Feith, Edelman Hang “Inappropriate” Intel on WolfowitzOne of the more interesting assertions in both Douglas Feith’s and Eric Edelman’s reactions to the IG report on the Office of Special Plans is that the office’s activity can’t be inappropriate because it was authorized by Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, then the secretary and deputy secretary of defense. As Feith puts it:
It is bizarre for the Inspector General to disapprove of policy officials’ doing work that they were directed to do by the Secretary or Deputy Secretary of Defense, given that those tasks were lawful and authorized and the Inspector General found nothing at all wrong with the Secretary and Deputy Secretary directing that the work be done.
Edelman’s response portrays Wolfowitz, now the president of the World Bank, as the prime mover behind the whole affair:
The Deputy Secretary of Defense (“Deputy” or “DSD”) directed his Special Assistant in his front office and two staff members in OUSD(P) to take a fresh, critical look at Intelligence Community (“IC”) reporting on contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida.
We’ve got a request for comment out to Wolfowitz’s office about this.