The Lies That Led To War

Bad intel my ass.

Bad intel is typical of the US intelligence structure anymore. Bill Clinton gutted the field operations budgets and field operations staffs for US intelligence agencies and they simply have not recovered. Consequently the US relies too much on signals intelligence and we have no assets on the ground to confirm the information we're recovering from signals.

I cannot tell you (literally) how many times I had someone tell me of something that was supposed to be happening at a given site, based on signals intel, that simply wasn't true based on what I was seeing firsthand. That experience has taught me that humint is still a very necessary part of intel and that signals is just a spiffy way to bird-dog a human to confirm something.

That's a good synopsis of events--thanks. It lays out the case quite nicely. I don't think Amercians much care right now. They are embroiled in a war, one way or the other, and the fact that it the whole thing was based on a bunch of lies does not materially help the situation now. Same as Viet Nam.

In a few years, the pacifists will have their day, there'll be Hollywood movies on the waste life in Iraw, the great injustice, the evils of power, and everyone will pat themselves on the back on how much more understanding they are now, of how advanced they are. Until the next salesman of death comes along.