Bush can stovepipe or sit on an NIE, but not the UN

President Bush a continues to sit on one National Intelligence Estimate about how the Iraq conflict (remember, no war was declared) has increased terrorism problems, while releasing redacted parts of it in dribblets and prevents another from even being formulated.

Re that second report, here’s how BushCo spins it (link below):

At the same time, California Rep. Jane Harman, senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, accused the Bush administration of holding back until after the election a new NIE being prepared on Iraq.

Snow said Harman was “just flat wrong,” that the report was not even in a draft form and would take time to complete.

How much time? Well, surely, it can’t be rushed so much as to be completed before the Nov. 7 election, right?

But he can’t sit on the U.N.

A new U.N. report on how Iraq has fueled terrorism is saying the same things as our counterterrorism experts, as prepared by U.N. terrorism experts.

"New explosive devices are now used in Afghanistan within a month of their first appearing in Iraq," it said. "And while the Taliban have not been found fighting outside Afghanistan/Pakistan, there have been reports of them training in both Iraq and Somalia.”

I don’t believe in every tenet of Alcoholics Anonymous, but certain male alcoholics with a Type A personality or halfway there do seem to be especially stubborn, even obstinate. I don’t totally agree with the “dry drunk” idea, either, as it often becomes used as a weapon, not a tool.

But it, too, has some degree of validity. Exhibit A is at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

There’s TWO NIEs for Iraq, Bush won’t even fully disclose the first

The April National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq and the Iraq invasion/occupation increasing terrorism has become a hot-button foreign policy issue since The New York Times ran an in-depth story last week based on a leaked version of the document.

Under political pressure, President Bush finally announced he would release this NIE. But it turns out
Bush is an Indian giver. Because of “national security,” he’s only going to release sections of it. And those sections, even, won’t be released until the Guatamalan Scrubber, John Negroponte, is done with them.

But, it turns out there’s ANOTHER NIE, a newer one. However, Bush won’t call it an NIE yet, apparently so that the House and Senate intelligence committees can’t get a peak at it.

Why does this not surprise me? Bush gets the big PR for calling for release, then is an Indian giver, and flying under the radar screen as part of this as the heat dies down.

Question: Are hardcore GOPers, like Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, chair of the intelligence committee, getting sideswiped on this, or have they been in on the whole plan?