Quick Notes #11
Incredible. In his latest press conference, Bush was asked, after having been wrong so much and failed so badly in Iraq, why should he be seen as a credible messenger on the war; in reply, he claimed that “I’m credible because I read the intelligence.”
Before 9/11, there was a large amount of intelligence telling Bush that an attack was coming. He did not act on it. Before the Iraq War, there was a large amount of intelligence warning Bush about the problems that would arise pursuant to the invasion, like sectarian violence. Again, Bush did not act on it.
In short, you do not gain credibility by just reading the intelligence. You gain credibility by reading it, then judging what should be acted on, and then acting on it. Maybe somebody should explain this to him.