Bush said Kerry tried to gut CIA, but Goss's proposed cuts were DEEPER!

[BurtWorm]

From Bob Somerby:

http://www.dailyhowler.com/

MUST-READ WP: Did Kerry try to “gut intelligence” in 1995? Bush said so back in March, and today we get another look at how cosmically phony that claim really was. In today’s Post, Dana Milbank reports that Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) also proposed a cut in intelligence services that year—a cut that was massively larger than Kerry’s. But is Bush disturbed by Goss’s bad judgment? Hardly! Goss is now the president’s choice to head the CIA!

Did Kerry try to “gut” intelligence? Was his proposal “deeply irresponsible?” Bush’s claims were patently phony—but few “reporters” or pundits dared to say so when he made his phony claims and began running TV ads on this topic. Indeed, when pious pundits go on TV and say that ads from independent groups must come down, don’t forget a basic fact—Bush’s ads have been the most misleading of the campaign season, by far. Kerry tried to gut intelligence! Kerry voted against every weapon system! Kerry voted for higher taxes 350 times! All these claims made clowning assaults on America’s public discourse, and $100 million was put into play to spread the claims throughout the land. But pundits ran and hid behind desks, too frightened to take these claims on. These claims have run on TV, again and again. Few pundits have dared to critique them.

[JPZenger]

1. We need independent intelligence agencies

Some of the "reforms" of the intelligence agencies seem to be designed to centralize them all. Now they are divided between a civilian agency (CIA) and military agencies (such as DIA and NRO). I believe that division is valuable. A President should get intelligence from different sources, so he can compare them and play them against each other. If the intelligence is too centralized, there will be much greater threat of the type of "Group Think" that caused the phony justification for the Iraq Invasion.