From: Blunderov (squooker@mweb.co.za)
Date: Thu Oct 30 2003 - 06:05:25 MST
[Blunderov]
If I was to describe the situation, as I see it, using a chess metaphor
I would say that Bush et al had played for mate but find themselves
instead playing a tricky endgame. It may be holdable, but some static
weakness is now inherent in the USA position, and it has the more
potential for becoming overextended the longer the game goes on.
I would offer a draw.
Best Regards
<q>
http://www.msn.com/
Pentagon weighs WMD hunt cutback
U.S. may switch some Iraq resources to counterinsurgency
Oct. 29 -- The State Department's newly retired intelligence chief says
the U.S. intelligence community "badly underperformed" for years in
assessing Iraq and should accept responsibility for its failure in Iraq.
NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 - As violence has spiraled in Iraq, top U.S.
officials have debated pulling intelligence officers off the so-far
unsuccessful hunt for weapons of mass destruction and reassigning them
to counterinsurgency efforts, officials said Wednesday.
THE UNITED STATES already is planning to recruit more Iraqis to gather
information about opposition fighters and may increase security measures
to protect troops, President Bush said Tuesday, the third straight day
of bombings in Iraq.
But Pentagon, CIA and other top officials have not been able to agree on
whether to reassign some of the 1,400 people working on the weapons
search, three officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
Wednesday.
One intelligence official said they have been struggling for more than
three weeks over the question of whether shifting intelligence personnel
to the battle against insurgent forces would be harmful. Other
possibilities include moving the needed intelligence officers, linguists
and others from somewhere else, contracting outsiders or options that
the official declined to cite.
Some officials have made the case that the No. 1 priority is to stop the
attacks on coalition forces, Iraqis and international organizations.
Others are arguing that it's vitally important to find out what happened
to biological and chemical weapons that the Bush administration said
Saddam Hussein had and which constituted the main rationale for war.
</q>
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