NIE bitch slaps the Dick

Finally, some really good news!

It looks like Dick Cheney is on Santa's shit list this Christmas. Dick has already received his lump of coal in the form of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), released this week, which states with "high confidence" that Iran halted development of its nuclear weapon program in 2003, apparently in response to international pressure.

Big Dick's Christmas dream

First off, we can all be thankful that, regardless of what Cheney and the few remaining neo-conservatives that still hold sway in the White House might wish, the chances of armed conflict with Iran have been greatly diminished. This is a fantastic development.

Beyond that, the release of this report indicates that things have changed greatly since 2002/2003, when Congress, the media, and seemingly, all the bureaucracy of the federal government seemed to bow to the neo-conservative lash. You'll recall that, in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, all manner of sketchy intelligence reports, with frightening tales about everything from aluminum tubes to mobile chemical weapons labs to anthrax-laden drones, found their way into the public debate about the threat posed from Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

We later learned that Dick Cheney had a hand in producing some of those reports. He went so far as to actually drive to CIA Headquarters to intimidate and pressure intelligence operatives to release reports that hyped the threat.

The media (with a very few exceptions) uncritically aired these reports without asking tough questions. The catalyst of 911 produced a toxic swill of misinformation that allowed Cheney and his gang (Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearle, John Bolton, et alia) to succeed in confusing the majority of the American public into tentatively agreeing to their war. Well, we're going to be reaping the bitter fruits of that harvest for years to come.

But now, with the Bush administration's credibility destroyed, things are very different. The fact that this intelligence estimate actually became public is a sign that the Cheney gang has lost a lot of its influence. Cheney reportedly did his best to suppress the report's release, according to two CIA agents who worked on it. But he failed, and that is a very telling fact.

Democratic show horse, Senator Joe Biden (Del) has publicly stated that if Bush attacks Iran without Congressional authorization, he will move to impeach! And, when Junior held a press conference yesterday, the questions from the media were brutal!

Quite a turnaround from the bad old days, yes? If the media or Congress or the various intelligence agencies had shown this kind of intestinal fortitude back in 2002, we wouldn't be mired in Iraq right now.

The pundits are all bemoaning the world-wide loss of US prestige and credibility. But they're a little late to the party, no? Anyone that was paying attention back in 2002, when 911 was still fresh on the malleable conscience of the American public, knew that Junior was nothing but a carnival huckster. For media hacks and cowardly Senators and Congresspersons to now claim to be surprised is insulting. And as far as US prestige and credibility, those are just two more casualties from the invasion of Iraq.

Regardless, one can hope that the last shreds of credibility of this administration are now rotted away, one year before they will be forced to abdicate power (unless, of course, Congress miraculously moves to impeach before then).

(For anyone that still might believe Junior is honest, the NIE should lay that misconceived notion to rest. As recently as October 17th, Junior was talking about Iran's nuclear capability leading to World War III. But, according to Stephen Hadley, National Security Adviser, Junior knew about the intelligence estimate as early as August or September. Why, then, have Junior and Cheney been ratcheting up their bellicose rhetoric since then?)

I imagine that there is an interesting story behind how the NIE came to light. It could be that the various intelligence agencies have decided that, this time, they will not allow the neo-conservatives to manipulate American intelligence agencies into shaping the intelligence to fit a political agenda, that they are going to stand up to Big Dick. There are also reports that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condi Rice have gained Junior's ear at the expense of Cheney and that the release of this report shows Cheney's waning influence on Junior's peanut brain. (Personally, I have trouble believing that Condi could show that much independence).

Of course, Junior showed jaw-dropping audacity at his conference yesterday, when he claimed that the NIE report confirmed his administration's assertion about Iran's intentions. But, when Chris Matthews calls it a lie, one has to imagine that the absurdity would penetrate even the thickest of Bush-supporter skulls.

One would hope so anyway...

Even Chris Matthews calls "Bullshit"