With the recent NIE coming out basically indicating that Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program back in 2003, some question has arisen about when Bush first learned this. Here's what Bush had to say on this topic:

[QUOTE]BUSH: I was made aware of the NIE last week. In August, I think it was John — Mike McConnell came in and said, We have some new information. He didn’t tell me what the information was. He did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze.[/QUOTE]

That led to this exchange:

[QUOTE]REPORTER: Are you saying at no point while the rhetoric was escalating, as World War III was making it into conversation — at no point, nobody from your intelligence team or your administration was saying, Maybe you want to back it down a little bit?

BUSH: No — I’ve never — nobody ever told me that. [/QUOTE]

You can watch it and read more about that [URL="http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/04/bush-never-learned-of-nie/"]here[/URL]:

Consider this for a moment. You're the president of the United States. You're concerned about the safety of the country generally, and about Iran specifically. The [B]Director of National Intelligence[/B] comes to you and says "we have some new information" but doesn't tell you what the information is. You ask no follow up questions. He walks away.

Jesus Harold Christ in a chicken basket. Imagine doing that at your job. You're overseeing a project, and one of your underlings comes to you and says, "Hey, we've found out something new relevant to this project." Think you might, oh, I don't know, [B]ask [/B]what this new information is? Even if it were something like, "Look, I understand you're still learning the details, but can you give me a preview?" Or "Is it possible that this information could affect what I'm doing now?" What if you were the person reporting a change in circumstances to your superior. Would you think it was odd if they didn't ask for a little more detail?

Of course, this is ridiculous. If it did happen that way, Bush is a bigger moron and worse leader than any of us ever dreamed. More likely, though, is that Bush did know that there were serious issues with the claims he was making about Iran and made them anyway. Either way, we're completely fucked until his ass is shown the door. Unreal...

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YES....thank you...thats what I (and most of the world outside of the US) have been saying for years...

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Someone should have stepped forward and told the President about this critical information. Or the President as Toasty said should have asked to be given a short answer while others pored over the details. Not sure who exactly is at fault, but definitely someone in the administration and/or the President.

The good news from all this is that we found out this information now instead of after attacking another country. Could you imagine attacking two countries under false or bad information?

This sounds obvious, but something's not right with the chain of command in this administration regarding information and communication. It started with 9/11, Iraq and now Iran. Or like most think the President is just war mongering moron with little intelligence.

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Someone should have stepped forward and told the President about this critical information. Or the President as Toasty said should have asked to be given a short answer while others pored over the details. Not sure who exactly is at fault, but definitely someone in the administration and/or the President.

The good news from all this is that we found out this information now instead of after attacking another country. Could you imagine attacking two countries under false or bad information?

This sounds obvious, but something's not right with the chain of command in this administration regarding information and communication. It started with 9/11, Iraq and now Iran. Or like most think the President is just war mongering moron with little intelligence.

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[quote=Shpira;549907]YES....thank you...thats what I (and most of the world outside of the US) have been saying for years...[/quote]

Unfortunately only 49..9 percent of us here in the US are saying it. The other 50 percent are too busy following the blind.

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[QUOTE=toasty;549896]...If it did happen that way, Bush is a bigger moron and worse leader than any of us ever dreamed.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure any more than I already think is even possible. What's beyond a moron to the infinite degree?

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an amoeba :lol:

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[QUOTE=threehills;553231]The other 50 percent are too busy following the blind.[/QUOTE]

Thankfully, that number is now down to about 35% -- and yet, Bush still runs a bully pulpit and gets what he wants. I just don't understand...

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i think everyone is afraid of bush.

why say something to him, which contradicts what he has been saying for 5+ years? you risk losing your job.

he has demonstrated that he is not afraid to use executive power to do whatever he wants. the media doesnt give a shit, they wont run stories on what he is doing, so what kind of power will the people who voice their opinions have? even if they are right, the president will use his power to ruin their life to its fullest, e.g. valerie plame and her husband.

it is a very sad situation that we, the people, have put ourselves in. all we can do is wait another year and hope to god that Ms. Guilliani does not get into office... but then again people are idiots and i expect him to get into office if he gets support, then who knows wtf we are in for

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We are fucked...Time to start planning to live somewhere else..Who's with me?? We can start MurcuryNation.

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[QUOTE=toasty;553597]Thankfully, that number is now down to about 35% -- and yet, Bush still runs a bully pulpit and gets what he wants. I just don't understand...[/QUOTE]If you don't understand, then you haven't conversed with enough of the american public. Don't give them too much credit.

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[QUOTE=lilsensa;553998]We are fucked...Time to start planning to live somewhere else..Who's with me?? We can start MurcuryNation.[/QUOTE]We definitely wouldn't want you as the leader as you can't even spell the name of your new country. :roflmao:

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^^^ :CrackUp: