Friday, February 02, 2007

the end is NIE

the long delayed national intelligence estimate is out. (a pdf of the non-classified portion of the report is here).

i've only gone through it quickly so far, but i predict that the reason the administration dragged its feet so much in releasing the report is related to this sentence:
Iraq’s neighbors influence, and are influenced by, events within Iraq, but the involvement of these outside actors is not likely to be a major driver of violence or the prospects for stability because of the self-sustaining character of Iraq’s internal sectarian dynamics.
(bold in original)