Powell admits "mobile weapons factory" scam
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3596033.stm
In February last year he told the UN Security Council that Iraq had developed mobile laboratories for making biological weapons.
On Friday he conceded that information "appears not to be... that solid". ... Mr Powell said the US intelligence officers "indicated to me" that the information about the mobile labs was reliable, and "I made sure it was multi-sourced".
"Now, if the sources fell apart we need to find out how we've gotten ourselves in that position," he said.
"I have discussions with the CIA about it," he said, without providing further details. ... This admission by Mr Powell could further hurt the credibility of the Bush administration in what is an election year, our correspondent says.
Is this that surprising? The CIA isn't doing too well if they cannot figure out that there are good reasons to doubt anti-Iraq intelligence. The intelligence, if untrue, may have been disseminated by Saddam or the Ba'athists for unknown purposes, perhaps to destabilize the region even at the cost of Ba'athist leadership, for instance. Even if he's truly a "Bad man" and a psychopath, I don't believe that he's a coward who is unwilling to die for his beliefs. Ba'athists live by the sword, and I don't see him being that hypocritical. The intelligence may have been disseminated by the Kurds or other anti-Ba'athist forces for obvious reasons. The intelligence, even if it was originally true, may have been leaked and then the mobile (and other) weapons factories and storage destroyed. The intended result would have been the current situation, with the Bush administration and intel community looking like idiots and the "soft on terror" Democrats having a foreign policy advantage in Nov 2004. -- "You took my gun. It's just your word against mine!" "Not necessarily." -Bernie vs Tom, Miller's Crossing
On Sat, 3 Apr 2004, Justin wrote:
The intelligence, even if it was originally true, may have been leaked and then the mobile (and other) weapons factories and storage destroyed. The intended result would have been the current situation, with the Bush administration and intel community looking like idiots and the "soft on terror" Democrats having a foreign policy advantage in Nov 2004.
Has it not occurred to you that having Powell make the first statement may be designed to avoid having Bush make the [obvious and needed] statement? The truth is more likely along the lines of Bush demanded certain Intel be "found", and it was. Now that it cannot be substantiated, and is becoming a slow but growing thorn, making it go away as quietly as possible is the rule of the day. But it won't die quietly if Shrub makes the announcement: it has to be an underling. And lets face it - Powell is the *only* underling with *any* credibility. -- "One of the nice things about ignorance is that it is curable. Unlike Neo-Conservatism. Eric Michael Cordian
Here's another meme on the issue:
U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq
TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) - Over the past few days, in the wake of the bombings in Karbala and the ideological disputes that delayed the signing of Iraq's interim constitution, there have been reports that U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq.
A reliable source from the Iraqi Governing Council, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency that U.S. forces, with the help of British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made extensive efforts to conceal their actions.
He added that the cargo was unloaded during the night as attention was still focused on the aftermath of the deadly bombings in Karbala and the signing of Iraq's interim constitution.
The source said that in order to avoid suspicion, ordinary cargo ships were used to download the cargo, which consisted of weapons produced in the 1980s and 1990s.
He mentioned the fact that the United States had facilitated Iraq's WMD program during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq and said that some of the weapons being downloaded are similar to those weapons, although international inspectors had announced Saddam Hussein's Baath regime had destroyed all its WMD.
The source went on to say that the rest of the weapons were probably transferred in vans to an unknown location somewhere in the vicinity of Basra overnight.
"Most of these weapons are of Eastern European origin and some parts are from the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The U.S. obtained them through confiscations during sales of banned arms over the past two decades," he said.
This action comes as certain U.S. and Western officials have been pointing out the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been discovered in Iraq and the issue of Saddam's trial begins to take center stage.
In addition, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has emphasized that the U.S. and British intelligence agencies issued false reports on Iraq leading to the U.S. attack. Meanwhile, the suspicious death of weapons inspector David Kelly is also an unresolved issue in Britain.
------Occupation Forces Official Claims to Have No Information About Transfer of WMD to Iraq -------
A security official for the coalition forces in Iraq said that he has not received any information about the unloading of weapons of mass destruction in ports in southern Iraq. Shane Wolf told the Mehr News Agency that the occupation forces have received no reports on such events, but said he hoped that the coalition forces would find the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction one day.
Coalition forces and inspectors have so far been unable to find any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. invaded Iraq under the pretext that Iraq possessed a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. ~~~~~~~~~~ And, the url to Ira's story: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0318-04.htm
Ira Chernus is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. chernus@colorado.edu
-- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com
Harmon Seaver (2004-04-03 22:44Z) wrote:
Here's another meme on the issue:
U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq
In addition, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has emphasized that the U.S. and British intelligence agencies issued false reports on Iraq leading to the U.S. attack. Meanwhile, the suspicious death of weapons inspector David Kelly is also an unresolved issue in Britain.
Everyone knows that he committed suicide. Just like Vince Foster. Incidentally, last Tuesday the Supreme Court ruled that the Vince Foster death-scene photos are not subject to FOIA requests. Kennedy even cited _Antigone_ as reason to protect already-taken death-scene photos of a scandal-embroiled public official (p. 9). The claimed rationale was that people requesting such photos must have some evidence (presumably a witness who claims knowledge that Foster was murdered) rather than just an unsubstantiated hunch. Otherwise, says Kennedy, privacy interests of the family outweigh public right to know. It's amusing the Supreme Court is unwilling to extend it's fear of "appearance of corruption" to cases like this. It's also amusing that they can't seem to find any difference between FOIA requests for death-scene photos of a public official mixed up in a scandal and, as Kennedy suggests, FOIA requests by murderers of death-scene photos of their victims, private citizens. The Appeals court had ordered the release of four of the (11?) pictures. NARA v. Favish - 02-954 - 2004-03-30 http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/03slipopinion.html -- "You took my gun. It's just your word against mine!" "Not necessarily." -Bernie vs Tom, Miller's Crossing
J.A. Terranson (2004-04-03 22:22Z) wrote:
On Sat, 3 Apr 2004, Justin wrote:
The intelligence, even if it was originally true, may have been leaked and then the mobile (and other) weapons factories and storage destroyed. The intended result would have been the current situation, with the Bush administration and intel community looking like idiots and the "soft on terror" Democrats having a foreign policy advantage in Nov 2004.
Has it not occurred to you that having Powell make the first statement may be designed to avoid having Bush make the [obvious and needed] statement? [...CIA manufactured intel under Bush's orders...]
Of course that's a possibility. I don't think the CIA is that corrupt. I think the failure to consider the three options I set out (and undoubtedly others I haven't) is a more likely reason for finding believable intel than orders from above to manufacture intel. Didn't they even name a source or two for their mobile weapons lab information? While that's no guarantee the claimed source(s) exist, it lends credibility to alternatives that don't require such a vast conspiracy, alternatives that wouldn't create such a political nightmare. I prefer to believe that the CIA is incompetent rather than dishonest. The fact that they're using Jennifer Garner to try to recruit people seems to bolster my theory. -- "You took my gun. It's just your word against mine!" "Not necessarily." -Bernie vs Tom, Miller's Crossing
participants (3)
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Harmon Seaver -
J.A. Terranson -
Justin