Mark Hickey wrote:

Mark Hickey wrote:
If you mean, will I agree that GWB fabricated evidence? No I won't,
since there's been absolutely NO proof of that. Do I condemn some of
the intelligence gathering (including the UNMOVIC weapons inspectors)?
You betcha. Do I believe ALL of the intel was wrong? No, but I truly
HOPE it was (which is lots better than the WMD still existing in
Syria, for example).

Mark,

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the Office of Special Plans.
Little is heard in the investigatory realm about this relatively
shadowy outfit, but the reporting has been exceptionally
consistent--from some reasonably credible sources [1].

The December, 2002 Joint Inquiry had three points to its charter[2]:

1) conduct a factual review of what the Intelligence Community knew or
should have known prior to September 11, 2001, regarding the
international terrorist threat to the United States, to include the
scope and nature of any possible international terrorist attacks
against the United States and its interests;

2) identify and examine any systemic problems that may have impeded
the Intelligence Community in learning of or preventing these attacks
in advance; and

3) make recommendations to improve the Intelligence Community’s
ability to identify and prevent future international terrorist
attacks.

I would argue that looking into the Bush administration's relationship
to intelligence (a funny concept on its face!) is /conspicuously/
absent from this one.

The 9/11 Commission's Report doesn't address the OSP, but then, it had
five stated things to look into[3]:

1) terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, occurring at
the World Trade Center in New York, New York, in Somerset
County, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon in Virginia;

2) ascertain, evaluate, and report on the evidence developed
by all relevant governmental agencies regarding the facts
and circumstances surrounding the attacks;

3) build upon the investigations of other entities, and
avoid unnecessary duplication, by reviewing the findings,
conclusions, and recommendations of—

(A) the Joint Inquiry of the Select Committee on Intelligence
of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence of the House of Representatives regarding
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, (hereinafter
in this title referred to as the ‘‘Joint Inquiry’’); and

(B) other executive branch, congressional, or independent
commission investigations into the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001, other terrorist attacks, and terrorism generally;

4) make a full and complete accounting of the circumstances
surrounding the attacks, and the extent of the United States’
preparedness for, and immediate response to, the attacks; and

5) investigate and report to the President and Congress
on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective
measures that can be taken to prevent acts of terrorism.

Again, missing from that list is any request to delve into whether or
not the GWB administration swayed the intel through its own action or
direction.

In the Roberts-Rockefeller "Report of the Select Committee on
Intelligence on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence
Assessments on Iraq,"[4] you can find six cursory references to the
OSP.

In those references, the whole question of what the OSP was, who set
it up, what was its charter, and did it purposely ignore caveats from
the more conventional intelligence community about the INcredibility
of many cited sources for the purposes of the policy makers.

Other passages within that document, however, allude to the
machinations of Douglas Feith, et al. Read through Rockefeller (et
al)'s comments . [5]

It's a good read, and a blatantly damning indictment of a pretty
disgusting end run.

I haven't read the whole thing (sadly, I can't), but--from the
snippets--I'm left with no doubt that this was a fait accompli
orchestrated by Bush and the NeoCons. Read it and I think you'll
agree.

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story...999737,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story...999737,00.html
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030512fa_fact
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/...nate.pentagon/

[2] http://snipurl.com/gil7

[3] http://www.9-11commission.gov/about/107-306.pdf

[4] http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/iraq.html

[5] http://snipurl.com/h90t