Josh Marshall did a nice job the other day summarizing the broader dynamic of events leading up to the current [tag]North Korea[/tag] crisis. In sum, Josh said, the Bush gang “ditched an imperfect but working policy. They replaced it with nothing.”
This week, the president and his allies have had a tough time getting around this fairly straightforward formulation. They initially stuck to their old-standby — blame [tag]Clinton[/tag] — but that became untenable when the argument was exposed as being stupid.
So, they’ve opened Door #2: it’s the intelligence community’s fault. The far-right Washington Times’ Bill Gertz has the story.
Recent U.S. [tag]intelligence[/tag] analyses of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs were flawed and the lack of clarity on the issue hampered U.S. diplomatic efforts to avert the underground blast detected Sunday, according to Bush administration officials.
Some recent secret reports stated that Pyongyang did not have nuclear arms and until recently was bluffing about plans for a test, according to officials who have read the classified assessments.
The analyses in question included a National Intelligence Estimate a consensus report of all U.S. spy agencies produced several months ago and at least two other classified reports on North Korea produced by senior officials within the office of the Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte.
The officials said there were as many as 10 failures related to intelligence reporting on North Korean missile tests and the suspected nuclear test that harmed administration efforts to deal with the issue.
According to officials familiar with the reports, the failures included judgments that cast doubt about whether North Korea’s nuclear program posed an immediate threat, whether North Korea could produce a militarily useful nuclear bomb, whether North Korea was capable of conducting an underground nuclear test and whether Pyongyang was bluffing by claiming it could carry one out.
It’s hardly a persuasive case.
First, it’s not at all clear the intelligence was completely wrong. Look at that list again: North Korea may not actually be an immediate threat; North Korea may not be able to produce a militarily useful nuclear bomb; and given this week’s results, North Korea may not be capable of conducting an effective underground nuclear test. The problem here isn’t necessarily one of intelligence; it’s one of policy — namely, that the White House has gone nearly six years without one.
Second, as Kevin Drum explained very well, this leak to the [tag]Washington Times[/tag] is “a pretty transparent effort at buck passing.”
I don’t have any special brief for the intelligence community, which has made its share of mistakes in the past, but the fact is that [tag]Bush[/tag] has spent more than four years waving his arms manically but doing absolutely nothing of any substance about the North Korean threat. Now he’s trying to blame his lack of policy on the intelligence community? Pathetic.
And, finally, I can’t help but notice all the far-right blogs who are absolutely delighted that administration officials leaked classified information to a reporter. These are, of course, the same guys who believe reporters should be fired, news outlets should face investigations, and treason charges are a reasonable response to leaks that make the administration look bad.
You don’t suppose Bush’s more enthusiastic supporters approve of leaks just so long as they serve the White House’s political purposes, do you?