Mossad intelligence failures contributed to Iraq war fever....

[kentuck]

http://www.juancole.com/2003_12_01_juancole_archive.html#107060418940340029

Third story down:

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Respected Israeli security thinker Shlomo Brom argues in the current Strategic Assessment that Mossad fell down on the job in realistically assessing the threat to Israel of Iraqi weapons programs and stockpiles. (I.e. there were no significant WMD programs and very, very few if any stockpiles, but Mossad kept saying that both existed and were serious threats.) Brom points out that a major intelligence failure like this is inevitably bad for Israel's foreign relations posture, since enemies may conclude that if it so scared by paper tigers, then it is a pushover. Crying wolf is also always a bad idea, since when a real threat comes along the crier will be discounted. He admits that Israel has no real reason to regret the Iraq war, given that Saddam gave money to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.

<snip>
The first argument, that Mossad's failures were unimportant, is flawed because the US has long relied heavily on Israeli intelligence in the Middle East. In fact, Israeli intelligence and military support is the main justification for the US grant of billions of dollars a year to a first-world country with an average annual per capita income of $17,000 a year. (The US gives almost nothing to the 4th-world countries that really need aid, in contrast). Moreover, there is evidence that Israeli generals and intelligence officials had special access to Undersecretary of Defense for Planning Douglas Feith, and that they made many unlogged visits to his office. And, as former State Department counter-terrorism analyst Greg Thielmann pointed out in the Oct. 9 Frontline, Feith's Office of Special Plans cherry-picked "intelligence" (damning anecdotes from unreliable sources) and by-passed the usual intelligence channels by piping this skewed information directly to Dick Cheney.

[sistersofmercy]

1. Yeah, I believe it was an intelligence failure!

Oh sure! Just like I believe the INC faulty intelligence gathered on Iraq was not deliberate. Yeah right, that's the ticket!

[el_gato]

2. failure my ass!

it accomplished exactly what they hoped it would

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. Iraq is occupied, KBR profits are up, Iraqis are dying, what failure?

I don't hear any Halliburton execs calling it a failure.

Dyncorp doesn't think it's a failure.

[Loonman]

4. Don't read DEBKAfile

News sheet from the Mossad.


Usually a pack of self-serving lies.

[kentuck]

5. Is that an or order ?

Or a suggestion? :)

[Loonman]

Both

:)

[Media_Lies_Daily]

6. The first argument is indeed flawed, mainly because it's a lie...

Mossad is arguably the best intelligence agency in the world, and has never before been prone to intelligence-gathering errors in the Middle East.

My contention, like yours I think, is that Mossad is also wrestling with their version of the NeoCons headed by Sharon. The Israeli NeoCons will stop at nothing to achieve their primary objectives which is the total destruction or incapacitation of their immediate enemies in the Middle East. That gives added meaning to the apparent coordination between the Israelis and Feith that you mentioned in your post.

Additionally, I would like to know exactly what was communicated between the Israeli NeoCons and the U.S. NeoCons in the months leading up to the attacks on 911. I'm not personally convinced that 911 was an operation masterminded by Islamic extremists...I think there were others with much more to gain and much closer to home.

[truthspeaker]

7. someone tell Lieberman!

I mean, he's a Mossad agent, right?