Why Donald Rumsfeld Should Be Worried About the NIE

What the Bush administration doesn't want you to see in the National Intelligence Estimate.

The NIE, which is supposed to reflect the consensus judgment of the U.S. intelligence community, states that the global jihadist movement “is spreading and adapting to counter-terrorism efforts”; that the number of jihadists are “increasing in both number and geographic dispersion,” and that the war in Iraq had become “the cause celebre” for jihadis around the world, “breeding a deep resentment of U.S involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.”

Things have gooten so bad in Iraq that six in ten Iraqis support attacks against U.S. troops. The University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes found that the majority of Sunnis and Shiites feel this way. The only other thing these ethnic factions agree on his attacking each other.

"We have to fix this militia issue. We can't have armed militias competing with Iraq's security forces. But I have to trust the prime minister to decide when it is that we do that," said Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the second-highest-ranking American military official in Baghdad.

There are questions if the Iraqi government is willing or capable of stopping the death squads. These groups were either trained by U.S. Special Forces for the Iraqi government or work for Moktada al-Sadr. The Iraqi government and Sadr have lost control of these militias. The U.S. military has had to crack down on a death squad operating within the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Sadr's followers are growing frustrated and seeking new sponsors.

The Pentagon sought the "Salvador Option" to skirt the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Translation: Donald Rumsfeld had a good idea this was illegal. There were also warnings that the death squads could not be controlled. Obviously, Rumsfeld did not pay attention.

History will show that Rumsfeld help increase the secretarian violence in Iraq.

History will show that Rumsfeld ignored to safety of the Iraq people during the looting.

"Stuff happens," Rumsfeld said.

History will show that Rumsfeld ignored the advise of generals in regard to troop levels.

History will show that Rumsfeld handpicked neoconservatives to cherry pick intelligence on Iraq. This group was known as the Office of Special Plans. Former OSP member Larry Franklin has been pleaded guilty to passing secrets to Israel.

Any screwup in the NIE can be traced to Rumsfeld.