CIA Widens Probe of Iraq Intelligence

[ze_dscherman]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Central Intelligence Agency's internal probe of prewar Iraq intelligence has been expanded to consider whether the agency missed signs that Baghdad had scrapped its weapons of mass destruction before the U.S.-led invasion last March, USA Today reported on Thursday.
On orders from CIA Director George Tenet, the probe was widened this week to examine 20 volumes of raw intelligence data, including electronic intercepts, spy satellite photos and reports from human sources, the newspaper reported.

Before the probe was broadened, the four-member team of former CIA analysts examining prewar intelligence since early this year had limited its work to fewer volumes of finished intelligence reports and assessments, according to the newspaper.

The expanded probe was disclosed by two intelligence officials who asked not to be named and was confirmed by Richard Kerr, a former CIA deputy director and head of the four-member team, USA Today reported.

More: http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3857799

[maddezmom]

1. this should have been done before we marched to war

And I doubt we'll ever hear the truth.

[DUreader]

3. What do you expect with 4 people working on it?

lol

you can see what a priority it has been

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[truthspeaker]

4. now now

They are entitled to a fair trial before they are executed for treason.

(Actually I'm opposed to the death penalty. I want to see them serve life in Leavenworth.)

[ET Awful]

5. Nah, sentence them to hard labor . . construction work ought to do nicely

Say . . . in downtown Baghdad?

[BuckeFushe]

6. One interesting line in last paragraph

The two intelligence officials said a key aim is to look for raw prewar reports indicating that Iraq may have, as it claimed, dismantled its weapons of mass destruction programs. The concern is that CIA analysts discounted or overlooked those reports because of an overriding assumption that Saddam was secretly hoarding an arsenal of banned weapons.

I wonder who was behind those "overwhelming assumptions?"

[TacticalPeek]

8. 2 wit:

"For example, on February 4, Howard was delighted to tell Parliament that until General Hussein Kamal - who had been in charge of Iraq's WMD programs - defected to Jordan in 1995, UN inspectors did not even know that Iraq had developed biological weapons. True enough. However, the Prime Minister neglected to mention a more significant disclosure. Kamal also told weapons inspectors that Iraq had abandoned its nuclear program and destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons four years earlier. According to the defector, who was also Saddam's son-in-law, WMD production had not resumed."

more

WMD Spin

[wabeewoman]

7. Same players, same results...

This is just a continuation of the recent leaked memo. Now they are going to 'prove' that the CIA gave bush erroroneus information that caused him to invade Iraq. The American public aren't happy about Iraq and this is to take the heat off bush just in time for the election. Howard Dean is getting too much traction with this issue and this is to neutralize the argument that this was bush's fault and could have been prevented. Wanna bet?

edited for spelling error

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. I distinctly remember that the CIA was reporting...

...all along that there was nothing to indicate that Iraq had any WMDs whatsoever.

In fact, I remember Rummy stating publicly some time ago that he didn't trust what he was getting from the CIA because it conflicted with what the DoD was getting from their own sources. At one point, Rummy made a play for having the CIA report to the DoD. It was also about this time that the OSP was formed by the DoD specifically for providing intelligence to the DoD/Rummy.

If I were a betting man, I would bet on anti-Saddam Iraqis cultivated by the DoD as being the sources for the WMD stories.

[Drifter]

10. missed signs

How can you miss signs that you are not looking for.

Cheers
Drifter

[peterh]

11. What the probe should conclude…but won’t….

Is that….over in this corner, we have one or two volumes of data that the V.P. kinda liked and through subtle hints, intel conclusions were derived from said data. Over in the other corner, we have 18 to 19 volumes of data that the V.P. wasn’t keen on and again through subtle hints, analysts kinda omitted that data in said conclusions. In other words, as has been inferred in the past…..and for the sake of brevity…..the administration friggin’ cherry-picked the friggin’ data.

[central scrutinizer]

12. look at their track record

These are some of the same guys who were taken by surprise when the Soviet Union unraveled. But of course, it was important to pump up the Evil Empire to keep the troughs full for the defense contractors.

edited for spelling