Inside the Ring

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Anti-Bush

Richard Immerman, the assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analytical integrity, has written a journal article harshly critical of President Bush and his administration for what he charges is their role in the "politicization" of intelligence.

The article echoes liberal academic criticism of the president and his advisers, but with one significant difference: Mr. Immerman is now the top U.S. intelligence official in charge of checking politicization within 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.

The appointment of Mr. Immerman as the analysis' "ombudsman" is raising questions among intelligence analysts about whether the office of Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell is politicizing U.S. analysis.

DNI spokesman Michael Birmingham and Mr. Immerman declined to comment. A White House spokesman also declined to comment.

"Immerman has put his political partisanship on the record and allowed it to shape his views," said one U.S. official critical of Mr. Immerman. "He has in the process done the very things that intelligence analysts are typically taught to resist. The kind of loaded language he's thrown around in public won't help his credibility or relevance as an intelligence officer."

The official said that appointing someone "so openly biased" to the post of analysis ombudsman "gives new meaning to the phrase alternative analysis."

"If he really thinks intelligence is all but destined to have such a minor impact on policy, why did he take the job?" the official asked.

Mr. Immerman's journal article, in the latest issue of Diplomatic History, also accuses Vice President Dick Cheney of camping out at CIA headquarters to intimidate analysts into politicizing reports, charges dismissed by several government commissions.

The effect of intelligence on U.S. policy, despite recent reforms, "is likely to be slight so long as the makers of that policy remain cognitively impaired and politically possessed," Mr. Immerman said.