I keep posting entries about Doug Feith and the OSP since I find the subject of pre-war intelligence (and how it was presented ) quite fascinating. As Think Progress notes, I’m not the only one who thinks the OSP was simply blowing up the balloons for the dog and pony show that was presented to us in those months prior to the war:
When an intelligence officer responsible for counterterrorism politely pointed out that something Feith had just said (and was recommending as a public talking point) about Iraqi-al-Qa’ida relations was not supported by the intelligence, Feith dismissed my colleague’s point as “nit-picking” and quickly went on to the next subject. It was a don’t-bother-us-with-the-facts- we-have-a-war-to-sell approach.
At this point, I’m not sure that you would have had to be at that meeting to get that impression.
For more on Paul Pillar, here is a PBS interview taken from the Frontline special “The Dark Side“. Or, check out this video::
(youtube seems to be having probs, so I’ll try to post the vid a little later)
ChenZhen's Chamber 