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I really doubt if the problem is with Negroponte. The problem is much more likely to be the Intelligence Community as a whole. They instinctively resist letting out information that might have intelligence value. The problem here is that the review process for a scenario where the information is fully vetted before release would take years. I think in this case it will finally dawn on them that the war effort itself will be helped much more by the public review of the tapes than by exploiting their intelligence value.

It's time for Rove to intervene and talk some sense into the dodo birds at CIA.

You're right about that, as unlikely as it may be, if some of those documents contain materiel that could be used by the Military or the various alphabet soup agencies, then that should remain secret. Not the entire document, just the piece that's needed for whatever purpose.

The problem here is that the review process for a scenario where the information is fully vetted before release would take years. I think in this case it will finally dawn on them that the war effort itself will be helped much more by the public review of the tapes than by exploiting their intelligence value.

It's time for Rove to intervene and talk some sense into the dodo birds at CIA.

I believe it was DoD assets that found this stuff, they would be the ones to declassify it.

Normally there are only a few reasons why something is classified. One, it will reveal intelligence sources and methods, or will reveal what we know about the other side(s) that they might not know we know. The other main reason is that it would reveal capabilities or vulnerabilities of our side. Everybody knows we have the stuff and how we got it, so those reasons are out. Clearly it also would not reveal anything out the capabilities of our own equipment.

It should never have been classified in the first place, assuming it even is, rather than just not being released to the public. Now analysis of it is another issue, but the documents themselves should be posted somewhere for everyone to see and draw their own conclusions.(Of course translation would be required, since likely they are in the Arabic of Iraq)

I agree with you, and I would add that I think 'speaking it' as it is now, is a part of that process. Sometimes, one doesn't need to tell all to get results. And, sometimes, holding back a little isn't a bad thing...keeping a little ammo in your pocket sort of thing, rather than firing it all at once.