Intelligence Inquiries

Let me see if I understand this....

The CIA, labasted during the build-up to the Iraq war as being too conservative in its assessment of Hussein's military capacity, is now going to be investigated for overstating Husseins' military capacity. The faux-intelligence agency set up by Cheney to help advance the Bush Administration's spin will not be subject to investigation, nor will the administration itself.

We are, I suppose, to forget that Paul Wolfowitz described how the "weapons of mass destruction" rationale was picked as a justification for invasion - not because it was the most pressing concern, but out of "bureaucratic reasons". The other rationales didn't resonate with the public, but the Bush Administration could sell a war for national security.

A more useful investigation would look at all of the Administration's reasons for going to war, not just the one they most vigorously advanced to the public. A more useful investigation would look not at how U.S. intelligence agencies came to overstate Iraq's possible threat, but how the Bush Administration picked and chose among reports (or pieces of reports) in order to sell the notion of Iraq as a threat.

But what am I saying? This is a commission created, controlled, and limited by Bush. And the last thing he wants is an investigation that would get to the root of why we really went to war. (Which is a shame, because I am still looking for an explanation that holds water.)

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