Wretchard, Tenant, Goss, and Ali

Re(1): 'Rummy "lied"', The Belmont Club, Wretchard
Re(2): 'Muhammed Ali', Wikipedia

This might not be exactly proper - because Wretchard states that when he posts comments on his articles he can be more speculative. But, the idea here is important:

Proving a lie is extremely hard to do. What can be shown was that pre-war intel was bad. On the balance I think history will sustain that charge. Somehow there is the idea that GWB was keeping two sets of intel books, like a crooked accountant: one with the "good" intel and another with the fake intel, and one day we will discover the legitimate books and establish the conspiracy. But from what has come out so far every set of books has been a mess.

Intel didn't see 9/11 coming. It didn't forsee Turkey would reject the 4ID; it couldn't find the WMDs in Iraq; it has not, to this day, found Zarqawi. In a way it would be more comforting if Rumsfeld did lie. It would mean we actually knew the truth and chose to lie about it. What seems more likely is that intelligence knows comparatively little that was definite. And that is a far more dangerous indicator operationally, than a commander's willingness to lie. It goes to a deficiency in capability, not intent.

What Wretchard at the Belmont Club is stating – in part – is that we Americans can resolve a lie. We can fire people, force people out of office, elect other politicians, and impeach the President. We can do these things and more!!!

But, what can we do if we have no capability of resolving the problem?

Those who deride Bush’s decision to hold Director Tenant in office after the gruesome failures of 9/11, the Cole Bombing, the African Embassy Bombings, Khobar Towers, etc. must look at his options. The CIA was – and is – a failure, but it is the only organization Bush had with which to fight the clandestine portion of the GWOT. The United States appears to have been Muhammed Ali fighting Ken Norton with a broken jaw.

I speculate that Bush now has alternatives to the CIA as his preeminent intelligence gathering organization. Does he know who leaked the Black Prison program? Does he know who leaked the NSA Wiretap program? Maybe, maybe not… But, I think he knows the source(s) of those leaks and others are CIA. And, he gave Porter Goss a mandate to clean the organization up – which, in the end, proved impossible.

The restructuring is probably extricating the CIA from ‘loop’ and ‘restructuring’ their budget. The President has probably lost confidence in the CIA. If the impending changes are ‘in the clear’ expect decisive changes in personnel structure, financial structure, and internal clout. As we conservatives know full well, you cannot kill a government organization – but you can defund it and ostracize it.

Hopefully, the Left will allow us to win the GWOT...
Mohammed Ali lost to Ken Norton on points...
But, the 'Rope-A-Dope' was coming...