INTELLIGENCE AND FACTS PART 2

Here are a couple more reasons Bush wants to uphold the meme that the pre-war intelligence was wrong (even though it was exactly right):

1) There are more and more leaks and documents being declassified, revealing what the pre-war intelligence actually said and it’s clear that it contradicts what Bush & Co told us it said before the war. For example, the recent National Journal story which revealed that Bush was told by his intel people on Sept. 21, 2001 that there was no evidence for an Iraq-al Qaeda connection. Colin Powell has also said, post-invasion, that he “never saw” any evidence to credibly link Iraq and al Qaeda. And Sen. Carl Levin had a DIA document declassified last month that showed that even before the war, intelligence officers believed that the testimony of al-Libi (which Bush and Cheney frequently cited as proof of an Iraq-al Qaeda link) should not be trusted.

Given these revelations, it is in Bush’s best interests to “catapult the propaganda” that the pre-war intelligence he way privy to was “wrong” even though the opposite is true. He’s trying to use his supposed charm to convince people that no one should even listen to what “the intelligence” has to say because he’s our noble, righteous, and thoroughly decisive leader. We should just trust him because he tells us to.

Given the power of the conservative media, he will be able to make people forget all of the above facts, just like he was able to make people forget what a horrible job he had done in his first term during the 2004 election.

2) Bush and the neocons will face much less resistance from the public and from the press when they invade or Iran or Syria next year (or ask for authorization to do so right before the midterm elections) if they are able to make the case that the intelligence is wrong and that we should just trust them. Liberals, Democrats, progressives, and anyone else opposed to the war should vigorously resist this demonization of our intelligence capabilities. Because if the public is convinced that our intelligence officers cannot be trusted, they will feel that they have no choice but to trust Bush. And the negativity about the intelligence services will linger after the invasion of the next country after what Bush was actually told starts to trickle out afterward. It’s a can’t-lose strategy for Bush and the neocons and will pay dividends to the neocons for years after Bush is long gone from office.

However, it’s the only strategy the neocons have–the ol’ smear and fear. And here they are using it to try to discredit even their own administration, or at least the parts of it that they feel could leave them vulnerable. They are trying to create a situation in which Bush, as the elected (or, more accurately, “selected”) leader, is the only person that can be trusted just because he was elected–in other words, they want to foist this proposition on the country: “You elected me so I must be right.” And everything to the contrary be damned.