Intelligence is euphemism for what spies do; not a very
accurate one,
though. What they get is information. Deciding how to interpret the
information, and
what to do with it requires intelligence. That kind of intelligence,
the original meaning
of the word, is what Bush is having a problem with.
Our spies did their job. They found out what they
could. Normally, when the question is 'Does a potential enemy
have nuclear, chemical, or bilogical weapons?', and you're not 100%
sure they DON'T, a wise spy would answer, 'Possibly', or even
'probably'. After all, it's safer to be prepared for the worst.
Somehow, Bush decided to translate that answer into
'definitely', despite the fact that UN inspectors were unable to find
them, and despite the fact that even when threatened with an attack,
Sadaam continued to deny having any of the weapon types in
question. This denial meant one of two things: (1) Sadaam wanted
another war with the US or (2) he really didn't have the weapons.
If one assumes that Sadaam is insane or stupid, then one
might believe the first possibility. Obviously he was cruel and
repressive, but a man who had achieved absolute control of a nation and
held it for many years is not incompetent.
Does this mean that Bush simply had poor judgement?
Not exactly. It has since been revealed that Bush and his
advisors planned to unseat Sadaam from the beginning, well before the
September 11 terrorism. He lied to the American people. The
entire weapons standoff was a sham. Let us not forget that the
entire rationale was that the US would attck Iraq IF Sadaam did
not 'comply' and give up his presumed illegal weapons.
No matter what Sadaam had done, Bush planned to remove him
from power. To do this, he was willing to go against the wishes
of most of the rest of the world, taking the unprecedented step of
attacking a country that was neither attacking nor threatening any other
country. There was no evidence of Sadaam's supporting terrorists.
George W. Bush lied to us about the facts, and about his motives and intentions.
As a result,
American soldiers have died unnecessarily, billions have been spent in
Iraq, while at home Americans are unemployed, medically underinsured,
and inadequetely protected from terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, who is
still at large. Our country has lost the respect and approval of
most of the world. We have gone from a budget surplus to a huge
defecit
Bush's intelligence failure now is that having lied to the American people and Congress
about one of the most serious possible matters, he expects the voters to forget that, or
not to care about that, and reelect him.
If it turns out that Bush is right, that the people don't remember or don't care whether their President lies to them,
then the intelligence failure is ours
~~captain rat