memeorandum: The Great Intelligence Scam (Pajamas Media)

1:50 PM ET, December 4, 2007

Top Items:

Bush: DNI Told Me 'We Have Some New Information, He Didn't Tell Me What The Information Was' — At a press briefing this morning, President Bush said he was told by his Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell "in August" that "we have some new information" regarding Iran's nuclear program.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, White House, The Carpetbagger Report, Danger Room, Shakespeare's Sister, My Two Sense, AMERICAblog, Right Wing News and Middle Earth Journal

Washington Post:

A Blow to Bush's Tehran Policy — » ANALYSIS | President Bush got the world's attention this fall when he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran might lead to World War III. But his stark warning came at least a month or two after he had first been told about fresh indications that Iran …

Norman Podhoretz / Commentary:

Dark Suspicions about the NIE — A new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), entitled "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities," has just dealt a serious blow to the argument some of us have been making that Iran is intent on building nuclear weapons and that neither diplomacy nor sanctions can prevent it from succeeding.

Graham Bowley / New York Times:

Bush Says Iran Still a Danger Despite Report on Weapons — President Bush said today that Iran was still a danger despite the new assessment by American intelligence agencies that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. — Speaking at a White House press conference today …

Discussion: The Heretik

Pajamas Media:

The Great Intelligence Scam — Yesterday's big story was the Intelligence Community's "Estimate," according to which Iran unilaterally and secretly suspended its covert nuclear weapons program back in 2003, and hasn't resumed it to date. We don't know the sources and methods that underly this analysis …

Discussion: New York Sun, Right Wing Nut House, National Review Online, The Lede and Power Line

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Our serious foreign policy geniuses strike again — Over the past year, the rhetoric from our Serious Foreign Policy establishment regarding the supposed threat posed by Iran's active pursuit of nuclear weapons has severely escalated both in terms of shrillness and threats.

Discussion: Eschaton, The Lede and New York Times

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
No Delay On NIE — After yesterday's release of the declassified …

Discussion: The Newshoggers and Des Moines Register

CNN:
Iran: U.S. must 'pay the price' for accusations

Discussion: IMAO.US, Hullabaloo and Sweetness & Light

The Atlantic Online:
Iran NIE Reax

Discussion: FP Passport, Corrente and Emptywheel

Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:
An Assessment Jars a Foreign Policy Debate About Iran

Discussion: The Swamp, USA Today, The Atlantic Online, The Nation, Outside The Beltway, HorsesAss.Org, Daily Kos, Eunomia and Sister Toldjah

White House:
Press Conference by the President

Discussion: Washington Wire

Associated Press:
Bush: Iran report a 'warning signal'

Discussion: The American Street, TBogg and Sadly, No!

Laura Rozen / MotherJones.com:
Iran Hawks Down? — WASHINGTON DISPATCH: The new National …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Newshoggers and Macsmind

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
U.S. Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003

Discussion: Jerusalem Post, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Daily Kos, The Swamp, AMERICAblog, Los Angeles Times, Winds of Change.NET, Washington Times, The Corner, Gateway Pundit and ParaPundit

The Corner:
The Iran NIE — I'm at a conference overseas and just got …

Discussion: Commentary and Associated Press

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:

Hillary Pollster: "Kindergarten Attack" On Obama Was Just A Gag! — Now this is interesting. Yesterday the Hillary Clinton campaign was pilloried in the press after it issued a press release that attacked Barack Obama for claiming he wasn't running for President in order to fulfill a life-long ambition.

Discussion: Riehl World View, Washington Monthly, The Carpetbagger Report and Taylor Marsh

Jesse Berney / HillaryClinton.com:

The Dirty Tricks Are Starting — Campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle just sent the following message out to Hillary supporters in key early states.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Salon, David Corn, Riehl World View and MoJoBlog

Scott Horsley / NPR:

Democrats Set to Debate in Iowa as Race Tightens — Listen Live Here Beginning at 2 p.m. EST — · All of the major Democratic presidential candidates will meet in Iowa on Tuesday for a two-hour debate, as an extremely close race is shaping up in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Jay Newton-Small / Time:

Will Clinton's Obama Attacks Backfire? — It started in earnest a couple of weeks ago when Hillary Clinton questioned how much Barack Obama's time spent living in Indonesia as a child could actually help him make foreign policy decisions as a commander-in-chief.

Discussion: BAGnewsNotes, New York Times and Blue Crab Boulevard

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Vulnerable Democrats See Fates Tied to Clinton

Discussion: Boston Globe, Redstate, GregsOpinion.com, Taylor Marsh, MSNBC, The Glittering Eye, Tom Watson, QandO, The Carpetbagger Report, The American Street, Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard, Hot Air and Washington Monthly

Frank James / The Swamp:
Clinton campaign accuses Obama's of 'dirty tricks'

Discussion: The Politico and New Hampshire Presidential …

Deacon / Power Line:

MIKE HUCKABEE — TOO MORALISTIC TO PROTECT OUR NATIONAL SECURITY — I have defended Mike Huckabee from charges that he's not a conservative. As with nearly all of the Republican candidates, there are some important conservative positions to which Huckabee has not closely adhered …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Balloon Juice, PoliBlog (TM), Liberal Values, Free Frank Warner, The American Street and IMAO.US

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Un-Mormon and Unchristian

Discussion: The Corner

Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
Huckabee Chafes at 'Front-Runner' Label

Discussion: NY Daily News, Des Moines Register, The New Republic, TownHall Blog, Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, New York Times, TIME, TPM Election Central and Reason Magazine

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

The 2nd Annual Worst Quotes From The Daily Kos (2007 Edition) — America's most influential blog is the Daily Kos. Democratic members of Congress post on the blog, Democratic presidential contenders cater to them, and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas is considered to be a mainstream figure amongst Democrats.

Discussion: Moonbattery

Michelle Malkin:

Challenging the cult of Mumia Abu-Jamal — Over the years, I've tracked Mumia Chic-the Left's deranged worship of convicted Death Row murderer Mumia Abu Jamal that has spread from Philly to St. Denis, France and points in between. This December 9th marks the 25th anniversary of the brutal murder …

Discussion: New York Post, Captain's Quarters, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal … and Blue Crab Boulevard

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Divorce Found to Harm The Environment With Higher Energy, Water Use — Divorce is not just a family matter. It exacts a serious toll on the environment by boosting the energy and water consumption of those who used to live together, according to a study by two Michigan State University researchers.

Discussion: The Sundries Shack

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Democratic-leaning PAC attacks Hillary — Here's a first look at the first independent Democratic television attack ad of the cycle. — It's a shot at Hillary Clinton from Democratic Courage, an independent, left-leaning group I wrote about earlier this fall.

Discussion: TPM Election Central