At 09:16 PM 3/11/2004 -0800 Doug Pensinger wrote:
>Salon.com has just broken a major story detailing how the Pentagon created
>a special office to manipulate intelligence data on Iraq and WMDs.
The central point I have never seen these liberals address with their
wild-eyed allegations of intelligence manipulation, is what sort of
competent and reasonable US leader could possibly believe on 1/1/03 that
Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction *and* that if Iraq were ever to be
within imminent danger of acquiring weapons of mass destruction that the US
would a) know and b) be able to do something about it?
I) Iraq had WMD. They used them. In the 12 years since the 1991 Gulf
War, Iraq engaged in a consistent pattern of deceiving and resisting
inspections. As a US decision maker, you have to either believe that Iraq
is hiding these weapons, or that Iraq has thankfully destroyed all of their
weapons and we have nothing to worry about. Also weighing on your mind is
the fact that the first biological terrorism attack on the US has defied
investigation for over a year.
2) Ability of US intelligence to be sure that we would know if Iraq was
ever on the verge of acquiring such weapons in the future:
-In 1991, US intelligence was stunned to realize that Iraq was one year
away from acquiring a nuclear bomb on the eve of the Gulf War. Consider
for a moment an alternate world history in which Iraq waits until August
2nd, 1991 to claim Kuwait as its 38th province by force, this time with
nuclear weapons in its pocket.
-In 1998(?) US intelligence was caught flat-footed by India's and
Pakistan's nuclear tests.
-In 2002, after eight years of paying bribes to the DPRK to not build
nuclear weapons, we discover that their plutonium program has successfully
produced a nulear bomb right under our noses.
-In 2002/2003 It is discovered that Iran has managed to dodge US
intelligence and IAEA inspections for 18 years. Preliminary analysis
indicate that Iran was only 2 years away from being able to produce a bomb.
June 2003 - The IAEA is very disturbed by reveleations of Iran's "much more
advanced" nuclear program
Oct 24 - Iran claims that it makes a full declaration of its nuclear
activities.
Feb 13 - Undeclared advanced enrichment facilities are discovered in Iran.
Iran claims that it has now disclosed everything.
Feb 24 - An Iranian Polonium program is discovered.
March 8 - Iran pledges again that it has now fully cooperated
March 11 - Iran is discovered with undisclosed Uranium - 235, which is only
suitable for weapons-making.
-In 2004, Libya's nuclear program was found to be far more advanced than
our intelligence had believed
The point being that all of these criticisms presume that there is some
kind of "truth" in the world of intelligence where things are *known*.
The truth of the matter is that policymakers have to make decisions on the
best information available.
Given the ability of US intelligence to detect nuclear programs, and given
the dire consequences of letting a regime like Iraq acquire these weapons,
there is no doubt in my mind that the War in Iraq has been completely
vindicated.
>Will Americans hold U.S. policymakers accountable? Will we return to our
>roots as a republic, constrained and deliberate, respectful of others? My
>experience in the Pentagon leading up to the invasion and occupation of
>Iraq tells me, as Ben Franklin warned, we may have already failed. But if
>Americans at home are willing to fight -- tenaciously and courageously --
>to preserve our republic, we might be able to keep it."
Oh pluh-eeze.
JDG
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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