Threats Overstated by Bush Official, Critics Contend

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-bolton3nov03,1,1200688.story?coll=la-home-headlines

The Bush administration's point man on nonproliferation has exaggerated the threat posed by Syria, Libya and Cuba in an effort to build the case that strong action is needed to prevent them from developing weapons of mass destruction, former intelligence officials and independent experts say.

Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton has long been one of the most controversial figures in the Bush administration — a pugnacious neoconservative with a reputation for blunt talk and tough action. The allegations that he is inflating the evidence against regimes that Washington dislikes, come as the administration is defending itself against criticism that it misused intelligence to make the case for invading Iraq.

"Very often, the points he makes have some truth to them, but he simply goes beyond where the facts tell intelligent people they should go," said Carl W. Ford Jr., who retired in October as head of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

In several conversations, Bolton categorically denied trying to shape intelligence for political purposes. He maintained that all of his statements about the weapons capabilities of various states were cleared in advance by all the major political and intelligence agencies — and he brandished the interagency approval checklists to prove it.

[ConcernedCanuk]

1. "has exaggerated the threat posed by Syria, Libya and Cuba" - -

. . Gee, what a surprize !

. and after all the WMD's they found in Iraq !!

[LeighAnn]

2. Really?

Duh! Still, I hope a lot of people see this.

[Bozita]

3. I remember Bolton's comments 6 months ago regarding Syria and Iran

made while in Israel. Reported by Ha'aretz way back when every other media source snoozed.

[MinnFats]

4. Sy Hersh's piece in the Oct. 27 New Yorker bears this out as well...

....this is what happens when you have ardent, blinder-wearing ideologues in sensitive professional foreign policy positions.....and it looks like Bush tried to pack as many ideologues into the most senstive positions at State, Defense, CIA etc.
the result, of course -- OF COURSE-- is disaster.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Truly unprofessional behavior. Won't be remembered well in years to come.

(snip) "Undersecretary Bolton repeatedly goes beyond the current public intelligence estimates in his description of the proliferation threats," said Joseph Cirincione, a nonproliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. "He offers definitive judgments where there is, at best, only informed speculation about capabilities. In some cases, notably his claim that Cuba has biological weapons, he goes way beyond known capabilities.

"In others, like the claim that Iran has bioweapons or that Syria is developing nuclear weapons, he connects the dots to form a judgment that is not supported by solid evidence, but then presents it as established fact," Cirincione said. This, he said, undermines U.S. credibility and the ability of policymakers to craft balanced approaches to serious threats.

Retorted Bolton: "People tend to resort to ad hominem attacks when they feel their substantive arguments are weak." (snip/...)

Childish, crude, predictable, and obnoxious.

[radfringe]

6. checklists

In several conversations, Bolton categorically denied trying to shape intelligence for political purposes. He maintained that all of his statements about the weapons capabilities of various states were cleared in advance by all the major political and intelligence agencies — and he brandished the interagency approval checklists to prove it.

of course he has the interagency approval checklists - easy enough to get when you apply the right amount of pressure to obtain the checkmarks and approval.... or just check and approve it yourself?

Bolton then shot back at the intelligence community, arguing that some intelligence analysts' own political biases affect their judgments. "People can and should agree that policymakers should not politicize intelligence," said Bolton, who arrives at work at 6:30 each morning and devours a thick briefing book of cables and analyses that many other officials don't bother to read. "But I think we can also say that intelligence analysts should not politicize intelligence."

ohhhh-HO! so now the intelligence analysts have a political agenda???? SHOOT THE MESSENGER!!! SHOOT THE MESSENGER!!!
IT'S ALL THE CIA-FBI-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY'S FAULT!!!!

[teryang]

7. Bolton is Cheney's Rheinhard Heydrich

Powell is Ribbentrop. Rumsfeldt is Goering.

[0007]

8. ....and soon they'll all be shit!

The tide is turning...

[Mika]

9. I'm looking forward to Bolton's frog walk in leg irons.

Along with the rest the cabal.