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In his book, “The Way of the World,” author Ron Suskind makes some serious charges about the CIA and Iraq. As Agency officers current and former have made clear(not wanting to lose their jobs are be accused of fondling babies), those charges are false. More than that, they are not in keeping with the way CIA works(as a GHWBush good-old-boy drug-runner cover). In fact, they are profoundly offensive to the men and women who serve here(especially the ones who screw with other governments for future profits), as they should be to all Americans (who also profit by raping resources from poor countries).
Suskind claims that, in September 2003, the White House ordered(NOTICE: not asked politely, nor indicated future profit) then-Director George Tenet to fabricate a letter describing a level of cooperation between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa’ida that simply did not exist.(Nice of you to admit that in an indirectly negative sentence that supports a position of the subject while knocking him down in utter clarity.) The White House has denied making that request( and , shhhh, he hardly ever lies), and Director Tenet has denied receiving it (He'd never lie, or even let a lie be told DISCLAIMER: Unless at a UN function.) The former Agency officers Suskind cites in his narrative have, for their part (part of what?), publicly denied being asked to carry out such a mission (And have thus, saved their jobs and character.).
Those denials are powerful(note the specially picked descriptor that needs no furtherexplanationn -- except for why it's there.) in and of themselves. But they are also backed by a thorough, time-consuming (ten-minute, including breaks) records search within CIA and by interviews with other officers—senior (over drinks and laughs) and junior alike—who were directly involved (have said the word EYE followed by RACK.) in Iraq operations. To assert, as Suskind does, that the White House would request such a document, and that the Agency would accept such a task, says something about him and nothing about us. (Funny how his sentences say something about you and not him.) It did not happen (so clear, so me-me-me-me-me). Moreover, as the public record shows(i.e., the right-wing press), CIA had concluded—and conveyed to our customers(:not the American people, nor people reading this)—that the ties between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa’ida were not as close as some believed. (Not a real show stopper, or in this case, not a real war stopper.)
While recounting his tale, Suskind has accused the Agency of violating the National Security Act. That basic law specifically prohibits covert actions “intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies, or media.” CIA knows and respects the legal framework(such as pardons for law breakers) within which our democracy conducts intelligence activities(Which means we can get away with anything we want.). To state what should be obvious, it is not the (written) policy or (written) practice of this Agency to violate American law.
If that were not enough, Suskind also alleges that the United States knew before the start of hostilities with Iraq that Saddam Hussein had no stockpiles of WMD. That, too, is both false and wrong. False because the Intelligence Community(R) (Registered trademark of IC, Inc.) assessed that Saddam Hussein had such weapons. Wrong because it implies the Community chose to ignore information of which it was genuinely convinced. Nothing could be further from the truth.(HOW WELL, OVERSTATED!) Nor did CIA pay or resettle Tahir Habbush, Saddam Hussein’s intelligence chief(twern't the CIA, itself, although someone might be in two jobs and was not working for us at that moment.). That conclusion comes from a review of our files and checks(large checks) with our officers. Indeed, our government considers Habbush to be a wanted man. I'd better stop and get back to reading, critically. I can't claim any real knowledge of this stuff, but truth needs better than assertions. Some CIA people are good, but some ARE NOT as I hold that Sen. Church did not clean completely.
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