Stovepiping...

Interesting interview with Seymour M. Hersh on the New Yorker website, referring to his recent article, "The Stovepipe," which details the practice of "taking a piece of intelligence or a request that should be pushed through the chain of command—checked at levels and sent from one level to another—and bringing it straight to the highest authority." He makes a strong case that President Bush might actually believe his own misinformation about Iraq--a frightening prospect.

...Remember that the Administration, no matter how they twist the words or spin the words, told us we’d find weapons in Iraq. They believed it. That was the intelligence they got. And, to me, the fact that they weren’t lying and really believed it is as alarming as if they had been lying. It’s very, very troubling.

He also quotes classified sources inside the U.S. government that say, as of two weeks ago, the number of incidents against American forces in Iraq were up to 23 a day!

Not that we hear about them here in the United States.

Complete story here.