Great post and lots of info. I just don't understand why the Republicans weren't stronger and using some of this when the Dims kept saying there was no connection (over and over and over again).
That has been a mystery and a bit of a disappointment, I'll admit, that the RNC didn't use some of that information.
It would have solidified support for the war in Iraq, imo. I wrote the White House about it some time ago and received a generic response.
The only explanation I can think of is that there have been several articles posted on FR that fully half or more of the CIA is opposed to the Bush presidency.
It's easy to see why when we understand the bureauracracy of the CIA. Under Clinton they were lazy; he expected nothing from them and hence they couldn't be wrong about anything. Their feet were not held to the fire and wars were not started based on their intelligence gathering information.
It's more dicey under a Bush presidency and jobs are on the line. THey know this.
The Bush administration is loath to say much about various matters because they understand that the Rats within the CIA will leak information that contradicts anything that Bush says. Whether the leaked information is correct or not does not matter to the media, naturally.