Pirate's Cove

Showing that politicians, especially Democrat politicians, are more interested in laying blaming on others than….well, really, that is what they are interested in: point the finger at others over Egypt

The debate over who “lost” Egypt seems to have begun.

Critics are openly questioning the quality of information and analysis given to President Barack Obama by U.S. intelligence agencies in the days leading up to the dramatic uprising against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. And they are raising questions about the effectiveness of his efforts to force the 82-year-old strongman to step down.

Administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, admit that some mistakes were made and some signals were missed. And, even as they frantically try to negotiate Mubarak’s departure and avert more violence, they argue that their options and leverage would have been limited even had Obama been warned long in advance of the unrest that would sweep Egypt.

The second paragraph is the lead up to the blamestorming, the third is slapping some Depends over their behinds. Though, I must agree that their “options and leverage would have been limited,” especially since Obama is considered a joke of a leader on the world stage.

But on Thursday Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) pointedly challenged analysts over the quality of information Obama was given in the days leading up to the uprising.

“The president, the secretary of state and the Congress are making policy decisions on Egypt, and those policymakers deserve timely intelligence analysis,” Feinstein said.

“I have doubts whether the intelligence community lived up to its obligations in this area.”

Good job, Diane, way to shift blame, slam the intelligence community. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor had some pointed words back, regarding the demonstrations and changes in the Middle East being historic, and it would have been hard to do anything even if they’d had perfect intelligence. Central Intelligence Agency associate deputy director Stephanie O’Sullivan said much the same thing, as well as

Under some pressure from inquiring senators, O’Sullivan alluded to a report in late 2010 of a potential for trouble in the area. “We have warned of instability. We didn’t know precisely what the triggering mechanism would be……that [warning] happened at the end of last year,” she said.

The rest of The Politico story is about more butt covering and assigning blame and even takes some shots at Obama and his team for their “response being, at times, appeared to be halting, reactive and based on out-of-date information.” Even that world renowned Egyptian expert Andrea Mitchell informed her 5 viewers that Obama hasn’t done very well. Fortunately, The Politico is also there to tell us that Obama is balancing Egypt and the economy, by giving a speech, and Robert Gibbs was there to tell us that jobs are still #1. Words, just words.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.