Shadow Struggle
Mon, October 07, 2002
Source:
The Beltway: Why America’s intelligence agencies just can’t seem to get along
DEFENSE SECRETARY Donald Rumsfeld swears that the Bush administration has “bulletproof” evidence that Saddam is working with Al Qaeda, while national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney declare that the Iraqis, with a little luck, could obtain nuclear weapons in a matter of months.
On the other hand are the purveyors of doubt: the various unnamed intelligence officials who consistently undermine these dire predictions, telling reporters that the evidence of ties between Al Qaeda and Saddam is shaky at best, or that it will be many years before Saddam can build or buy his own bomb. Could Saddam attack America with smallpox? Absolutely, say administration spokesmen like Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge. Not likely, scoff the anonymous intelligence sources, who say they can find no evidence that Saddam can create a bioweapon out of smallpox. On Monday night, President George W. Bush will make a nationwide TV address to detail the nuclear and biological threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Count on anonymous intelligence officials to pooh-pooh the evidence in the next morning’s newspapers.
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