Trump: I don't need daily briefings

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by finnbow

It would be a criminal offense for a CIA operative to come out with enough detailed classified information to cast doubt upon Bush's decision.

I see. So it's a crime for them to tell the truth?

And I should trust this system why?

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

I see. So it's a crime for them to tell the truth?

And I should trust this system why?

Read my post again. They frequently don't have the truth, particularly in places with no little or no human intelligence. They come up with their best assessment from the evidence available and their (sometimes unreliable) sources. It isn't an exact science. It seems Bush and Co. chose to use inconclusive intelligence information to support their war. This was revealed by the Downing Street Memo.

And now yer boy, der Trumpenfuhrer, also wants to disregard a consensus opinion of the CIA even though it points to Russian involvement in the election.

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

That's not how it works, even in your fevered mind. The CIA often doesn't know exactly all the details, it evaluates evidence/sources and comes up with its best judgment.

Or lack thereof, including some of these major misses:

- Rise of ISIS

- Underestimating the rise of China's military

- Under-estimating Kim Jong un


- The Russian invasion of the Crimean peninsula

- The coup in Turkey earlier this year.

This isn't dumping on the CIA, necessarily. But I don't think there's any question that the Agency needs to get much better. I suspect part of this is challenging the Agency to do a better job.

I also agree with the necessity of a "daily intelligence briefing". Obama apparently did too. Remember that Obama didn't make all of his either.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Read my post again. They frequently don't have the truth, particularly in places with no little or no human intelligence. They come up with their best assessment from the evidence available and their (sometimes unreliable) sources. It isn't an exact science. It seems Bush and Co. chose to use inconclusive intelligence information to support their war. This was revealed by the Downing Street Memo.

And now yer boy, der Trumpenfuhrer, also wants to disregard a consensus opinion of the CIA even though it points to Russian involvement in the election.

What a load of bullshit. I can tell you worked in government.

But I worked in government too, and I can bullshit with the best of them.

As a very wise man once said to me:

"Don't try to out bullshit a bullshitter."

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

Or lack thereof, including some of these major misses...

They certainly have a checkered past. A good, though not necessarily definitive, read on their history is A Legacy of Ashes by Tom Weiner.

OTOH, Trump openly criticizing them with words like "ridiculous" and "laughable" ain't a good thing for building trust between him and the intelligence community. If he wants to build trust and credibility (and he truly believes that Russia isn't involved), Trump himself should demand a thorough investigation to clear the air. However, I believe he knows full well that it is quite likely that the Russians were involved - hence the typical name-calling and mudslinging.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

What a load of bullshit. I can tell you worked in government.

But I worked in government too, and I can bullshit with the best of them.

As a very wise man once said to me:

"Don't try to out bullshit a bullshitter."

Ever worked for the Federal government in a position requiring a high level security clearance and interaction with the intelligence agencies?

[sheltiedave]

Hussein had used WMD on his own country's Kurds - nerve gas. He also had small stocks of nerve agents, so the CIA's assessment was a historically valid presumption. The claims that he was striving for atomic WMDs was a total laugh. Two tons of yellowcake would not even get one started on a yield bomb.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Ever worked for the Federal government in a position requiring a high level security clearance and interaction with the intelligence agencies?

Nope, and I don't need to have.

Government workers shovel bullshit all day long.

Sadly the majority of them, in order to cope with this indignity, adapt themselves by coming around to believing the bullshit they shovel is true. You're one of those.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by sheltiedave

Hussein had used WMD on his own country's Kurds - nerve gas. He also had small stocks of nerve agents, so the CIA's assessment was a historically valid presumption.

No shit.

We sold it to him, and looked the other way when he used it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r42oejmpkgw

But don't let that bother you sheltie.

The Ministry of Truth will clean that up so that it will never have happened.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by sheltiedave

Hussein had used WMD on his own country's Kurds - nerve gas. He also had small stocks of nerve agents, so the CIA's assessment was a historically valid presumption. The claims that he was striving for atomic WMDs was a total laugh. Two tons of yellowcake would not even get one started on a yield bomb.

It is indeed a valid presumption. We were complicit in his chemical weapons attacks against Iran during the Iran/Iraq war.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/08/26/...e-gassed-iran/