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.
Cheney the puppetmaster strikes again.
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In the NIE there is no mention of the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia. To name Iran, in the same breath as al-Qaeda, the White House summary mentions the ‘Persian Gulf’!
In the Persian Gulf, we continue to strengthen efforts to dismantle terrorist cells, stem terrorist financing, and undercut the ideology used by al-Qaeda and its supporters to justify the murder of innocents.
We know the US administration does not prefer to call the Gulf by its original name, but rather refers to it as ‘Arabian Gulf‘, implying of course ownership of that oil rich region. However, for terrorism the White House makes an exception: Persian Gulf, to be sure read IRAN! Terror and financial dealings on the waves of the Persian Gulf? Persian Gulf is mentioned in the summary, not in the NIE document itself.
No mention of the large numbers of Saudi nationals fighting as Sunni insurgents in the Anbar province, side by side with the al-Zarqawi operatives. I thought al-Zarqawi was the 2003 al-Qaeda threat and one of the reasons for going into Iraq. According to this NIE document, Osama Bin Laden gave the task of an al-Qaeda operative for Iraq early in 2005.
We assess Lebanese Hizballah, which has conducted anti-US attacks outside the United States in the past, may be more likely to consider attacking the Homeland over the next three years if it perceives the United States as posing a direct threat to the group or Iran.
The United States isn’t quite passive vs Hizbollah and the Lebanese civilian population: see Israeli bombardments in July 2006 with US build bombs and the recent transport of weapons and ammunition to the Fatah group on the West Bank and the Lebanese administration.
We assess that the spread of radical – especially Salafi – Internet sites, increasingly aggressive anti-US rhetoric and actions …
No mention of its Jordanian roots.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Hezbollah is a regional org, they care about fighting the Israelis. They’re probably not more of a direct threat to the US than the PLO. You don’t have to like a group to understand the importance of speaking accurately about their interests or threat potential. We don’t have to (and shouldn’t even if we could) do something about everyone we don’t like. We do have to do something about those who pose a direct, immediate threat.
But this kind of bs is why no one trusts a word that comes out of our government spokesentities’ mouths anymore. It isn’t like they stick with the typical and universal government lying to cover their own behinds or aggrandize their accomplishments, oh no. They have to persistently lie about things that keep getting people killed, or that encourage people to take their eye off the ball in situations where a lack of proper attention could very well get people killed later.
I continue to maintain that these people are outright anarchists, with no respect for the life and property of others necessary to maintain a proper civilization.