Debate Tonight!

In preparation for tonight's debate on foreign policy, here is your "Daily Reason to Dispatch Bush" from McSweeney's website (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/bush/)

The National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, prepared by the National Intelligence Council and released in July, found that the chance of stability in Iraq over the next 18 months is limited. The report set out three scenarios for the future of Iraq; the worst was civil war, and the best was, according to the New York Times, "an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous in political, economic and security terms." When asked about the Estimate last Tuesday, President Bush said that "the CIA laid out several scenarios. It said that life could be lousy, life could be OK, life could be better. And they were just guessing as to what the conditions might be like." The report was initiated by then-CIA Director George Tenet and approved by the National Foreign Intelligence Board under John McLaughlin, the acting director of central intelligence, as well as by the heads of the other intelligence agencies. The National Intelligence Council is meant to reflect the consensus of these agencies.

(Sources: "Bush Dismisses Gloomy CIA Report on Iraq," Reuters, September 21, 2004. See article at: reuters.com. Douglas Jehl, "U.S. Intelligence Shows Pessimism on Iraq's Future," New York Times, September 16, 2004. See article at: informationclearinghouse.info.)