For you policy wonks out there and peace activists, following is a link to testimony by Director of National Intelligence McConnel to the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday. Of particular note is the testimony by the D.N.I. towards the end of the hearing, which was shown on Countdown on MSNBC last night. (The D.N.I. and Sen. Graham are both fellow natives from my beloved SC, as is Fed Chair Bernanke - who knew?) Sen. Graham forgot that old lawyer rule, "don't ask a witness a question you don't already know the answer to."

Link


The exact quote is at the 2:48:30 mark:

Here's a little transcript of two very interesting, and surprisingly elucidative, exchanges. You might want to listen to Sen. Bayh's line of questioning as well. (I used to do this transcribing stuff in the USAF so it's kind of fun for me.):

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Sen. Graham: "Does Al Quaeda believe that the outcome in Iraq is part of their overall strategy?"

DNI McConnell: "I wouldn't go so far as to say Al Quaeda would necessarily believe that."

Sen. Graham: "Haven't they said that?

DNI McConnell: "They want to reestablish their base and their objective could be in Afghanistan."

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Sen. Graham: "The bottom line is if we withdraw to Kuwait what's the likelihood that Al Qaeda type elements would follow us to Kuwait."

DNI McConnell: "Unlikely."

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If the direct link doesn't work, go to cspan.org, click on VIDEO LIBRARY, Congress, then click on Senate Armed Services Cmte. Hearing on Global Security Threats