In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Since no one wants to say "lie" the new trend is to stretch the definition of stretch.
Ex-CIA director says administration stretched facts on Iraq
WASHINGTON — Former CIA director Stansfield Turner accused the Bush administration Tuesday of "overstretching the facts" about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in making its case for invading that country.
Turner's broadside adds the retired admiral's name to a list of former intelligence professionals concerned that the CIA and its intelligence reports were manipulated to justify the war. Since Baghdad fell April 9, U.S. forces have been unable to find chemical and biological weapons the White House said were in Iraq.
Turner, who headed the CIA under President Carter, paused for a long moment when asked by reporters whether current CIA Director George Tenet should resign. "That's a tough one," Turner said. The problem did not appear to lie with the CIA, he said, but Tenet should consider resigning if he lost the confidence of President Bush or the American people. A CIA spokesman declined to comment.
Turner suggested Tenet should tread cautiously because CIA directors "can be made the fall guy" by administrations when policy judgments based on intelligence go wrong.
Emphasis mine, because I just find it funny that a CIA director would look like Lee Majors.
Stansfield Turner is probably the closest we've ever gotten to an "honest decent" CIA Director (and given the job, that's understandable). Here's his list of Ten Steps to Fight Terrorism Without Endangering Democracy, something you really wish people in the Bush administration would read.
1. Assassinations are neither an appropriate nor an effective counter-terrorist tactic.
2. Punitive military attacks are a remedy we should use, but sparingly.
3. Covert actions should be undertaken, but judiciously, because the probability of success is low.
4. Rescue operations have a role but will continue to be highly risky for the United States.
5. Improved intelligence, especially human, is always desirable but difficult to achieve.
6. Restraint of the media could be helpful, but modest self-restraint is the most we can expect.
7. Economic sanctions should be used against state sponsors of terrorism, even if they take a long time to be effective.
8. Defensive security is unlikely to receive sufficient attention or money. (well that certainly has been true under Dubya)
9. Deals are an option we cannot rule out.
10. Legal recourse is the option most compatible with American values.
Yes it is pretty dry reading, but with his defense of number 9 you get interesting factoids like:
George Washington paid ransom to the Barbary pirates for the release of more than 100 American merchant sailors who had been prisoners for more than 10 years. He and his successor, John Adams, both paid tribute to ensure against additional seizures of our ships and sailors. These deals worked successfully for quite a few years.
Thanks to This Modern World for some of this stuff.
- rob 2:35 PM - [PermaLink] -
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