The Robb-Silberman commission report on intelligence analysis of prior to the Iraqi war made the claim that
that in no instance did political pressure cause them to skew or alter any of their analytical judgments.. As I noted last December, that claim can only be true if interpreted very narrowly. Now Patrick Lang closely examines the transcript of the Senate hearing with General Hayden. The transcript shows pressure - but it came from Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. Maybe Senator Robb and Judge Silberman think that pressure is political only if it comes from an elected official or from a Cabinet level officer.
NOTE: this post linked to Beltway Traffic Jam for 05/22/2006
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