Intelligence Has Nothing To Do With It

Once Upon a Time...: Walking into the Iran Trap, Part I:

It is simply not true that the Bush administration's decision to go to war with Iraq was the result of 'bad intelligence.' In the most significant sense, that decision had nothing at all to do with the quality of the intelligence they were getting. The decision was one of policy -- a decision that depended 'not upon available facts but upon judgment.' As the Star-Tribune editorial points out, the Clinton administration had virtually the same intelligence -- yet came to a different conclusion altogether with regard to the proper course of action.

But this tactic serves an important purpose: it passes blame off to another party, and in effect lets the administration off the hook. The administration thus hopes to insulate itself from examination, criticism and accountability. It's as if the administration is saying: 'The intelligence made us do it.'

But the intelligence, whatever it was, didn't make them do anything. They had already decided what they wanted to do -- and the intelligence was almost irrelevant.

I've said before that the Bushies might want to rekindle the war-lust of the mob again by forcing a confrontation with Iraq or Syria. Here is an article that makes the case not only for such a thing happening, but takes opposition to the premise that underlies such actions. It's important reading, so read it!