Bush ignored warnings on Iraq insurgency threat before invasion

[Demi_Babe]

Bush ignored warnings on Iraq insurgency threat before invasion

Intelligence suggested country faced years of tumult

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Wednesday September 29, 2004
The Guardian

The Bush administration disregarded intelligence reports two months before the invasion of Iraq which warned that a war could unleash a violent insurgency and rising anti-US sentiment in the Middle East, it emerged yesterday.
The warning, delivered in two classified reports to the White House in January 2003, was prepared by the National Intelligence Council, the same advisory board that warned the Bush administration last month that the violence in Iraq could descend into a civil war.

That forecast radically departs from George Bush's upbeat assertions that the situation is improving in Iraq, and he initially dismissed the assessment as a "guess".

The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, suggested the assessment was the work of "handwringers".

The revelation yesterday that the White House was similarly cavalier about prewar warnings could hurt Mr Bush in the run-up to tomorrow's presidential debate, which is focused on foreign policy.

The Democratic challenger, John Kerry, has led a dogged effort to shift the election agenda from the "war on terror" to the chaos in Iraq, and yesterday's report at last provides him with a new opening.

One of the prewar assessments said it would take years of tumult before democracy was established in Iraq, and the country could revert to its tradition of authoritarian rule. According to the New York Times, it also warned that the new authorities in Iraq could face a guerrilla war waged by remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime, and other militant groups.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1315023,00.html


GET ON IT KERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Catfight]

1. Bush ignored the August DPB "Osma Bin Laden Determined to

Strike in the United States!" Thus paving the way for 9/11. There seems to be a pattern here.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Duh!

This is kind of a "duh" story, and it's sad that it's news.

It's not like 3/4 of the entire freakin' world wasn't talking about it.

[Demi_Babe]

3. I think it's a hell of alot more than just a "duh" story

Kerry needs to jump on this like a kid on a trampoline

[RoyGBiv]

4. What I mean is ...

This isn't "news," as in some sort of heretofore unknown piece of information. People were warning Shrub about the potential of resistance well before the first troops landed. The only "news" is that it is "news." Notably, this is in a foreign paper.

I suppose Kerry should add it to his arsenal, but in various ways, he already has. He's been giving Bush hell over Iraq for the last week or so and bringing up all sorts of things related to this.

I'm not disagreeing with you, IOW, just looking at this from a different perspective.