I have a feeling that telling “clowns”:http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/945/iran-focus-part-1-how-close-is-iran-to-the-bomb like “Charles Krauthammer”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401413_pf.html that exaggerated Iran intel could increase support for a bombing campaign is kind of like “Ordell Robbie admonishing”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119396/quotes his girlfriend while she smokes herb on the couch:

Ordell Robbie: That shit’ll rob you of your ambition.

Melanie: Not if your ambition is to get high and watch TV.

I’m sure all of you saw “yesterday’s _Post_ article”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091302052.html regarding the “IAEA letter”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/document091406.pdf criticizing this “HPSCI report”:http://intelligence.house.gov/Media/PDFS/Release082306.pdf (which Jeffrey mocked “here”:http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/1171/tcb-on-fleitz-of-fancy) about US intelligence on Iran.

You can read the letter “here”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/document091406.pdf, but the piece nicely adds value. For example:

bq. Privately, several intelligence officials said the committee report included at least a dozen claims that were either demonstrably wrong or impossible to substantiate. Hoekstra’s office said the report was reviewed by the office of John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence.

One scary item that I haven’t seen mentioned much is that the HPSCI is busy on a similar report about North Korea:

Hoekstra’s committee is working on a separate report about North Korea that is also being written principally by Fleitz. A draft of the report, provided to The Post, includes several assertions about North Korea’s weapons program that the intelligence officials said they cannot substantiate, including one that Pyongyang is already enriching uranium.

The intelligence community believes North Korea is trying to acquire an enrichment capability but has no proof that an enrichment facility has been built, the officials said.

Ick.