In February 2002, after a briefing on the status of the war in Afghanistan, the commanding officer, Gen. Tommy Franks, told me the war was being compromised as specialized personnel and equipment were being shifted from Afghanistan to prepare for the war in Iraq -- a war more than a year away. Even at this early date, the White House was signaling that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein was of such urgency that it had priority over the crushing of al Qaeda [...]

At a meeting of the Senate intelligence committee on Sept. 5, 2002, CIA Director George Tenet was asked what the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) provided as the rationale for a preemptive war in Iraq. An NIE is the product of the entire intelligence community, and its most comprehensive assessment. I was stunned when Tenet said that no NIE had been requested by the White House and none had been prepared. Invoking our rarely used senatorial authority, I directed the completion of an NIE.

Tenet objected, saying that his people were too committed to other assignments to analyze Saddam Hussein's capabilities and will to use chemical, biological and possibly nuclear weapons. We insisted, and three weeks later the community produced a classified NIE.

There were troubling aspects to this 90-page document. While slanted toward the conclusion that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction stored or produced at 550 sites, it contained vigorous dissents on key parts of the information, especially by the departments of State and Energy. Particular skepticism was raised about aluminum tubes that were offered as evidence Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear program. As to Hussein's will to use whatever weapons he might have, the estimate indicated he would not do so unless he was first attacked.

Under questioning, Tenet added that the information in the NIE had not been independently verified by an operative responsible to the United States. In fact, no such person was inside Iraq. Most of the alleged intelligence came from Iraqi exiles or third countries, all of which had an interest in the United States' removing Hussein, by force if necessary. former fla sen bob graham (d)

Note, that classified NIE was not available to every congressperson. Just to members of the Senate and House committees on intelligence.

Graham asked Tenet to produce an unclassified version of the NIE. But what the CIA produced was a propaganda piece absent any of the reservations or caveats presented in the classified edition of the document. The vast majority of senators and congressment, much less the American people, did not see the full classified document.

Hence, Bush's claims that congressional Democrats had access to the same intelligence that the administration had is pure bullshit.

daily kos

harold lloyd comedies all night on tcm.

Nice resource, the series is over for the moment but the website has video interviews. Was checking out Elizabeth Murray, just saw her retrospective at MoMA.
http://www.pbs.org/art21/series/index.html

better concept than content - romeo and juliet in emoticons.

There have been many paintings since, plus a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2002, Leslie released The Cedar Bar, an orgy of appropriated film footage—Hollywood musicals, Holocaust documentaries, hardcore porn—combined with voice-overs from his reconstructed 1952 play about the legendary artists' watering hole and the eternal war between creators and critics. (The original manuscript went up in smoke in '66.) A sinister cabaret clown opens the show by gibbering, "Artists are a vulgar and stupid lot," followed by such stalwarts as de Kooning waxing insightfully on the meanings of art. Jackson Pollock's shade is summoned through an old Twilight Zone episode about a 19th-century cattle rustler transported to '50s New York—he can't cope, and you just know it's gonna come to a bad end.

joe wilson on woodward.

wayback spin ... remember back in August of 2002 when the adminsitration was ready to bypass Congress to go to war ... WH lawyers: Bush can order Iraq attack ... Bush Gets Legal Advice On Iraq

good times

In challenging war's critics, administration tinkers with truth
Knight Ridder Washington Bureau

seinfeld doc on tbs

ClarkLewis explores NYC.

I don't think this has been posted, worth a look and a chuckle in my humble opinion:

http://www.bigad.com.au/movie.html

might as well start with woodward. another turgid display of fourth estatemanship.

digbys take:

Woodward, like Broder and Sally and Richard Cohen and Cokie and the rest of the moribund DC establishment, are obsessed with the social and personal activities of their King (and their own relationships to him) and have absolutely no interest or insight into the corrupt, depraved, malevolent political force the Republican Washington establishment has become. (It's hardball politics!) As long as they are getting their due deference and nobody's slip is showing, they are more than happy to keep any behavior that the unwashed masses might find unpalatable under wraps --- things like war or institutionalized character assassination. The only scandals worth reporting are "too many marts" and "trashing the place" --- behaviors that imply the courtier's social mores are unimportant. Tsk tsk tsk.

it happened here first

the sport of politics

Notes from NOLA

17 years ago I had this tribute album. Now it’s hagiography, which is to say a Hollywood movie. Network tonight.

Prince Achmed was on Turner Classic Movies. Worth keeping an eye peeled for. Beautiful stuff.

74 degrees. im an outdoorsman. which is to say yes the windows are open.

Holy shit. Charlie Rose and Chalabi on PBS. It's a battle of the titans. They both believe themselves so much.

i thought directv should carry one of the satellite radio systems. and now it does.

This is a president who even in the best of times is insular, out of touch, and completely unwilling to have alternative points of view brought to him. Now, according to administration sources he's kicked out everyone else in his Oval Treehouse except for his mom, and three people who remind him of his mom? Shudder.

harold lloyd box

the jewish brain (it was a cover story in new york magazine not the new yorker you idiot!)

The grassroots response to the new Wal-Mart documentary has been incredible. Thanks to you and our many partners, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" will debut next week in over 7,000 living rooms and community centers across the country—a true groundswell.

Superballs. Quicktime required. 18 MB.

Probably want to right click and save as..., or, on Mac, ctrl-click and save as...