Just a Thought

Could Bush's "inquiry" into Iraq intelligence failures be the first step in a move to justify dumping Cheney from the ticket? It would appear that he makes an excellent scapegoat.

Cheney, according to a senior U.S. official, began visiting the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency during his first days in office for briefings on Iraq and other pressing national security issues. His staff collected intelligence on Iraq from sources such as newspapers, as well as from regular intelligence channels and from internal Pentagon initiatives directed by Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. Those efforts, according to the current and former U.S. officials, combined raw intelligence from the CIA and DIA with information from defectors and Iraqi exiles such as Ahmad Chalabi, now a member of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council. The CIA and State Department saw Chalabi, who is close to neoconservatives inside and outside the administration, as an unreliable source of information with a self-interest in pressing the case for Saddam’s ouster. The senior administration official said the assessments on illicit weapons, al Qaida and human rights in Iraq that Libby pressed on Powell were products of Cheney’s office and Feith’s efforts. The bulk of the work on illicit weapons and al Qaida links was rejected after representatives from Cheney’s office failed in a 10-hour meeting to show that the materials were from reliable sources, he said.

On the other hand, don't hold your breath. This bunch is far too arrogant to do anything close to admitting this kind of mistake.