Sun, July 18, 2004
The era of strategic deception
By Eric Margolis --
HAVING PRESIDED over the two worst intelligence disasters since Pearl Harbor -- 9/11 and the misbegotten invasion of Iraq -- the Bush Administration and its apologists are now whining, "Okay, we were wrong about Iraq's weapons and supposed threat, but so was everybody else. Besides, it was all the CIA's fault."
No way. The Iraq weapons fiasco was absolutely not caused by an "intelligence failure," as the White House and the recent Senate whitewash claim.
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This column has long reported smouldering anger among veteran CIA officers over Bush's deeply flawed policies towards Iraq and the Muslim world.
In late 2001, I was shocked and horrified to hear a distinguished member of the CIA's founding families actually claim a "fifth column" had taken control of Iraq policy and was driving the U.S. to war.
But even the compliant CIA failed to satisfy Bush and Cheney's growing demands for more damning "evidence".
Cheney and Defence Secretary Don Rumsfeld created two independent intelligence units, Office for Special Plans, and "Team B." Their mission: Find the smoking guns to justify immediate war against Iraq. These two units became the main conduits for disinformation about Iraq, promoting every rumour the White House and media wanted to believe, no matter how absurd.
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They and Britain's Tony Blair must not be allowed to escape full blame and retribution by hiding behind the sophistry that everyone -- and thus no one -- was responsible.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Eric_Margolis/2004/07/18/547035.html