret information with his neoconservative allies in the Pentagon and the vice president’s office, with whom he was in daily contact and well known to be working in league against Powell. If the intercepts are ever released, they may disclose whether Bolton was a key figure in a counterintelligence operation run inside the Bush administration against the secretary of state, resembling the hunted character played by Will Smith in “Enemy of the State.” Both Republican and Democratic senators have demanded that the State Department, which holds the NSA intercepts, turn them over to the committee. But Rice so far has refused. What is she hiding by her coverup?</p> I just don’t understand why anyone listens to anything Bolton says. Is he a contender for John Deans suggestion of the IMPEACHMENT OF LOWER LEVEL OFFICIALS? I guess if those NSA intercepts that Senators Kerry, Biden, Chaffee, Dodd and Kennedy were demanding at the John Bolton nomination hearing they might be able to put this guy in a head lock and take him out.

The Generals Revenge/Sidney Blumenthal
http://dir.salon.com/story/opi…..s_revenge/

Staff members on the committee believe that Bolton was likely spying on Powell, his senior advisors, and other officials reporting to the secretary of state on diplomatic initiatives that Bolton opposed. If so, it is also possible that Bolton was sharing this top-secret information with his neoconservative allies in the Pentagon and the vice president’s office, with whom he was in daily contact and well known to be working in league against Powell. If the intercepts are ever released, they may disclose whether Bolton was a key figure in a counterintelligence operation run inside the Bush administration against the secretary of state, resembling the hunted character played by Will Smith in “Enemy of the State.” Both Republican and Democratic senators have demanded that the State Department, which holds the NSA intercepts, turn them over to the committee. But Rice so far has refused. What is she hiding by her coverup?

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