NIE Report Unspun

Predictably the NY Times version of the leaked NIE report came up in the Kirk-Seals debate, cited chapter and verse by Mr. Seals. (Are all these Dem candidates joined at the hip?)

Let's refresh our memories on the full report and its real implications: Belmont Club.

(Links have disappeared on this post:To Honor and Protect, where the Tribune defended our position in Iraq. This post still works: Aid and Comfort)

And evidence that Iraq is a dumping ground for terrorists--fight them there, not here-- who have told us themselves they have suffered major losses.

UPDATE: Amir Taheri, via RCP:

New Iraq has many vicious enemies because it is a success. It is not a failure to be jettisoned quickly, but a victory that must be defended within the timeframe needed to crush its enemies.

So far, those enemies have failed to derail the political process in Iraq or to extend their initial constituencies. Yesterday's column detailed how these forces failed to achieve any of their stated goals for the bloody Ramadan just concluded. Their only success has been in the field of perceptions in America and the West in general.

It is largely the hope of breaking the will of the American people that keeps the insurgency alive.