Curtis Bowman

Tim Weiner on Recent Changes in the Intelligence Community

Tim Weiner, author of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, looks at how the U.S. intelligence community has changed its ways for the better — at least to some extent.

The New NIE on Iran's Nuclear Program

Greg Bruno of the Council on Foreign Relations rounds up various articles on the new National Intelligence Estimate (134 KB) regarding Iran's nuclear program.

Christopher Dickey Reviews Bob Drogin's "Curveball"

Christopher Dickey has written a review of Bob Drogin's Curveball: Spies, Lies, and the Con Man Who Caused a War.

Two years ago I blogged a lengthy article that Drogin wrote in collaboration with John Goetz, an article that must have served as some sort of dry run for parts of Drogin's book. That article — entitled "How U.S. Fell under the Spell of 'Curveball'" — is now available here.

More: Once you've followed the links above, I suggest that you read Alex Koppelman's lengthy interview with Mr. Drogin.

Even more: Tara McKelvey of The American Prospect talks with Mr. Drogin about his book.

Evan Thomas Reviews Tim Weiner's "Legacy of Ashes"

Evan Thomas reviews Tim Weiner's Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.

The Perfect Storm of Bad Consequences in Iraq

According to Walter Pincus of The Washington Post, the CIA provided the Bush administration with an analysis of worst-case scenarios for post-invasion Iraq.

George Packer on the Lack of Accountability in Washington

George Packer, the author of The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq, has written an article that is partly in response to former CIA director George Tenet's memoir At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA.

As has been the case with much of the press relating to Tenet's book, Packer's article is scathing. Packer discusses the general lack of accountability in Washington these days, and thus he doesn't simply concern himself with Tenet's memoir.

I've found that Packer is always worth reading. I wanted to excerpt a rather pungent paragraph and then provide a link to an article that Packer brought to my attention.

First, the quotation:

. . . under the Bush Administration no senior civilian official or military officer has been held responsible for what will probably turn out to be the greatest foreign-policy disaster in American history. (Donald Rumsfeld was thrown overboard only after he became too much trouble politically.) Those in highest authority have been kept in office (Dick Cheney), promoted (Gonzales, Condoleezza Rice), honored with medals (Tenet, General Tommy Franks, Paul Bremer), or sent off with encomiums (Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld). Generals who held command over chaos and looming defeat have received additional stars and more powerful posts, such as George Casey, Jr., who was promoted earlier this year to Army chief of staff. Recently, an Army lieutenant colonel and Iraq veteran named Paul Yingling published an essay in the Armed Forces Journal, entitled "A Failure in Generalship." Yingling's open indictment of a military leadership composed of yes-men was the first by an active-duty officer during the Iraq war, and it expressed in analytical terms a simmering rage among lower-ranking soldiers. "A private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war," he wrote.

Second, the link. You'll find Lt. Col. Yingling's essay in the May 2007 issue of Armed Forces Journal.

Former CIA Director George Tenet Denies the "Slam Dunk" Attributed to Him

Former CIA director George Tenet has denied that he ever said that the claim that Iraq had WMDs was a slam dunk. Instead, he says that he meant that making the case for war against Saddam Hussein, given his past behavior, was a slam dunk.

More: Since it's obviously rather late in the game to be telling us that his words were misinterpreted, you have to wonder why Tenet bothered to speak up at all. Ronald Steel looks at why Tenet passively watched his superiors distort the truth.

Declassified Pentagon Report on Iraq and Al-Qaeda

Jesse Nunes of The Christian Science Monitor rounds up several articles on the declassified Pentagon report looking into the discredited pre-war claims of a significant connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda.

This page on Senator Carl Levin's website gave me this link to the full report (PDF, 5.4 MB).

Senate Intelligence Committee Confirms That Saddam Hussein Had No Ties to al-Qaeda

Warren Strobel and Margaret Talev of McClatchy Newspapers look at the latest findings of the Senate intelligence committee. The report confirms what we have long known: Saddam Hussein had no ties to al-Qaeda.

The full report (PDF, 6.8 MB) is available for download.

Leaker-in-Chief

According to this article by Warren P. Strobel and Ron Hutcheson of Knight Ridder, testimony at the Libby trial reveals that President Bush is happy to leak classified information when he thinks that doing so will help to promote his agenda.