What is NIE

[LynneSin]

I'm sure it's something I recognize - please help!

[Subdivisions]

1. National Intelligence Estimate

[Richardo]

2. ...which says what we've been saying for 3 1/2 years

:eyes:

[Robbien]

3. In pre-BushCo days it used to be a report to which POTUS paid

a great deal of attention and used to direct US's foreign policy.

These days it is a combined National Intelligence report which BushCo stuffs under the couch cushions.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. Oh, come, now, Robbien. You know that's not true

These days it's full of manipulated "intellgence" that makes it look like going to war is the right thing to do; then after the neocons go to war and its turns out the NIE was all wet, they blame the CIA.

That's what it's used for now.

[Robbien]

8. That is what I use to think, but did you read the report just released?

They only released three pages and the pages are full of awful stuff such as

the war in Iraq has become a "cause celebre" for Islamic extremists breeding deep resentment of the U.S. that is likely to get worse before it gets better.

the nation's most veteran analysts conclude that despite serious damage to the leadership of al Qaeda, the threat from Islamic extremists has spread both in numbers and in geographic reach

"If this trend continues, threats to U.S. interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide,"

"The confluence of shared purpose and dispersed actors will make it harder to find and undermine jihadist groups."

If this is what they released, the unreleased parts must be really really bad.

[Jack Rabbit]

9. Maybe it tells of how the 2002 NIE was manipulated

They wouldn't want to release that, would they?

I think think somebody should do a Mike Gravel and read the whole thing into the Congressional Record.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. I knew of some knights who said NIE

they wanted a shrubbry or something./..

[madame defarge]

5. Oh my, you didn't get the memo...

We are now no longer the Knights who say Ni.
We are now the Knights who say..."Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-PTANG. Zoom-Boing. Z'nourrwringmm. B-)

BTW, What... *is* the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. African or European?

....

[mojowork_n]

7. NIE's been suppressed for a couple of years

There was a story in Harper's a few months ago that said this report has been overdue
since the summer of 2004.

It's not just that it's a damaging report -- it's a bad report card that's spent most of the
past 24 or so months balled up and hidden away, under the dirty clothes hamper in the basement.

http://www.harpers.org/sb-sources-negroponte-nei-cia-1153433546.html

[ProgressiveEconomist]

12. I don't think you mean NIE--I think you mean PGT

I was confused about this myself until yesterday. A National Intelligence Estimate can be prepared about any national security issue. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_Estimate or google http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22national+intelligence+estimate%22+site%3Agwu.edu .

From 1983 to 2003, The State Department published an assessment of the extent of terrorism called "Patterns of Global Terrorism". This report came out every April, like clockwork. Two economists found that Colin Powell's State Department had clumsily fudged the April 2004 report (see links at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2231628&mesg_id=2231699 ). The report had to be re-released in June 2004, and that was the last one of the series.

The Wikipedia article on PGT (at.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_of_Global_Terrorism ) is the best wiki I've ever on any topic. See also my tentative filling-in of the gaps in the PGT series at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2230807&mesg_id=2233164 .

[ProgressiveEconomist]

11. Good question for Larry Johnson, a blogger who has testifed before

Congress many times on terrorism issues. For a recent post about the NIE on his blog, go to http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/09/the_facts_behin.html . You need only supply a name and an (unverified) email address to post a question immediately.