Bush Didn’t Lie, Okay? The CIA Did Screw Up Royally, Though.

The Anchoress highlights a fascinating story that’s worth a look today. CBS News tells the tale of an Iraqi defector who came to be code-named Curveball (an apt name if ever there were one) whose tales of biological weapons were brought by the CIA to both President Bush and President Clinton before him. It seems that Curveball’s information was considered so reliable that it was taken seriously by two US administrations and, at least, German intelligence.

We’ve heard about Curveball before, but this is the first time we’ve gotten a clear look at what he told German intelligence officials and how the CIA took that information and ran with it. This only serves to bolster my view that the CIA was not only too crippled to follow up on the intelligence they had in any meaningful way (because they simply didn’t have human assets on the ground in Iraq) but was also outright negligent in simply passing along Curveball’s claims. George Tenet, you’ll remember, was the guy who called Iraq a “cakewalk” even though the Bush administration later called our being in Iraq a “long, hard slog”.

It’s clear, as The Anchoress points out that President Bush did not lie any more than Bill Clinton lied or Congress lied. I’ve gotten beyond tired with the “Bush lied” slander and I’m very glad that we can finally start putting stakes into its heart.

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Category: The Long War Here At Home