It now appears that the recent National Intelligence Estimate on terrorist threats to the United States may have been “fixed” to fit the policy that Iran is our Public Enemy No. 1. Anonymous intelligence sources are claiming that the intelligence regarding the threat posed by the anti-Israeli militant group in Lebanon, Hezbollah, to the US may have been fabricated out of whole cloth because Hezbollah receives funding from Iran (via Raw Story):
Current and former intelligence officials say the Bush Administration’s National Intelligence Estimate regarding terrorist threats to the United States does not provide evidence to support its assertions and may have inflated the domestic threat posed by the Lebanese political and military group Hezbollah, perhaps because it receives financial support from Iran.
According to the report, Hezbollah – a Shi'[a] Muslim group with ties to Iran that has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States – may target the US domestically if the US poses a serious threat to Iran. But sources say the allegations about Hezbollah were simply “thrown in.”
Speaking under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, several intelligence officers asserted that the report was sloppy and lacked supporting evidence. “The NIE seems… fiddled [with],” regarding Hezbollah, one high-ranking CIA official said. “Whether it is or isn’t is not really the point. The point is that nobody is ready to believe it.”
“As regards to the Hezbollah ‘threat,'” the official added, “they just threw that in. “Nobody in CIA talks to Hezbollah, and they’re living off their assessments from back in the 80s, which they really never got right anyway.”
An individual close to the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research told RAW STORY the document’s assertions are not backed up by empirical or external evidence even in the classified version. In addition, this official explained, the information lacks context and does not prioritize threats.
Nobody in CIA talks to Hezbollah. Yet somehow they know Hezbollah has sleeper cells in the US ready to strike at ordinary Americans. Amazing, isn’t it?
Three guesses who is responsible for this, and the first two don’t count. Wasn’t Iraq painted as a serious threat to America once upon a time, in part because of its alleged relationship with Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization intent on attacking us here within our own borders? Well, now Iran, and by extension, Hezbollah, gets to step into those roles. And if there are no facts to support the “policy” — well — just make them up! How much of this document is real and how much is total bull droppings? Only Darth Cheney knows for sure.
