Anybody in the White House press corps want to ask Tony Snow why he lied to you guys yesterday?
Frances Townsend did the same thing the day before. But let’s stick with Snow. When asked why the White House is holding up that Iraq-only NIE until after the November election, Snow said the following (emphasis added) …
They’re just flat wrong. What happened is, about a month ago Director Negroponte informed the committees that he was, in fact, going to do an exhaustive review on Iraq. That’s a month ago. These reviews take about a year to do, so the idea that it is in “draft” form — they’re just beginning to do their work on it. And Intelligence Committee members if they don’t know it, should. But there is not a waiting Iraq document that reflects a national intelligence estimate that’s sitting around gathering dust, waiting until after the election.
Well, that’s just a crock. Justin Rood looked into this yesterday. And according to the 2004 Senate intel committee report, most NIEs take between two weeks (for a rush job) and two months to complete. And how long did it take to complete the Iraq WMD NIE. Less than three weeks. (Amazing what you can accomplish when your heart is really in it, isn’t it?)
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “NIE drafting guidelines included in the July 9 Senate report describe three rough timeframes: a “fast track” of two to three weeks, a “normal track” of four to eight weeks, and a “long track” of two months or more.”
And what did Snow say when trying to deny the politics behind this NIE’s delay? “These reviews take about a year to do …”
Am I wrong to say he lied to you guys? I don’t think I am.
Can we get this question asked again?
