Senior intelligence official: Baghdad briefers had gone beyond vetted information regarding Iran

[sabra]

Deja Vu

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/14/AR2007021401819_2.html

<snip>

The intelligence community, still licking its wounds over faulty prewar intelligence on Iraq, displayed an air of "I told you so" this week and insisted that the Baghdad briefers had gone beyond vetted information.

A senior intelligence official Tuesday offered carefully parsed written guidance he said had been provided to the briefers in Baghdad. "The Qods Force -- a special element of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard . . . -- is involved in providing lethal support to select groups of Shia militants in Iraq. Based on our understanding of the Iranian system and the history of IRGC operations, the IC (intelligence community) assesses that activity this extensive on the part of the Qods Force would not be conducted without approval from top leaders in Iran."

The distinction was important, the official said. The Baghdad briefer's verbal use of "highest levels" went beyond what the intelligence community had suggested. The "top officials" wording, the official said, better reflected administration knowledge.

[Kagemusha]

1. So at whose behest did the briefers go beyond the brief?

I guess that's a little harder to figure out because the briefers were anonymous.

Which is probably why they demanded anonymity.

Which is why the public's right to know goes unfulfilled.