Tuesday, December 07, 2004

The Latest Unauthorized CIA Briefing

The NYTimes published this morning the latest leaked document out of Langley, or rather an account of what that document said. The CIA Iraq "station chief" cabled his "bleak assessment" of the situation in that country. His cable "warned that the security situation was likely to get worse, including more violence and sectarian clashes." According to the Times, the cable was drafted by "an officer who is highly regarded within the C.I.A. and who, as station chief in Baghdad, has been the top American intelligence official in Iraq since December 2003. The station chief overseas an intelligence operation that includes about 300 people, making Baghdad the largest C.I.A. station since Saigon during the Vietnam War era."

Did you notice that reference to Vietnam? Not that there's anything comparable between the two quagmires.

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