I am delighted to read Senator Bond’s response to Mink’s commentary. The Senator puts the facts on the record and identifies the distortion Eric uses to accuse President Bush of lying about Iraq’s WMD. The President has admitted the intelligence was faulty but every major intelligence agency in the world thought Hussein had the weapons. That situation deserves serious investigation to prevent future screw ups that could have even worse ramifications. In the least Hussein deserved what he got, if for no other reason than the 10 yrs of violation of the Oil For Food bribes and No Fly Zone protection the US provided to the Kurds in the name of the feckless UN. The dumb ass himself apparently thought he did possess chemical/biological weapons because his military lied to him to prevent him knowing they were not able to perfect the weapons.

It is additionally appreciated Senator Bond identifies other distortions or selective reasoning Mink uses against President Bush, who Mink never passes up an opportunity to denigrate. The real story is the reason behind the CIA screw up. If I were to criticize the President it would be for his silence on the CIA, because it is of greater importance to protect the secrecy of the organization than expose it’s disfunctionality. You media people take advantage of that silence to work against the President and Republicans. The truth is the CIA has become a disfunctional intelligence agency. They have become political and a tool of the State Department/Washington DC leftist culture primarily working to undermine the president. Of course the Post-Dispatch is not interested in reporting any of that story because they are all part of your own.

Jimmy Carter’s Admiral/Director gutted the CIA under the mistaken idea that sattellites could replace spies on the ground. The CIA, which was never as good as the KGB anyway, is now absent spies and now staffed by executive-type agents who never leave their office except to pay bribes or buy in-country intelligence rather than develop it. One can imagine the quality of the intelligence they purchase. The insanity of the situation is that foreign agents know exactly who our agents are as soon as they enter the American Embassy, no matter what cover they use. It would be hilarious were it not so serious. So in typical bureaucratic fashion what happens is a new Intelligence Czar is created introducing another layer of bureaucracy instead of cleaning house at the CIA. Why does Eric Mink not report that aspect of the faulty intelligence? I suspect because it does not allow him to do his share of media efforts to blame the President and accuse him of lying for their bigger purpose.

God Bless Senator Bond for setting the record straight on Mink’s tendentious article. Being Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee I am certain he could enlighten us more were he not sworn to secrecy on the bigger picture of the Iraq War faulty intelligence and other CIA fiascos. If the Senator were not an important senator I doubt the Post would have published his rebuttal of Eric’s slanted article for a purpose.

Ron Jones

Alton, IL