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p> UNBELIEVABLE br> Re: Philip Klein's Has Bush Been Vindicated on Iran? : /p>

Saying that President Bush is vindicated if the NIE is accurate is one big "if," especially given that the guys who produced these things do not have anything like a good record. Why should anybody believe the "slam dunk WMD" people? Not only do these people have a long, long record of being proven badly wrong, they are also saying that the evidence proves the absence of a nuclear program. It is a basic fact of science and logic that proving a negative case is very difficult, much harder than proving a positive, that something does exist or did happen. Calling this type of reasoning "intelligence" is simply ridiculous -- basing the security of the country on it is outrageously reckless and irresponsible.

p>After seven years in office the Bush people look even more incompetent and deluded than the day they started, and they were bad enough then. My bet is that the mullahs are grinning from ear to ear. br> -- Christopher Holland br> Canberra, Australia /p>

While Phil Klein makes some salient points on the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) regarding its actually being a vindication of "W" and his administration's policy towards Iran, I'm not completely convinced. When the NIE was issued, I noted its authors were strong opponents of Bush and his policies towards Iraq and Iran. At this point, I approached the Estimate with a coal shovel to work my way through it. However, I soon found that a front-end loader was going to be necessary for this task.

It's been long apparent to me that there are significant numbers of individuals in the Intelligence Community and the State Department who prefer to apply the softness of their heads to softening the policies we have towards regimes such as Iran. Recent revelations by writers such as Rowan Scarborough and Bill Gertz have shone a harsh light on the inabilities, lack of intestinal fortitude and general weasel-like character of many in the IC. Granted, the anointed Clinton administration did a sensational job of disemboweling the Intelligence Community, but too many of the Clinton acolytes were installed and have remained in too many positions of power there.

p>I'll borrow the last line of AEI's Michael Ledeen's NRO article on this mess -- "Color me an unbeliever."

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