Robert Baer: More Bad Intelligence on Iran and Iraq

[RamboLiberal]

You would think by now the Bush Administration would have drained the well of bad intelligence on Iraq and Iran. Apparently not.

This week the White House made a big show of declassifying intelligence alleging that in 2005 al-Qaeda considered using Iraq as a base to launch terrorist attacks on the United States. The White House didn't bother to mask the reason for the disclosure — to put pressure on the Democrats to stop trying to impose a date for a withdrawal from Iraq. Meanwhile, ABC News reported that the White House recently ordered the CIA to destabilize the Iranian regime.

Both cases show how the Administration is still trying to manipulate intelligence to further its strategic goals. ABC says that Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams is behind the covert action against Iran, which reportedly stems from a "nonlethal presidential finding" signed by Bush to launch a plan that "includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions." But the CIA has consistently told this White House it can't do anything about the mullahs in Tehran short of strangling the country economically, in particular cutting off finished fuel products. That could take years, which is too long for the Bush Administration. (Both the White House and CIA refused to comment to ABC about the report.)

It's no surprise that Abrams would be behind this. But of all people he should know better. Abrams was a key player in the Iran-contra fiasco, which was rooted in lousy intelligence. In case you have forgotten, a handful of confidence men convinced the Reagan NSC, along with Abrams, that they were talking to moderate Iranians, who, properly nurtured, would supposedly change the character of the Iranian regime. It was a lie; the NSC was dealing with the most radical, hostile faction in Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the same group holding our hostages in Lebanon.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1624993,00.html

[JDPriestly]

1. I thought I heard that Bush admitted that there is no Al Qaeda

in Iraq today. Thanks for this post.

Bush is making a fool of himself with his absurd twisting of the intelligence. He knows very well that he is talking through his hat and just making up stuff that sounds scary. Sometimes he talks like a little kid telling ghost stories around a campfire. The story about Bin Laden trying to get the Al Qaeda in Iraq to attack the U.S. is just ridiculous. The only way to prevent Bin Laden from encouraging his admirers around the world to commit terrorist acts is to catch him. And we are not going to catch Bin Laden in Iraq. Bin Laden is nowhere near Iraq. He is most likely in Pakistan (or Saudi Arabia?)IMO.

Don't get me wrong. Terrorism is a horrible problem. But our presence in Iraq has very little to do with terrorism. We are in Iraq because of the oil and to establish a presence in the Middle East to substitute for the troops we withdrew from Saudi Arabia. Bush is so dishonest he does not know what honesty means.