Newspaper: Classified cable says it's unlikely to
improve soon
Tuesday, December 7, 2004 Posted: 5:17 PM EST (2217
GMT)
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A U.S. military helicopter lands at Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone at sunset Tuesday.
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Baghdad
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story.chopper.ap.jpg
A U.S. military helicopter lands at Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone at sunset Tuesday.
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Iraq
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Baghdad
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NEW YORK -- The situation in Iraq is unlikely to
improve anytime soon, according to a classified cable and briefings from the
Central Intelligence Agency, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The assessments are more pessimistic than the Bush
administration's portrayal of the situation to the public, government officials
told the newspaper.
The classified cable -- sent last month by the CIA's
station chief in Baghdad, who is winding up a one-year tour of duty there --
painted a bleak picture of Iraq's politics, economics and security and
reiterated briefings by a senior CIA official, according to the Times
article.
The station chief cannot be identified because he is
still working undercover, the Times article said.
The cable, described as "unusually candid," cautioned
that security in the country is likely to deteriorate unless the Iraqi
government makes significant progress in asserting its authority and building up
the economy, the Times article said.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte dissented on one point
and argued that coalition forces have made greater progress against insurgents
than the station chief conveyed. Negroponte also distributed his response,
officials told CNN.
But Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq,
reviewed the cable before its distribution, U.S. officials told CNN, and he
offered no objections.
Spokesmen for the White House and the CIA told the
Times that they could not discuss intelligence matters and classified
documents.
Thank you and Best Regards
Rhonda Mock