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John R. Bolton, nominated to be U.N. ambassador, vastly overrated the military might of Syria and Cuba and had to be talked into toning down his assessments, a former senior intelligence official told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff Friday.

Speaking of Cuba- did the Dems have any problem with DIA's Anna Belen Montes's downplaying of Cuban capabilities in her reports before she was arrested for spying for Cuba just after 911 or did they just think the reports were peachy-keen?

MARCH 19, 2002 : (MONTES PLEADS GUILTY) Bolton said the country's potential terrorist threat may have been overlooked because it was not labeled a military threat during the Clinton administration though it was known to conduct widespread and aggressive intelligence operations in the United States. The most notable activity was its recruitment of the Defense Intelligence Agency's senior Cuba analyst, Ana Belen Montes, to spy for Cuba. Montes drafted a 1998 report that said Cuba is not a threat. "Montes not only had a hand in drafting the 1998 Cuba report but also passed some of our most sensitive information about Cuba back to Havana," he said. Montes was arrested last fall and pleaded guilty to espionage on March 19. --The Associated Press contributed to this report

1998 : (CUBAN SPY/DIA ANALYST ANA BELEN MONTES DRAFTS A REPORT THAT CUBA'S MILITARY POSED NO THREAT TO THE US; THE REPORT IS VERY POPULAR AMONG THOSE WHO WANT TO DROP THE EMBARGO) In 1998, she played an important role in drafting a widely cited analysis that found that Cuba's much diminished military posed no strategic threat to the United States. - "Analyst at Pentagon arrested on charges of spying for Havana / FBI says espionage goes back 5 years ," By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS , New York Times , Sept. 29, 2001, 11:53PM

1990s late - JANUARY 23, 2003 : (CUBA SHARED INTELLIGENCE INFO ON US WITH SADDAM HUSSEIN'S IRAQ AS PART OF COVERT OIL DEAL ) A senior Defense Department official tells us one of the alarming after-action intelligence reports that reached the Pentagon is that the communist government of Cuba shared intelligence on the United States with Saddam Hussein's regime. The reports stated that Cuban intelligence, which is known to have extensive "coverage" of U.S. military bases, supplied information to Saddam's intelligence service on the movement of troops and other military activities. The intelligence ties are believed to be an offshoot of Cuba's covert oil-purchasing arrangement with Iraq under Saddam. Those deals have been under way since the late 1990s and involve oil tankers that were sent to Mexico. The oil then was pumped from the tankers to smaller boats for delivery to Cuba. The intelligence sharing also comes amid reports from Cuban exiles that Cuba became a safe haven for fleeing Iraqi government officials following the U.S.-led invasion.Asked about the Cuba-Iraq intelligence-sharing, a second U.S. official said the CIA had no information about it.- "Iraq-Cuba axis (Gertz News!)," by Bill Gertz, The Washington Times, 01.23.04

1994 : (MONTES FIRST COMES UNDER SUSPICION OF BEING A CUBAN MOLE; ODD LEAKS; SHE SHOWS UP UNINVITED TO INTERAGENCY INTELLIGENCE MEETING) DIA senior intelligence analyst Ana Belen Montes originally came under suspicion of being a spy for Cuba's communist government in 1994....She came under suspicion after counterspies detected "anomalies" in intelligence reports from overseas indicating U.S. intelligence information had been leaking out. ...One unusual incident that led U.S. counterspies to Montes was her uninvited appearance at an interagency intelligence meeting. " Her presence there seemed unusual," the senior official said. ------ "DIA fears Cuban mole aided Russia, China," by Bill Gertz, washtimes, 2/1/2003 *** Note that there's another person of interest more recently who is known for trying to get into meetings uninvited- Greg Thielmann. In this case he'd tried to get into meetings Bolton was holding. He is now a former government employee...

Back to Montes, who was scheduled to be planted on Tenet's staff at one point [* Side note- Montes is of Puerto Rican descent and would probably get along fabulously with some of the terrorists Clinton pardoned]:

1999 late : (EVIDENCE ESTABLISHES MONTES TO BE A CUBAN MOLE : DIA BLOCKS MONTES' SELECTION TO MOVE TO CIA DIRECTOR TENET'S NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL) DIA senior intelligence analyst Ana Belen Montes originally came under suspicion of being a spy for Cuba's communist government in 1994. However, DIA and FBI counterspies could not prove she was engaging in espionage and Montes continued passing secrets to Havana until she was discovered in late 1999. ... Montes was placed under surveillance in late 1999 and at one point was selected to work for CIA Director George J. Tenet's National Intelligence Council. The DIA blocked Montes' move by freezing all transfers. ------ "DIA fears Cuban mole aided Russia, China," by Bill Gertz, washtimes, 2/1/2003

19?? [probably somewhere between 1979 and 1985]: (MONTES TRAVELS TO CUBA AS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE US DOJ)Montes traveled to Cuba twice, once as an employee of the Justice Department and once unofficially for the DIA.----- "DIA fears Cuban mole aided Russia, China," by Bill Gertz, washtimes, 2/1/2003

DOJ? This was probably during this interval :

1979 - 1985 : (CUBAN SPY ANA BELEN MONTES MAY HAVE BEEN RECRUITED BY CUBA WHILE WORKING AT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICE) Montes, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was believed to have been recruited by Cuban intelligence when she worked in the Freedom of Information office at the Justice Department between 1979 and 1985. She later moved to the Defense Intelligence Agency where by 1992 she was among the DIA's top analysts on Cuba's military. - "Defiant U.S. intelligence analyst sentenced to 25 Years for spying," by TED BRIDIS, AP, via yahoo.com , October 16, 2002

She had also been planted on a certain southern GOP Senator's staff and I have to wonder who picked her for that job.