Michael, good points. This excellent Weekly Standard article by Tom Joscelyn that I urged on Cornerites over the weekend points out, among many other things, CIA Director Tenet’s congressional testimony about Saddam/bin Laden ties, and the 180-degree turn done by the CIA’s former top bin Laden guy, Michael Scheuer, who as late as his 2002 book was touting the connection between Iraq and al Qaeda.
Given the way elements of the Intelligence Community have strategically and selectively leaked information over the last several years in a manner transparently aimed to undermine the Bush presidency, I can’t help but think that (a) there’s undoubtedly a divide between what the raw intelligence shows and how it’s been described, and (b) the motivation behind this divide is political. I’d love to be proven wrong … but I’m not holding my breath.