The Will to Believe

There is more dismal news about the state of Iraq today, this time in the form of word from the CIA station chief in Baghdad.

A classified cable sent by the Central Intelligence Agency's station chief in Baghdad has warned that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating and may not rebound any time soon, according to government officials.

The cable, sent late last month as the officer ended a yearlong tour, presented a bleak assessment on matters of politics, economics and security, the officials said. They said its basic conclusions had been echoed in briefings presented by a senior C.I.A. official who recently visited Iraq.
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[T]he top American military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., also reviewed the cable and initially offered no objections, the officials said.

Of course, General Casey "may have voiced objections in recent days." In other words, he has heard from those up the chain of command at the Pentagon what his "true" opinions are if he wants to keep his job.

The release of such CIA reports are treated as treason in the War on Facts.

In recent months, some Republicans, including Senator John McCain of Arizona, have accused the agency of seeking to undermine President Bush by disclosing intelligence reports whose conclusions contradict the administration or its policies.

We cannot have honest assessments of the facts on the ground being released to the public. Moreover, we cannot be tempted to believe them, and we must assert our will to believe the more optimistic version of events. In other words, we need Aquinas's fides qua creditur ("faith through which I believe") to complement the propaganda of the administration's fides quae creditur ("faith which I believe").