Does the NIE release indicate a change in policy?
I have to wonder again about Wolfowitz's timely placement on the State Dept.'s WMD panel announced one day before the Iran NIE release.
Was his placement part of a "trust, but verify" policy deal between Condi Rice and Cheney? Why else would Rice accept a Cheneyite at a key post with full view of all the intelligence she sees?
After a year of stalling, the NIE release does seem to indicate a change in policy....
Just wondering.
Was his placement part of a "trust, but verify" policy deal between Condi Rice and Cheney? Why else would Rice accept a Cheneyite at a key post with full view of all the intelligence she sees?
After a year of stalling, the NIE release does seem to indicate a change in policy....
Political sources in Israel said Monday night that it appears that the Bush administration has lost the sense of urgency and determination to carry out a military strike against Iran in 2008. The same sources said that the United States is unlikely to strike Iran in 2008, and will make do with more severe sanctions against Tehran.
Just wondering.
posted by mikevotes at
8:59 AM
9 Comments:
Something's not passing the smell test here... Don't know what exactly, but I'm getting a sense that the wheels are starting to come off the administration. George is a weak leader made strong only by virtue of his Machiavellian inner circle of Type A advisers and actors. (Bush is an egotist, but he's far from Type A). Now it seems that that inner circle has shifted into every-man-for-himself mode.
By
-epm, at 9:34 AM
It is strange. I would have thought they had the NIC loaded.
By
Anonymous, at 10:10 AM
EPM, I think the key question (as yet unanswered) is why did this NIE drop right now, pretty much without warning?
Anon, It depends on how you draw the lines, but Condi Rice has been actively trying to purge the Cheneyites from the State Dept.
By
mikevotes, at 1:42 PM
Baer has an interesting theory in Time...
http://www.time.com/time/world/
article/0,8599,1690696,00.html
He seems to be suggesting Bush is using the report as a way out.
By
Anonymous, at 7:51 PM
Unquestionably, he said release it today, but his press conference really didn't take the "way out" tone.
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mikevotes, at 9:10 PM
Right...if anything he dug the hole deeper. This NIE has really changed the whole equation. Fascinating to watch.
By
Anonymous, at 11:08 PM
What I'm seeing -- based on my cursory reading of the international press -- is Bush's US becoming more and more a rogue nation vis-a-vis it's world view.
We are the only country that thinks there's a war in Iraq... Most other countries view it as an occupation. We are not seen as an honest broker in the Israeli-Palestinian debate. We are on a largely unilateral track with regard to Iran (Western powers' sanction stance notwithstanding).
With no understanding of how the rest of the world sees thing, and with corporate media outlets largely acting as mere stenographers and gossip hounds, I think Americans are living in an information bubble unlike any time in my life.
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-epm, at 8:39 AM
And yet there is more unbiased information out there than at any time in history. Maybe it's just the administration in the bubble?
By
Anonymous, at 9:05 AM
I might argue it's a bit of the opposite, I don't think the Bush administration is that much crazier, but that as Bush is perceived as more crazy (and probably more exactly, lame duck) the other countries feel more secure moving away.
And, I don't have a good historical feel for the American's bubble.
Maybe reading anon's comment, perhaps the word is more cocoon, because we're actually hiding from the scary world.
By
mikevotes, at 4:02 PM
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