Report: CIA chief paints bleak picture in Iraq

Newspaper: Classified cable says it's unlikely to improve soon

Tuesday, December 7, 2004 Posted: 5:17 PM EST (2217 GMT)

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.

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The whole idea of going to war in Iraq was a bad idea from the start, borne by arrogant incompetence.