The NIE and the Neocons

Predictably, Norman Podhoretz and Jon Bolton find fault with the NIE report which flatly states that Iran halted their nuclear weapons program three years ago. Bolton sees a conspiracy in the CIA to undermine the Bush administration, and Podhoretz just thinks that we're all stupid. Democracy Arsenal explains:

In recent days conservative like Berman, Norman Podhoretz, Danielle Pletka and Jon Bolton, have been trying to cast doubt on the conclusions of the intelligence community. Now the Washington Post is picking up on it and lending the arguments more credibility. When reading these arguments it's worthwhile to remember a few basic facts that should absolutely discredit this entire crowd.

First, none of these people have access to the actual intelligence. They are sitting at think tanks outside of the intelligence community and simply haven't seen the data. This was a report that shows the basic consensus of the nation's 16 intelligence and it was produced on the Bush Administration's watch and ultimately approved by the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, who is a Bush Administration appointee.

The neocons have a long history of overhyping the threats that exist to the country, but Iraq was their first real success, inasmuch as they got real US soldiers shot and killed for their fanciful agenda. The post continues:

Second, and this is even more important. This conservative and neo-conservative crowd has a long history of disregarding and manipulating intelligence when it doesn't fall conveniently into their world view. The Team B exercises in the late 1970s found that Soviet intentions and capabilities were much more dangerous than previously estimated by the intelligence community. It became part of the justification for a major military buildup against the Soviets. The Rumsfeld Commission in the 1990s was specifically set up to dispute the Intelligence Community's conclusions that the ballistic missile defense threat from developing countries to the American mainland was not an immediate danger. It became the basis for greater investment in a National Missile Defense. The Office of Special Plans that was set up in the Pentagon in the run up to the Iraq War, was specifically charged with trying to find connections between Al Qaeda and Iraq. It was used to support arguments for War.

In all of these cases conservatives played with and disregarded intelligence to help make their cases for a particular policy. And in all of these cases the conservatives were wrong.

If there was ever a case study for why it is important to study history, this is it. Considered in a correct frame of reference, nobody would listen to these bloodthirsty fools. Without a mainstream press that glosses over their failures, enables their nonsense and features them prominently on news shows as experts, these folks would be laughed out of the room. The very fact that Rudy has hired Norman Podhoretz as his foreign policy guru would disqualify him from consideration in a sane wold.

By the way, Paul Wolfowitz has already been resurrected:

In early December, Wolfowitz's time for public service came round again. Now, the former deputy defense secretary who was one of the chief architects of the Iraq war, will apparently be serving under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

According to several media reports, Wolfowitz has been offered a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board -- formerly known as the Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board -- a prestigious State Department panel.

There's a happy thought.