what "evidence" means

asks "one senior United States official":

what is the meaning of the term ‘evidence’?”

um, i think it's proof? facts on the ground? tangible, verifiable, and all that. the kinda stuff those of us in the reality-based community typically rely on to make judgements, decisions. that kinda thing.

full context, from yesterday's NYT:

Some policy makers also said they were displeased that American spy agencies were playing down intelligence reports — including some from the Israeli government — of extensive contacts recently between Hezbollah and members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. “The people in the community are unwilling to make judgment calls and don’t know how to link anything together,” one senior United States official said.

“We’re not in a court of law,” he said. “When they say there is ‘no evidence,’ you have to ask them what they mean, what is the meaning of the term ‘evidence’?”

no surprise that this moron would not speak for the record. these are the same people that were furious over bill clinton's famously heideggerian disputing of the meaning of the word "is."

this is the drumbeat, my friends, the drumbeat and buildup for a military action even more pointless and doomed than the last one.