OK, that headline might seem rather inflammatory, but in this particular case, it happens to be an entirely accurate description of what’s happened.
Several months ago, right-wing activists and blogs were convinced that all the talk (read: reality) about [tag]Iraq[/tag] not have [tag]weapons of mass destruction[/tag] had to be false. If only intelligence documents could be released online, [tag]Republicans[/tag] could unleash the mighty power of far-right [tag]bloggers[/tag], who could review the documents and prove that those pesky facts about going to war under false pretenses were wrong.
GOP officials loved the idea and, sure enough, the Bush administration published previously [tag]classified[/tag] materials on the Internet. How’d that work out? Take a wild guess.
Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who had said they hoped to “leverage the Internet” to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein.
But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq’s secret [tag]nuclear[/tag] research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom [tag]bomb[/tag].
Last night, the government shut down the Web site after The New York Times asked about complaints from weapons experts and arms-control officials. A spokesman for the director of national intelligence said access to the site had been suspended “pending a review to ensure its content is appropriate for public viewing.”
As fiascos go, this one’s pretty spectacular. As Oliver Willis put it, “The Bush administration, in order to release propaganda and help its allies in the conservative media, has apparently damaged our [tag]national security[/tag].”
There are a few key angles to consider in this incident that has to be humiliating for Republicans.
One, officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency, fearing that the information could help states like Iran develop nuclear arms, urged U.S. officials to take the nuclear secrets off the web. (One diplomat said the agency’s technical experts “were shocked” at the public disclosures.) For reasons that defy comprehension, the Bush administration didn’t act for a full week, and only removed the classified materials after the New York Times started asking questions.
Two, make no mistake, Republican officials in the administration, acting on the behest of Republican lawmakers and bloggers, have seriously undermined national security. As the NYT put it, “The documents, roughly a dozen in number, contain charts, diagrams, equations and lengthy narratives about bomb building that nuclear experts who have viewed them say go beyond what is available elsewhere on the Internet and in other public forums. For instance, the papers give detailed information on how to build nuclear firing circuits and triggering explosives, as well as the radioactive cores of atom bombs.”
All because these clowns didn’t want to accept the fact that there were no WMDs. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said the project included “minimal risks,” but chose to do it anyway. It’s exactly the kind of sound judgment we’ve come to expect from leading Republicans on national security matters.
And three, as Digby noted, Republicans want to consider criminal charges for those who leaked word that Iraq is slipping into chaos, as if that revelation were truly dangerous, but this little nuclear-secrets incident will probably go by without prosecution.
Can someone please remind me how, exactly, the right claims to be credible on national security issues?