More than ten years later, we seem finally to be escaping the neoconservative captivity. Has the Times ever been so direct about neoconservative power and the push for war with Iraq? From Kurt Eichenwald’s op-ed in the Times saying that the Bush White House was deaf to warnings from the CIA about imminent attack by Al Qaeda:
Weeks later, on June 22, [2001] the daily brief reported that Qaeda strikes could be “imminent,” although intelligence suggested the time frame was flexible.
But some in the administration considered the warning to be just bluster. An intelligence official and a member of the Bush administration both told me in interviews that the neoconservative leaders who had recently assumed power at the Pentagon were warning the White House that the C.I.A. had been fooled; according to this theory, Bin Laden was merely pretending to be planning an attack to distract the administration from Saddam Hussein, whom the neoconservatives saw as a greater threat. Intelligence officials, these sources said, protested that the idea of Bin Laden, an Islamic fundamentalist, conspiring with Mr. Hussein, an Iraqi secularist, was ridiculous, but the neoconservatives’ suspicions were nevertheless carrying the day.
In response, the C.I.A. prepared an analysis that all but pleaded with the White House to accept that the danger from Bin Laden was real.
Walt and Mearsheimer said that the neoconservatives were a crucial element in the push for war with Iraq, and that they represented the Israel lobby. Now the Times is getting round to that awareness. Writes Sullivan, “If Romney is elected in November, these same, evidence-blind, war-mongers would be back running US foreign policy”
(Thanks to Voskamp.)
PW: … and that they [neocons] represented the Israel lobby.
That connection is not made in the two links. We’ll have to wait some 10 more years.
Uh the Times was part of the neocon push for the invasion. Judy “I was fucking right” Miller for heavens sake. Don’t forget bloody Judy and those who allowed her WMD trash through without serious over sight. The New York Bloody Times did more than their share to sell that invasion.
Chris Matthews covered the Eichenwald piece last night. This exposure by the CIA along with former counter terrorism Richard Clarke’s statements in his book “Against all Enemies” where he exposes his efforts to have meetings with Condi “mushroom” Cloud Rice and Stephen “change those 15 words in Bush’s Cinci speech” Hadley. Rice and Hadley refused to meet with Clarke I believe until just days before the 9/11 attack. Clarke had wanted to specifically talk about Al Qeada, Bin Laden and plane attacks. No way can the Times cover their ass. The push for the Iran oops Iraq invasion is branded on it
RE: “From Kurt Eichenwald’s op-ed in the Times saying that the Bush White House was deaf to warnings from the CIA about imminent attack by Al Qaeda: ‘Weeks later, on June 22, [2001] the daily brief reported that Qaeda strikes could be ‘imminent’, although intelligence suggested the time frame was flexible’.” ~ Weiss
ALSO SEE: “Our Truth, and Theirs: What is a 9/11 ‘truther’?” ~ by Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, 9/12/12
ENTIRE COMMENTARY – http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/09/11/our-truth-and-theirs/
Ari Fleischer is mising the point intentionallly again as his cohorts missed the warning intentionally and forced distraction on administration and then forced the connection between the distracted part ( terrorism ) to their cherished part ( Iraq and later other countries of ME) through media blitz of Judith Miller nature. The author here is simply saying the neocons forced the administartion to go down a route that was their dreams from at least 1991 and blocked the road that could have expsoed where and how Al Quida had been conspiring.
David Frum is trying his familiar lines again that the pre-war intelligence were poor in Daily Beast in response to the words penned by Sullivan . David Frum will never get it.the intelligence were offered and the clues were offered and warning were mailed to the home of the responsible party but the neocons stopped the delivery . The warning were loud enough to wake up the half dead from their terminal inertia but the alarm was drowned by the cacopahny of the neocons over their tribal need to go after Saddam . 911 delivered them the fear -unceratinty-hate laden atmosphere in which they could force that drowning further to an abysaml level from whcih the country is now trying to recover.The neocons are throwing a collective fit.