Thanks Larry. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not a defender of the Clinton administration. Ithink that we started short changing our Intellingence community with the ending of the Soviet Union. At the time, it was billed as some sort of dividend for the ending of the Cold War. If I remember correctly,
Vice President Cheney (then Sec. of Defense) had a lot to do with cutting many military programs which were billed as dividends for the ending of the Cold War. I also think he had a lot to do with pushing for much more privatization of military functions at this time. This later paid off substantially when he moved to Halliburton.

I am sure that Iraq had WMD at one time. Maybe not when we went in, but maybe not too long before. I do think we did not allow the Weapons Inspection program to continue lone enough. I know that there are just as good arguments for otherwise. What I am getting at is I believe we could have gone further before we went in with force.

I do not have any criticism of the Intelligence Community. They did the best they could with what they had. I have found some of Mr.Tenent's defenses a little strong on the cover my butt aspect.

I remember during the first Gulf War, Sec. Baker was asked, "Why Kuwait?" He responded that this is not about Kuwait, that this is about "jobs back home" and our economy. This is the kind of straight talk we need. I can understand this and respect it. I think most Americans can as well. I wish we could get some straight talk from this administration, not from Mr. Cheney, and not from President Bush speaking at some fort to a military audience. How about he speaks to us for a change and without Mr. Rove in the background pulling strings.

Thanks again Larry for you information. At least you know what you are talking about. I am just an amateur trying to understand and sort out some truth.

best regards,

Ed Pirie
West Topsham, Vermont