Sen. Carl Levin has caught Doug Feith lying

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2007/04/levin040507.html



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2007 Contact: Press Office
Phone: [phone]

Levin Releases Newly Declassified Pentagon Inspector General Report on Intelligence Assessment Activities of the Office of Under Secretary of Defense Doug Feith




WASHINGTON -- Sen. Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the newly declassified report of the Department of Defense Inspector General on its "Review of the Pre-Iraqi War Activities of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy." The report was declassified at Levin's request.

In releasing the report, Levin said: "It is important for the public to see why the Pentagon's Inspector General concluded that Secretary Feith's office 'developed, produced and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and al-Qaeda relationship,' which included 'conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the Intelligence Community,' and why the Inspector General concluded that these actions were 'inappropriate.' Until today, those details were classified and outside the public's view."

The Feith office alternative intelligence assessments concluded that Iraq and al Qaeda were cooperating and had a "mature, symbiotic" relationship, a view that was not supported by the available intelligence, and was contrary to the consensus view of the Intelligence Community. These alternative assessments were used by the Administration to support its public arguments in its case for war. As the DOD IG report confirms, the Intelligence Community never found an operational relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda; the report specifically states that,"the CIA and DIA disavowed any 'mature, symbiotic' relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida."

Senator Levin also released today the declassified briefing slides used by Secretary Feith's office in its presentation to senior White House officials, "Assessing the Relationship Between Iraq and al Qaida," which concluded incorrectly that "Intelligence indicates cooperation in all categories; mature, symbiotic relationship," and also asserted incorrectly that an alleged meeting in April 2001 in Prague between an Iraqi intelligence officer and lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta was a "known" contact.

"The very title of the Feith briefing slides contradicts his claim on February 16 that "we didn't do intelligence assessments," as well as his claim on February 14 that the briefing was simply "a critique of the CIA's work on the Iraq-al-Qaeda relationship" and no more than an effort to "raise questions about CIA work," said Levin. The briefing slides were an important element in the Inspector General's inquiry and its conclusions.

The declassified Inspector General report can be found here.

The declassified briefing slides can be found here.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Office of Sen. Levin

[papau]

1. Will the media now report that the GOP lies? n/t

n/t

[rodeodance]

2. "intel failture" was the WH mantra and will be till they leave office.

[Vidar]

3. Good for Levin, my senator.

[gollygee]

4. Yay for Levin - he's my senator too

[Justice Is Comin]

5. This is only part of what the republics were keeping under wraps.

This is only the start of the unveiling of the "real" Phase II. Old cagey Mr. Levin knows it all.

This dovetails exactly with what Paul Pillar put on bush's desk in his one page Intelligence Estimate summary.

[Martin Eden]

6. Bush was duped by Feith

That will be the talking point when Feith becomes the next fall guy for this "intelligence failure"

[peacetalksforall]

7. He's already gone, I believe. nt

[Martin Eden]

20. Though Feith is gone, he's not the "fall" guy yet.

The shit hasn't really hit the fan yet, but when it does it will be directed at anyone but president and vice president who are ultimately responsible.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

15. should we not be promoting the opposite? that he followed cheney's orders?

I'd say no text here, but April Fools is long gone.
writing letters to the editor would be a good thing

[Crunchy Frog]

8. This is just an exercise in Stalinist McCarthyism by those evil DemonRats!!!11

[burythehatchet]

9. so have I, many times.

[Steven_S]

10. Feith has earned the title..

Stupidest Fucking Person on the Face of the Earth

Given to him by General Whatzizname.

[originalpckelly]

11. Comment from Deputy Fife, I mean Feith:

Ruh-roh.

[Patsy Stone]

12. Who is my new favorite Senator?

Oh, thank heavens! Dougie is finally proven to be the tool for war he was.

[walldude]

13. So basically he saw him with his mouth open... n/t

[MagickMuffin]

14. posted earlier, but keep getting the message out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=585066&mesg_id=585066

[myrna minx]

16. Kick.

:kick:

[Beetwasher]

17. You Know What's Amazing? That Bushco, Apparently CAN'T CORRUPT THE IG OFFICE

How is it so insulated that they can't get to it? That's amazing.

[sofa king]

25. That was then. I think the DoD-IG office is corrupted by now.

The first thing that springs to mind is the billions of dollars being filtered through the Iraqi government and then into the pockets of our corrupt contractors, which for all these years has been blithely watched by former Bush staffer Stuart Bowen. Bowen is Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction and I'm assuming (perhaps erroneously) that he ultimately reports to the overall DoD IG office. Occasionally he slaps hands, but a Presidential signing statement makes his job pretty easy: he's not allowed to investigate or report on anything that might be a matter of national security... like, say, the war in Iraq?

But of course, the Republican Congress of 2006 sought to confront that corruption head on by http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6114132.stm?ls">abolishing the office of the IG-Iraq. Sort of like burning down the observatory to avoid being hit by a comet. Oh and the punchline? Nobody knows how the termination clause found its way into the bill.

Another thing going on is when the Bush Administration is up to something really shady, they force out the head of the executive branch office that's up to no good and replace that person with an "acting" head from within the ranks of employees already there. The replacement is always a Republican who has "demonstrated support for the President." Then the President shuffles his feet on finding an actual replacement for Senate confirmation, as required by law.

Thus, for example, there has been a Senate-approved Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs for only thirteen months in the entire six years of the Bush Administration... and as I have written previously, the scandals there run thick as shad.

At a cursory glance, the bad acting seems to run even more true for the all important positions of Inspectors General of the various agencies and departments--after all, they're the ones who are supposed to stop federal corruption. Not exactly a Bush Administration priority, as most of us know by now. I see that the Inspector General for Veterans Affairs appears to have been "acting" since June, 2005.

The overall website for federal Inspectors General is of course defunct, so the excel spreadsheet which would clearly show how many of the 57 IGs are currently "acting" cannot be downloaded.

Therefore it comes as no surprise at all to me to find that the Department of Defense's Office of the Inspector General has had an acting head since September of last year. It would be interesting to untangle that bag of worms, but probably ultimately futile. It will take decades to categorize and properly record the criminal scope of these gangsters.

No, I can't see the rat yet, but I sure as hell smell it.

[JNelson6563]

18. I pity the fool who tries to fuck with Levin

I have seen him up close and personal enough times to know he is relentless. The guy is the most confident man I've ever met, but never, never arrogant. He's totally unshakable.

I've seen people who think they know a lot try to give him shit, without fail they always have reason to regret it because his knowledgable answers always clearly highlight they are ankle-biting whiners who don't know a damn thing.

Come to think of it, there's a sizable cadre of DUers I'd like to put in a room with him. It'd be even better for 'em than a ride on the clue bus.

Go Levin! :toast:

Julie

[Roland99]

19. WAIT A MINUTE!! Didn't this same IG office say it found that Feith did nothing improper?!?!

Now it's discovered it was "inappropriate"???


:mad:

[leveymg]

22. I recall the phrase, "improper but not illegal"

Besides, this is probably going to be a question for a Grand Jury. There are serious questions of intentional falsification of intelligence at OSP and a criminal conspiracy with Cheney's office. In addition, Feith was fired after Sy Hersh reported he was sharing Iran targeting information with the Israelis.

[Marr]

21. Why are right-wing idealogues so damned stupid?

They seem to have a universal ability to lie to themselves and believe it.

[BrklynLiberal]

23. You mean we were lied too!!!??? Will the media blast the truth the way they blasted the lies?

[jazzjunkysue]

24. Truth. Finally. Now, can I have it reported in my media?

Good man, Levin.

[NoodleyAppendage]

26. Levin I love you, but what the hell? Try hiring a media consultant.

Dumping this important information late on Thursday is not likely to be a influential as releasing it on a Monday or Tuesday. If this was done correctly we would have a whole week's news cycle to rake Feith, the war criminal, over the coals.

Dems are notoriously bad at media manipulation. We need to be smarter in this area.

J

[cascagraphic]

27. kick

[wicket]

28. Wish I could say I was surprised

:eyes: