Clapper "cherry-picked" for his "assessment" on Syria

"Contrary to the general impression in Congress and the news media, the Syria chemical warfare intelligence summary released by the Barack Obama administration Aug. 30 did not represent an intelligence community assessment, an IPS analysis and interviews with former intelligence officials reveals. The evidence indicates that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper culled intelligence analyses from various agencies and by the White House itself, but that the White House itself had the final say in the contents of the document. Leading members of Congress to believe that the document was an intelligence community assessment and thus represents a credible picture of the intelligence on the alleged chemical attack of Aug. 21 has been a central element in the Obama administration’s case for war in Syria. That part of the strategy, at least, has been successful. Despite strong opposition in Congress to the proposed military strike in Syria, no one in either chamber has yet challenged the administration’s characterisation of the intelligence. But the administration is vulnerable to the charge that it has put out an intelligence document that does not fully and accurately reflect the views of intelligence analysts. Former intelligence officials told IPS that that the paper does not represent a genuine intelligence community assessment but rather one reflecting a predominantly Obama administration influence. In essence, the White House selected those elements of the intelligence community assessments that supported the administration’s policy of planning a strike against the Syrian government force and omitted those that didn’t. In a radical departure from normal practice involving summaries or excerpts of intelligence documents that are made public, the Syria chemical weapons intelligence summary document was not released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence but by the White House Office of the Press Secretary."  Gareth Porter

--------------------------------------

Nathan Hale told the British soldier who put the noose around his neck that he regretted that he had but one life to give for his country.  A statue of Hale standing with his hands tied behind him is placed in front of the old building at CIA headquarters as well as this one at Yale.

James Clapper, Lieutenant General (ret.) USAF is currently Director of National Intelligence for the United States of America.

According to Porter, Clapper "cherry-picked" across the IC to find bits and pieces of opinion and "data" with which to construct a document that he then did not sign.  This is why the document was issued by the WH press office rather than as an IC assessment.  Perhasps he has some fear of the judgment of history.

This procedure of constructing public "reality" through control of the narrative is identical to that followed by the Iraq Group in Cheney's White House and the Office of Special Plans in Rumsfeld's office.  The level of contempt displayed for the citizenry is equal to that of the Bush Administration.

We are coming to the end of the Republic that our fathers built.  The Principate approaches.  pl  

 

http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/09/obamas-case-for-syria-didnt-reflect-intel-consensus/

Comments

[robt willmann]

If I am remembering correctly, I think that quite a while back, Col. Lang suggested on this site that Syria get rid of its chemical weapons.

Now, as of about 11:15 a.m. central time, unless it is a hoax, a variation of that may be underway, as Russia may be playing chess.

Check. Russia suggests that Syria put its chemical weapons under international control--

http://rt.com/news/lavrov-syria-chemical-weapons-handover-615/

https://twitter.com/AP/statuses/377073917716094976

Checkmate. Syria says OK--

http://rt.com/news/syria-chemical-weapons-handover-619/

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-09/syria-welcomes-will-comply-russian-chemical-weapon-disarmament-initiative

If true, this is 100% funny. We can look forward to the next instance of Sec. State John Kerry howling at the moon.

[b]

Luckily the competence of the current Sec State is much smaller than those of his Russian counterparts.

Kerry made an offhand remark about Assad giving up his chem weapons. Then the State Department tried immediately to walk back that offer. But Lavrov called checkmate and offered to put Syria's chem weapons under "international control". Syria accepted. Russian officers will watch those weapons and thereby become human shields to prevent U.S./Israeli attacks on these weapons and the Obama administration is now left without any reason to start its war on Syria.

Destroying those chem weapons will take a decade or two leaving enough time for Syria to build up alternatives.

The insurgents and terrorists in Syria will be without U.S. air cover and will be fought down in a year or two.

[turcopolier]

rick

It's not me. that is largely trade jargon. pl

[farmer don]

We will see what happens, but I remember the public mood after the trade centre bombings and before the Iraq war.

EVERYONE wanted the USA to find and punish somebody. They wanted the USA to strike back! To fix what had happened.

But then came the results:

No clear cut victory.
Endless worry about terrorism.
Economic malaise with lower standard of living for the bottom majority of Americans
Returning vets with all kinds of problems
Loss of civil rights and personal privacy.

People have wised up.

Now NOBODY wants anymore wars for a while.
A 180 degree turn.
I'm Surprised the Pres. did not clearly see this.

[NancyK]

I'm not sure that Obama's heart is in this fight but he found himself trapped in a predicament that he put himself and the nation in with those words red line. Going to Congress to ask for their okay, when he knows that the house will not okay anything he wants is a good way to get out of it.
It will be interesting to see what he says to the nation on Tuesday. If he is very convincing and strong then I am wrong, but if he remains weak and unconvincing, it could be a passive way out of a bad situation.
I am not saying this is a good way to lead the country but in my book it beats attacking a country that poses not danger to us.

[Augustin L]

Col Lang, There is a vital last minute information that can put to rest once and for all the claim that Assad forces used the chemical weapons. It is coming from the Italian and Belgian journalists who were kidnapped by the rebels and have been release this monday morning. They claim to have first hand proof that it was the rebels who used the chemical weapons they were held by the rebels and supported the free Syrian army this is a bombshell. Here is the article in french and the interview with belgian TV. The chichen hawks are standing on quick sand... Here's the link. http://www.rtl.be/videos/video/456856.aspx
http://www.lesoir.be/314405/article/actualite/fil-info/fil-info-monde/2013-09-09/piccinin-ce-n-est-pas-gouvernement-assad-qui-utilise-gaz-sarin

[ked]

"reasoning from a conclusion" is a sure path to perdition.

[canuck]

Would it ever be possible that a neutral party could be found that would negotiate peace in the Middle East? Start with Syria and not insist on regime change, but listen to the parties involved that would include all the countries including Saudia Arabia, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, and anyone else that needs to be involved in the process, which possibly could include representatives from the United States.

Al Qaeda Jihadists need rooting out from all the countries.

Only by listening to all the issues presented could a peace proposal possibly succeed. Millions of people are suffering from displacement within countries. More civil wars will erupt in the middle east.

A sustainable solution needs finding which could involve redrawing of boundaries but only if countries agree on the new geographical lines.

No country should have superiority over others such as none having veto powers.

Perhaps Switzerland would agree to be a host to the talks that would last a very long time--a cessation of hostilities would allow countries to handle the current refugee displacements.

[different clue]

If Russia and Syria are being sincere on this, then the Obama Administration will pretend that it is not "for real" or "not fast enough" to start the war he/they want to start.

I called my 2 Senators' DC and local offices. Stabenow DC ONly had a taped message machine. So I left my comment there. Levin's DC office had a way to reach a real staffer. So I started by saying I'm from Michigan and then tried listing in order how I would vote next election based on how Levin votes on the war resolution. Since I began with "If Levin votes for the resolution I will vote for Levin's Republican wannabe successor." The staffer cut me off after just a few more words. The lesson for me is: next time start with " if the Senator votes against, I will vote for" so the staffer starts off happier.

[MartinJ]

Now Kerry is bigging up the Syrian CW stockpile. Perhaps he has forgotten that the US undertook to destroy its own stock by April of last year (after an extension). Currently it expects to achieve total destruction by 2020. More than 10% of its stocks remain intact in two depots in Colorado and Kentucky. The US still has probably 10 times the amount available to Syria at the very least. Russia has more than that, though it has destroyed a greater quantity than the US. So Syria 'may' have 100s of litres of VX, in addition to older nerve agents and mustard. This still pales into insignificance when one considers the probable holdings of Israel, Egypt, Iran and others. However Iran, unlike Syria, Israel and Egypt has signed and ratified the CWC and submitted to inspection.

[JohnH]

Ah, Clapper! A credible source! Lied to Congress, lied about Syrian intelligence.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

And this whole charade is about American credibility? I'd say Clapper has pretty well destroyed it.

[Imagine]

not sure if you saw this one--
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-02/fiction-fact-or-scandal-epic-proportions
potential hoax but rather extensive. Senior U.S. Intelligence Col. Anthony MacDonald congratulates colleague on staging things well Aug 21, comforts wife that the "dead" kids in the video aren't really dead. Takes bio down from LinkedIn.

contrast this with working pages
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Talk:Alleged_Chemical_Attack,_August_21,_2013
and
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Talk:Alleged_Chemical_Attack,_August_21,_2013/Zamalka_ghost_house
that also point to at least one crew of creative videographers.

[Imagine]

wrt Syria/Russia: Congrats on peace, great move.

Iran has consistently denounced usage of chemical weapons. It is critical to hear this. 67% of Israelis are also willing to join NPT/MENWFZ if Iran does. Smart people will bundle a treaty with Iran and Israel while the iron is hot.

[John Minnerath]

The Principate approaches-----
We get closer and closer.

[VietnamVet]

All,

Let us pray that the Russians get in between President Obama and the Syria’s chemical weapons. Please read Brigadier General FB Ali’s comment in the previous post.

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2013/09/httpwwwexaminercomarticledid-the-rebel-militias-gas-syrian-civilianscidrss.html#comments

This has been very difficult. It is hard to watch a young Vietnam Vet, who asked who would be the last to die for a mistake, transform himself into a botox addicted, Secretary of State, channeling the mad dog persona of President Nixon and Senator McCain, chanting “Bomb Bomb Syria”.

[MRW]

Colonel, when is someone going to point the finger at this loud and clear?

From mjayrosenberg.com, today.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Will AIPAC Allow Obama To Cut A Deal To Avoid War?

National Security Adviser, Susan Rice indicates that the administration may not be interested in avoiding war in Syria.

Rice, who famously said, that defending Israel’s actions is part of her job, said this afternoon that unless the U.S. acts in Syria it could allow “an aspiring nuclear Iran, to believe that we are shying away from our determination to back up our longstanding warnings.”

Although the Obama administration is full of officials who take their cues from AIPAC, Susan Rice and her successor at the UN, Samantha Power, might as well be AIPAC employees. Neither would be in their current jobs if they had not cynically decided a long time ago that being a lobby cutout was the ticket to power.

If Rice is indicating that the Syrian-Russian offer is not good enough, that means that AIPAC feels the same way. The logic is that avoiding war in favor of a nonviolent solution with Syria now would set a terrible precedent with Iran later.

Let’s see what happens. AIPAC may insist on war.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[MRW]

Gareth Porter's assessment of Rice and Kerry yesterday on Scott Horton's radio show was a masterful understatement...a side remark that they have personal problems.

I'll try to find the minute. Porter is talking about the article that PL excerpted above, and talks about his sources. the rice/Kerry thing starts at 24:30, then picks it up again 1.5 minutes later.
http://scotthorton.org/2013/09/08/9813-gareth-porter/

[William R. Cumming]

So why do we pay $100B a year if cherries are to be picked?

[Jose]

We are coming to the end of the Republic that our fathers built. The Principate approaches. pl

You mean Sandy "the fact checker" Crowley or George "Mr. Contraception" Stephanopoulos were not enough to convince the American people of the dangers of moral relativism?

panem et circenses

[steve g]

So has Kerry become the "Accidential
Tourist"? stumbling his way through
possibly the decisive moment of this
momentous process? Could this admin-
istration be chess moves ahead or is
it fortuitous bumbling as many have
claimed. The unfolding events are any-
thing but predictable at this time.
Possibly "the" seismic shift in foreign
policy in the last 50 years.

[kao_hsien-chih]

You know, after having talked to some people I know about this folly of interventionism, I'm pretty shocked at how quickly things get ugly with those who are awfully gung ho about how this intervention is different, and many of these people are the same people who were willing to impeach GWB or worse for having "done" Iraq! Is Assad such a "clearly worse" thug than Hussein? Where do these people come from anyways?

[kao_hsien-chih]

One addendum I'd like to add to the last is the incredible arrogance of these interventionists: we can't allow Assad to do X, Y, or Z, and many of these X, Y, or Z have nothing to do with chemical weapons per se--they just don't like Assad, they don't like his existence, and they just want to use this as excuse to be rid of him. But this is not an attitude limited only to this sordid exercise or even foreign policy realm in general: I've seen many people--from both parties--who talk thusly on matters of domestic politics as well: How they can't "allow" their political enemies, essentially, to exist and engage in politics. What are they? A race of gods endowed with absolute power over us mere mortals, who may only be allowed to act, talk, and think as they please? Truly, partisans (pun intended) for a principate, the whole lot of them, regardless of which "party" they belong to....

[Ishmael Zechariah]

Colonel,

You stated "We are coming to the end of the Republic that our fathers built. The Principate approaches." Would you care to discuss how things came to this pass in the USA: due to complacency and neglect, or through malicious intent? Your analysis would be-as usual-very valuable to some of us.

In Turkey, unless we, Turks, put a stop to it-and I hope we will-the approaching darkness is the caliphate. As opposed to Kunuri, I think this can be accomplished only through force. For the record, part of the responsibility for the Turkish debacle can be laid at the door of those who preached democracy and facilitated the power grab by the islamists for the first 10 years of the erdogan regime. Some of these folks-a good example is Henri Barkey-a Sephardic Jew born and educated until college in Istanbul-seem to be "rethinking" their support. As usual, these "prophets" are a day late and a dollar short, and we will have to do the clean up.

We live in interesting times.

Ishmael Zechariah

[turcopolier]

IZ

In this country misguided ideolgues like Henri Barkey and a dumbed-down citizenry are to blame. In olden times, the concept of citizen was far more narrowly understood and the franchise restricted to "stakeholders" in the social order as it was conceived by the founders and framers. In reaction to that, the intelligentsia proposed and has largely achieved a situation in which any fool can vote and in which the fool's vote is for sale in terms of government money. De Toqueville predicted it would be thus and that the Republic would die when the government comprehended that "the people" (the mob) could be bribed with other Americans' money. A wiser course of action would have been to find ways to include as "Stakeholders" those women, Blacks and others who were qualified to be fully robed in the status of Citizen and to make citizenship a prize to be won in each generation by all. Instead, we have a bovine public, poorly educated if at all that is easily led by propaganda deliberately applied as in the present Syrian imbroglio. It is a sad thing when the process of state deliberation is dependant for Hegelian balance on the efforts of greybeards and other "outliers" in society. The content of world culture and civilization is now disdained in the US. Such business oriented skills as "rhetoric are valued over the humanities. The products of such a system will lie well and without conscience. As you know I served three years in Izmir on the Staff of the NATO command for SE Europe. I loved my time in Turkey, as did my wife. I think you are right. The cancer of political Islamism is too deeply embedded in Turkey now to be removed without surgery. pl

[Grimgrin]

I think that if Obama was 100% behind an attack in Syria, it would have already happened. The Russian/Syrian proposal just offered him a face-saving way out of a mess he let himself get dragged into, and Obama jumped at it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24026619

"The stakes are high, but they are long term," he said, adding that he did not "foresee a succession of votes this week, or any time in the immediate future"