Hitch and the CIA...what did you expect?

[Narkos]

It seems flabbergastingly improbable that President George W. Bush learned of the National Intelligence Estimate concerning Iranian nuclear ambitions only a few days before the rest of us did, but the haplessness of his demeanor suggested that he might, in fact, have been telling the truth. After all, had the administration known for any appreciable length of time that the mullahs had hit the pause button on their program in late 2003, it would have been in a position to make a claim that is quite probably true, namely, that our overthrow of Saddam Hussein had impressed the Iranians in much the same way as it impressed the Libyans and made them at least reconsider their willingness to continue flouting the Non-Proliferation Treaty. (Given that the examination of the immense Libyan stockpile also disclosed the fingerprints that led back to the exposure of the A.Q. Khan nuke-mart in Pakistan, the removal of Saddam from the chessboard has had more effect in curbing the outlaw WMD business than it is normally given credit for.)

http://www.slate.com/id/2179593/fr/flyout

[terisan]

1. A pathetic tool. Good advertisement for not drinking and writing about politics. nt

[Esra Star]

2. Either way you are still stuck with the

choice between liar or grossly incompetent.
Or both.

[Narkos]

3. Hitchens is great on some stuff....

but he is completely deranged when it comes to analysis of the Middle East! Is it because he wants Israel protected? Is it because he genuinely believes that killing thousands of people makes things better? I just don't understand it....

[Kurovski]

4. My understanding is that Libya wanted to once again open up

lucrative trade deals, not that they were shakin' in their boots because of the L'il Boots' big mouthed cowboy act.

I believe Libya got their wish, despite the world's contempt over the Lockerbie crime.

I dunno. I hardly remember shit anymore.