The way intelligence sources were manipulated in the run-up to the Iraq war is still important. In fact, given all the rumblings about Iran these days, it’s more important than ever. With that in mind, here is an interview from Der Spiegel Online with Tyler Drumheller, the former chief of the the CIA’s Europe division. A couple of quotes:

From the perspective of the White House, it was smart to blur the lines about what was acceptable and what was not in the war on terrorism…. The rendition teams are drawn from paramilitary officers who are brave and colorful…. If they didn't do paramilitary actions for a living, they would probably be robbing banks….

The agency is not blameless and no president on my watch has had a spotless record when it comes to the CIA. But never before have I seen the manipulation of intelligence that has played out since Bush took office. As chief of Europe I had a front-row seat from which to observe the unprecedented drive for intelligence justifying the Iraq war.

BTW, did you know there is an actual officer called the “Director of Lessons Learned” in the White House? You can’t make this stuff up.