Reply #49: There is no doubt the CIA is gaming here

[WilliamPitt]

but perhaps they are gaming because they watched Bush sell the intelligence community down the river in favor of a hack like Chalabi and a bunch of rookies like the guys in OSP...and then they watched Bush blame CIA for his people's errors...and then they figured out that Chalabi was playing a double game. They've been hip to Chalabi's aide's Iranian connections since the 1990s.

The CIA is playing for power, no doubt. Hersch reported that Rumsfeld wanted to take intelligence power out of CIAs hands, som of course that is a part of all this. But that doesn't mean they're wrong about Chalabi...and I don't think the Bushies would allow this much egg on their faces as a means to legitimize Chalabi.

Even if they did, it failed. Chalabi is now fully de-legitimized across the planet, and as dupes of Iranian intelligence, the Bushies are likewise even more de-legitimized. How does a White House damaged like this get what it wants?

The CIA is gaming. That doesn't mean they're wrong.