A Failure of More Than Intelligence (WP OpEd)

[huckleberry]

By Richard Cohen
Thursday, April 7, 2005; Page A31

Shortly before the United States went to war in Iraq, I was in contact with a former member of the American intelligence community. This is what he told me: Saddam Hussein had no nuclear weapons program, no chemical or biological weapons program to speak of, and no link to al Qaeda. He said that if America invaded, it would cost us "perhaps 1,000 casualties" and would lead to prolonged "terrorism and harassment." I thanked him very much for his views -- and urged the United States to attack anyway. Along with Don Quixote, I sometimes feel that facts are the enemy of truth.

The record will show, however, that as war approached I was expressing second thoughts. I urged patience since it was becoming obvious that my source might be right: Hussein's various arms programs either didn't exist or were being hyped by the administration. In short, I knew that the most alarming case against Saddam Hussein -- that he was an imminent threat to the United States -- was a lie.

snip

No doubt Iraq was a doozy of an intelligence failure. But it was, fundamentally and above all, a breach of faith with the American people. When it comes to matters of life and death, we expect our government to level with us. The Bush administration did not -- and it would not matter if all of the Middle East, from the Tigris to the Nile, becomes a democracy overnight. The fact will remain that this war was fought for a lie. The failure was not in intelligence. It was in political character.


more at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32733-2005Apr6.html

[evlbstrd]

1. KICK!

[KoKo]

2. An Incredible Article! Cohen is the first to report THE BIG LIE!

I hope this is a sign of more to come. I e-mailed him thanking him profusely for being the first MSM to say it. Bush Lied us into Iraq and that should never be overlooked no matter what his Administrations investigation say.

He lied and soldiers died and we are in debt as far as we can see because of this.

[KoKo]

3. Kick and nominate for homepage....n/t

[Mojorabbit]

4. The worm is turning...

[tavalon]

5. Naw, it's just an Op-Ed, granted a very direct Op-Ed

The various Op-Eds have been saying this for a long time. Put it on the front page in 4 inch high letters with a picture of our worthless pResident, then we'll discuss that worm.

I'm not holding my breath for that one.

[Virginian]

7. MSM reporter no longer drinks the Kool Aid

This is a start. This is a reporter for the Mainstream Media telling us he made a mistake and now has opened his eyes to Bush's war.

Not only did he mention the war, he mentioned the national debt caused by Bush's war. He won't be supporting the Bushies any longer and is now a chink in their armor.

Now that he has had the courage to speak out against them, he has paved the way for others to do the same. We needed him in '03, but better late than never.

[The White Tree]

6. Good Editorial - He is wrong on one thing though, I think

The intention to invade Iraq existed long before 9/11. That just gave them the justification to sell it to the people.

Had 9/11 never happened, it is possible that the invasion of Iraq would have occurred along the same timetable using some other trumped-up "Gulf of Tonkin"-type evidence once the 2002 elections in the US had taken place.

These guys always thought this was going to be a cake walk. Had they been able to do this and look good doing it prior to the 2004 elections it would give them an unbeatable election platform.

What's sad is that much of our so called objective media could not see this for what it was.

[Im with Rosey]

8. Somewhat related

I need the % of people that still believe Sadam was responsible for 9/11. Anyone have a source? Thanks, I'm trying to convince a very close-minded person that he has many of his "facts" wrong. Wish me luck!
Thanks in advance for any link to info.

[mzmolly]

9. The only intelligence failure was in 2000, when Bush got "selected"

to run our Country into the ground.

Hans Blix and Scott Ritter WERE the intelligence community, they along with many others in said community said clearly that Bush/Powell are full of shit on WMD's.

[indepat]

10. What is tragic is not the war was fought for a lie, but the character

of the media and we the people, or lack thereof, in not requiring an accounting, for we the people ratifying the lie, and for the media and we the people ignoring what this nation has done. The failure of we the people and the MSM is greater than the failure of government IMHO, for the lie was out there for the MSM to fully expose and notwithstanding the MSM's failure to do so, enough information was out there for every voter to have known before the national elections, but such piffles just didn't matter to millions of voters.

[dalloway]

11. this should be front-paged. Nominate for greatest. n/t