Just yesterday, we learned from the Pentagon's Inspector General that the intelligence from the Defense Department linking Iraq to Al Qaeda was "dubious." But, the fake intel worked to get us in to one war, so Team Bush is using it again. For months, the Bush Administration is ratcheting up the rhetoric on Iran. They're getting ready to accuse Iran of cooperating with Al Qaeda -- but it might not be true this time either according to a report in today's Washington Post:
Last week, the CIA sent an urgent report to President Bush's National Security Council: Iranian authorities had arrested two al-Qaeda operatives traveling through Iran on their way from Pakistan to Iraq. The suspects were caught along a well-worn, if little-noticed, route for militants determined to fight U.S. troops on Iraqi soil, according to a senior intelligence official. The arrests were presented to Bush's senior policy advisers as evidence that Iran appears committed to stopping al-Qaeda foot traffic across its borders, the intelligence official said. That assessment comes at a time when the Bush administration, in an effort to push for further U.N. sanctions on the Islamic republic, is preparing to publicly accuse Tehran of cooperating with and harboring al-Qaeda suspects.Bush is only interested in Al Qaeda when it comes in handy for his war agenda. One might note that more than five years after "September the 11th," Bin Laden is still free and Al Qaeda has had a recruiting boon thanks to the Iraq war. So one more time, we're seeing that Bush is willing to put his political agenda ahead of what's really in our national security interests:
But several senior intelligence and counterterrorism officials worry that a public push regarding the al-Qaeda suspects held in Iran could jeopardize U.S. intelligence-gathering and prompt the Iranians to free some of the most wanted individuals.Kinda like we've lost Bin Laden for years?
"There was real debate about all this," said one counterterrorism official. "If we go public, the Iranians could turn them loose." The official added: "At this point, we know where these guys are and at least they are off the streets. We could lose them for years if we go down this path."
