Posted on 03/09/2007 12:52:14 PM PST by Viking Ski Bum
Much of the continued controversy over the recent Pentagon inspector-general's report on pre-Iraq war intelligence focuses on whether former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith's office acted "misleadingly" — the word used by Sen. Carl Levin, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee — or perhaps even "unlawfully" — as Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has claimed may be the case.
The fact is that the inspector general has absolved Mr. Feith of misleading Congress, the most serious accusation that had been leveled against him. The IG notes that Mr. Feith's actions "were not illegal or unauthorized."Mr. Feith instead stands rebuked by the IG for doing nothing more than having his team conduct a single briefing, which Mr. Feith's office was authorized by his superiors to do, but which the IG says was "inappropriate."
The heart of the charge is that the briefing, though presented by non-intelligence officials, might have been misunderstood as an intelligence briefing. Those who want to magnify the IG's narrow and technical point into a grand charge of manipulation of intelligence tend not to mention that the contested briefing was presented to then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of the vice president's office, two individuals who would clearly not confuse Mr. Feith's staff with an intelligence team. Oddly, Messrs. Hadley and Libby were not interviewed for the IG's report.
Excerpt. Full story is here: http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070308-101556-5420r.htm
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Bump
Another MSM/DNC smear job alert!
These bastards need to be sued.
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