NIE Credibility Crumbling - HAD OPPOSITE CONCLUSION 120 DAYS AGO
Ever heard of dirty political tricks?
So can someone please explain something to me? The NIE’s three main authors, I’ll call them Larry, Moe, and Curly…are all former State Department officials with previous reputations as hyper-partisan anti-Bush officials. They are Tom Fingar, formerly of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research; Vann Van Diepen, the National Intelligence Officer for WMD; and Kenneth Brill, the former U.S. Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Larry: Kenneth Brill served as the US Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (the IAEA). This is an agency that has actually helped Iran pursue nuclear weapons. The head of the IAEA, Mohammed ElBaradei, has been called a friend by the Iranian Theocracy. Brill was either incompetent or unwilling to put an end to Elbaradei’s efforts to help Iran. Brill was let go from the State Department being replaced by Colin Powell before being rehired, despite lots of protest, public and private, as head of the National Counter-Proliferation Center by John Negroponte.
Moe: Fingar is more Libertarian than anything else and was key in leading the dissent against the Iraq WMD case. He was a State Department employee who was an expert on China and Germany — he has no notable experience, according to his bio in the Middle East and its geopolitics.
Curly: Vann Van Diepen has spent the last five years trying to get America to accept Iran’s right to enrich uranium. He also shares a lack of experience in dealing with Iran or the region.
These three stooges, with chips on their shoulders and axes to grind with the Bush administration stink of political bullshit.
And can someone please explain to me why it is that Thomas Fingar, one of the Three Stooges, testified before the House Armed Services Committee just 4 months ago saying this:
Iran and North Korea are the states of most concern to us. The United States’ concerns about Iran are shared by many nations, including many of Iran’s neighbors. Iran is continuing to pursue uranium enrichment and has shown more interest in protracting negotiations and working to delay and diminish the impact of UNSC sanctions than in reaching an acceptable diplomatic solution. We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons–despite its international obligations and international pressure. This is a grave concern to the other countries in the region whose security would be threatened should Iran acquire nuclear weapons.
So…what happened between July 11, 2007 and a week ago to cause these guys to say “Um, Iran halted pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003.”??
I’m trying to think, but nothing happens…
And then there’s this:
Last November the NIE report was supposed to be completed, that’s November 2006. Negroponte, who had rehired Brill, if you recall correctly, resigns as DNI because of a dispute over the NIE in January, and then we capture those 6 Iranian guys in Irbil, Iraq.
The report then is supposedly “completed” in February. But on February 7th, Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Ali Reza Asgari (we’ll call him Shemp) goes to Turkey and “disppears” there. It is reported in March that he is cooperating with western intelligence. A little over a month after that, it is announced that the NIE report will be delayed a little longer.
On July 11, 2007 Fingar testifies before the House Armed Services Committee, with the “We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons” statement.
Then, the NIE report on Iran is released unexpectedly the other day, and these Three Stooges say that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
Could this General Asgari, who supposedly “defected” be a plant to disseminate bogus info? Or could he simply have bad info? Or what? And since Asgari has been out of the loop since at least February, how accurate can his intel be, if indeed he is the puking pigeon?
Can someone explain why Fingar changed his tune from “We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons” in mid-July, to “Iran halted its pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003?”
I got questions. Louie has questions. I smell a dead pig.
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
if it smells like a pig, it’s …
December 5th, 2007 at 4:52 pmU.S. Intel Possibly Duped By Iran
http://www.aina.org/news/20071205100004.htm
December 5th, 2007 at 4:55 pmU.S. report finds U.S. intel consistently wrong on China buildup
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/ea_china_11_21.asp
December 5th, 2007 at 4:57 pmIntel Author Said Iran Was Pursuing Nukes!?!
Earlier this summer, the author of the most recent National Intelligence Estimate which said Iran had shelved its nuclear weapons program testified that the Islamic republic was indeed pursuing atomic bombs.
Deputy Director of Analysis Thomas Fingar, in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee July 11, said “Iran and North Korea are the states of most concern to us,” adding, “The United States’ concerns about Iran are shared by many nations, including many of Iran’s neighbors.”
Specifically, Mr. Fingar testified that “Iran is continuing to pursue uranium enrichment and has shown more interest in protracting negotiations and working to delay and diminish the impact of UNSC sanctions than in reaching an acceptable diplomatic solution,” according to a partial transcript published on the Weekly Standard magazine’s Web site.
“We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons–despite its international obligations and international pressure,” Mr. Fingar testified.
That paragraph appeared under the subheading: “Iran Assessed As Determined to Develop Nuclear Weapons,” the magazine said.
No part of that segment is consistent with an NIE assessment published this week that said U.S. intelligence agencies judge Iran suspended its atomic weapons program in 2003.
The inconsistencies are more troubling when we realize that, according to the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Fingar is one of the three officials who were responsible for crafting the latest NIE.
The Journal cites “an intelligence source” as describing Fingar and his two colleagues as “hyper-partisan anti-Bush officials.”
December 5th, 2007 at 5:01 pmThomas Fingar and the scary new day in US intelligence work
“Happily, the severity of specific threats to our nation, our values, our system of government, and our way of life
Thomas Fingar, while Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence And Research, speaking before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on current and projected national security threats to U.S., February 2001
http://pundita.blogspot.com/2007/12/yikes-thomas-fingar-one-of-three-main.html
December 5th, 2007 at 5:08 pmTo undercut your country due to BDS shows an out of control State and CIA are.
December 5th, 2007 at 6:24 pmIf it looks like a duck and it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck…it’s a rat. These three stooges have to be interoggated post haste. Waterboarding comes to mind.
December 5th, 2007 at 7:25 pmOne interesting point overlooked. Iran is calling this a “victory” over america. Didn’t Iran deny the fact that it had a nuclear weapons program from the beginning. That it was a purely peaceful energy program. This report clearly admits that they did, and still have a nuclear weapons program. I mean you can’t halt something that never existed right? So with the Muchkin King going on TV and saying this is a “victory” he is publicly admitting he has a weapons program and is throwing it in our faces. Basically saying that there is nothing we can do about it because he can have the dems and the lib media wrapped around his crooked, shit smelling fingers.
I know some Fire Controlmen (Navy button pushers that fire tomahawks and shit like that) that would love to send a few downrange at him.
December 5th, 2007 at 7:51 pmThis report is B.S.!!
December 5th, 2007 at 8:15 pmBash -
I feel this picture fits in just fine for when you do an update.
http://chromatism.net/current/images/moemoh.jpg
And this one
http://www.hotmoviesale.com/dvds/57/1/Three-Stooges-All-The-Worlds-A-Stooge.jpg
December 5th, 2007 at 9:06 pmBoy, the people you run into when you don’t have a gun.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:12 pmBash laid out the details and it doesn’t add up. It’s a political document, and an embarassment. NIE stands for National Inept Embarassment.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:38 pmSilence…..I Kill you!
You have always been misinformed about Iran, they are a peaceful people and only want to develop Nuclear power for Electricity. They are not pursuing nuclear bombs……
BULL SHIT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I freakin’ hate the people of the world who constantly say death to America. We need to introduce them to their 72 virgins!
December 6th, 2007 at 5:19 amI forget who said this but I believe it was a politician who said their are three stages to fulfill in order to be making nukes: 1. enriching uranium (iran admits to this) 2. developing missile technology to deploy such weapons( the NIE file doesnt deny this is happening) 3. Actually constructing the bombs themselves. The Nie report only alludes to number 3 and this could be true. So what, building the bomb is easy once you have the uranium enriched and the missile system to deploy such weapons. therefore, despite this report being by a bunch of lefties, and lefty news outlets reporting on it, what can be gleaned from the report is not the way the headlines are reporting it Iran is still a threat, and given the things that Imadinnerjacket has said about isreal etc, we can conclude that they could begin assembly at any time!
December 6th, 2007 at 5:26 am