Friday, April 27, 2007

On "Slam Dunk" and Policy Making

So now we have former CIA chief George Tenet providing some 'nuance' to 'explain' his "Slam Dunk" comment:
...The phrase "slam dunk" didn't refer to whether Saddam Hussein actually had WMDs, says Tenet; the CIA thought he did. He says he was talking about what information could be used to make that case when he uttered those words. "We can put a better case together for a public case. That's what I meant," explains Tenet...
Hmmmm...The CIA makes a big deal of letting everyone know that they're not in the business of making policy (ed. The following is verbatim from the CIA web site...including the capitalized 'DO NOT'):
...It is important to know that CIA analysts only report the information and DO NOT make policy recommendations-making policy is left to the executive branch of the government, such as the State Department or the Defense Department. These policymakers use the information that CIA provides to help them make US policy toward other countries...
Now...what should we call it when Tenet utilized the "Slam Dunk" comment to advocate that:
...We can put a better case together for a public case...
That "public case" Tenet now refers to was the case to go to war against Iraq. Wouldn't that be policy making?

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