Political Intelligence

"As the White House searches for every possible excuse to go to war with Iraq," writes James Bamford, "pressure has been building on the intelligence agencies to deliberately slant estimates to fit a political agenda. In this case, the agencies are being pressed to find a casus belli for war, whether or not one exists." Unhappy with the fact that CIA analyses don't support its claim that Iraq presents an imminent threat, the Bush administration has created its own separate intelligence unit. "There is a complete breakdown in the relationship between the Defense Department and the intelligence community, to include its own Defense Intelligence Agency," says one defense official. "Wolfowitz and company disbelieve any analysis that doesn't support their own preconceived conclusions. The C.I.A. is enemy territory, as far are they're concerned."