Why revisiting the Iraq NIE is important

Revisiting the Iraq NIE is necessary and important for several reasons. The NIE was part of the Bush administration PR campaign to convince Congress and the American public that we need to go to war with Iraq, and as I said on April 13, "This topic is relevant today because most of these same idiots are now building a case against Iran just like they did against Iraq." The story of the Iraq NIE and the 25-page white paper show just how the Bush administration manipulated almost all of the circumstances. Such manipulation was manifest in the NIE/sales brochure, but the timing of the introduction of the Iraq War Resolution, how quickly it was acted upon, and the fact that the white paper was created months before the NIE was even requested show further manipulation. This is how the Bush administration operates. They are trying to do the same thing now with Iran. We cannot allow this administration to take us into another war with the same bullshit they used before. Revisiting the Iraq NIE exposes the dishonest tactics and presents an opportunity to know how to keep them from being deployed again.

Based on the story of the Iraq NIE, I do not see that the White House is going to request an NIE on Iran. The Congress needs to make that request NOW so that we do not end up with an NIE that is done in three weeks instead of the customary 3-6 months. And if an NIE is done, every member of Congress needs to review it in detail.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: As it turns out, there has already been an NIE done on Iran. As reported by the Washington Post, that NIE was requested in January 2005 and completed in late July/early August 2005. I still think we need another one now.