Posted on 10/10/2007 2:28:46 AM PDT by america4vr
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — A sharp debate is under way in the Bush administration about the significance of the Israeli intelligence that led to last month’s Israeli strike inside Syria, according to current and former American government officials.
A familiar administration divide: Vice President Dick Cheney says Israeli intelligence was credible, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice questions whether there was a real threat.
At issue is whether intelligence that Israel presented months ago to the White House — to support claims that Syria had begun early work on what could become a nuclear weapons program with help from North Korea — was conclusive enough to justify military action by Israel and a possible rethinking of American policy toward the two nations.
The debate has fractured along now-familiar fault lines, with Vice President Dick Cheney and conservative hawks in the administration portraying the Israeli intelligence as credible and arguing that it should cause the United States to reconsider its diplomatic overtures to Syria and North Korea.
By contrast, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her allies within the administration have said they do not believe that the intelligence presented so far merits any change in the American diplomatic approach.
“Some people think that it means that the sky is falling,” a senior administration official said. “Others say that they’re not convinced that the real intelligence poses a threat.”
Several current and former officials, as well as outside experts, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the intelligence surrounding the Israeli strike remains highly classified.
Officials said that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was cautious about fully endorsing Israeli warnings that Syria was on a path that could lead to a nuclear weapon. Others in the Bush administration remain unconvinced that a nascent Syrian nuclear program could pose an immediate threat.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Another brain-dead article from the NYT.
The NYT- Raising political hand-wringing to an art form.
I think that the tepid response from the Syrians says much. If it really was bad intelligence and the IAF just smoked a souk somewhere, they’d be squawking their ‘aggrieved innocence’ status from the highest mountaintops.
Wasn’t there some talk of a special ops ground operation that went in in concert with the IAF strike? If so, I’m sure that the Israelis know *exactly* what they hit.
What a bimbo. Perhaps she should be dropped in that crater, then she can ask herself again if there was a threat there or not.
ping
Does anyone trust what the Slimes prints??? Half truths and rumor is all this is.
“By contrast, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her allies within the administration have said they do not believe that the intelligence presented so far merits any change in the American diplomatic approach”
just protecting her job, no matter the risk to everyone else
It’s NYT citing unnamed sources so I’m most inclined to believe it to be near complete fabrication.
The position ascribed to Ms. Rice though, whether or not it is her position, even assuming that this sort of discussion really took place at all, does bring up something that bothers me a fair lot.
I really do not believe we will have it in us as a nation to fully stand up against our foreign enemy until the last of the cold war appeasement/compromise/retreat cadre are all gone.
I don’t know that Ms. Rice is such a one, but she is from that generation of diplomat/bureaucrat/intellectual and, therefore, suspect.
it is in the nyslimes...take it for what its worth....
one point made....the US debates...the Israelis take action!!!!
I noticed your user name. My condolences. As they say; wait till next year!
Negotiations, appeasement, naively signing agreements which are doomed to failure are all the staple of the State Dept. In that agency there will seldom ever be a situation where the use of force is justified. WRT to Israel, Rice is taking this to new levels.
Essentially Condi is saying, “If the US can standby and watch Iran actively support the killing of its troops and do absolutely nothing, you Joooz should be willing to do the same”.
Past posts here said a NK ship under false flag carrying nuke materials docked in Syria earlier this year. Nuclear materials were retrieved from the Syrian site that was bombed by Israeli operatives and positively identified as being from NK. The evidence was brought to the US and verified by US experts and the go ahead given by the administration to carry out the raid. Together with the recent explosion that killed dozens of workers and scientists in Syria when they tried to mount a chemical warhead to a Syrian rocket is all the evidence a fair minded person would need to conclude Syria intends to attack Israel with chem, bio, and at the very least dirty nuke devices. Only the NYT would fail to see the truth.
Here is the "debate."
God (the real one) blesses those who bless Israel, and curses those who curse her.
The Jewish people are the "apple" of God's eye.
All the MSM hooligans, Democrats, and Leftists who constantly attack, smear, and snipe at Israel are going to get a wake up call soon - not from me, but from the Almighty Himself.
Why am I no surprised? Condi is almost as bad as Albright and has been a terrible disappointment as Secretary of State. She's almost worthless now in that capacity.
None are so blind as those who will not see. Good info round-up- I'd forgotten some of this.
The fact that the Syrians haven’t said as much as the North Koreans tells us something...but what? If the air strike was against a nuclear facility or storage site—even if it only housed dirty bomb materials, and not a full-fledged nuke—shouldn’t we be seeing some kind of radiological ‘tail’ by now? Curiouser and curiouser.
I see Anonymous is speaking out again,to the NYT no less. That Condi is on their hit list is no surprise. Condi a bimbo? Anonymous wins again.
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