Friday, October 10, 2003
Back to that Kay Report… Debating points!
Despite the Administration’s spin, the Kay report on Iraq's WMD makes clear that
(1) Despite his “intentions”, Saddam couldn’t develop weapons of mass destruction because of the UN sanctions and the inspections.
(2) Weapons that existed in 1991 no longer existed-: Multiple sources with varied access and reliability have told ISG [the Iraq Survey Group] that Iraq did not have a large, ongoing centrally controlled CW [chemical weapons] program after 1991. … Iraq's large-scale capability to develop, produce, and fill new CW munitions was reduced—if not entirely destroyed—during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Fox [Clinton's 1998 airstrikes], 13 years of UN sanctions and UN inspections. (from the Kay Report)
WMD Shifting claims:
The transformation: “Imminent threat” became “WMD program” which became “intention to re-begin a program”. So, Bush could say yesterday in New Hampshire that we went to war because Saddam was evil and that he “desired” weapons. And Condi Rice, speaking to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations…
We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11th attacks. Yet the possibility remained that he might use his weapons of mass destruction or that terrorists might acquire such weapons from his regime, to mount a future attack far beyond the scale of 9/11.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031008-4.html
Intelligence Community Ticked Off
ABCNews.com noted how furious ex-CIA officers are with the Administration’s leak of Valerie Plame’s identity. They were already upset with the selective use of intelligence and the pressuring of analysts to “find” data to fit the pre-existing conclusion of ‘Saddam has wmd!’. Now, the fear is that taking any positions contrary to the Administration’s line will result in an agent’s outing.
Speaking to Nightline on condition of anonymity, with her voice digitally manipulated to avoid recognition, an undercover intelligence officer said the implications of the leak were grim.
"Just a few months ago, this administration went out of its way to tell us how important human intelligence is," she said. "We cannot find Saddam Hussein because we have no human intelligence. We cannot find Osama bin Laden because there is no human intelligence. And here you are, you have a case officer who is gathering human intelligence, who is running agents, and here you are exposing her and everyone that she came in contact with."
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/nightline/US/cia031006_leak.html
What’s Happening, Iraq: More P.R.
It’s a full-time sell job. You can't downplay the effectiveness of lies that are repeatedly put forth. They call for repetitive counters. The media are only partly buying in, playing up the electricity being on for four consecutive days, but not ignoring the multiple points of violence- 8 Iraqi police and 3 GIs killed, a Spanish military attache killed outside of his home.
Iraqis Just Say No to Turks:
The US-created Governing Council broke with the Administration in saying they didn’t want their neighbors to be amongst the occupiers, in fact clarifying that they wanted no neighboring country to directly participate in the peace process / reconstruction. “No Iraqi politician supports the Washington-Ankara decision.”
More at http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3218,36-337295,0.html
PBS Frontline More confirmation fro this week's program, first aired last night… of lack of anticipation/preparation, of the power of the Wolfowitz/Chalabi propagandizing. When interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air, the producer shrank from asserting that “lies” were told to facilitate the invasion, instead expressing befuddlement as to ‘how they reached their conclusions’ that Saddam was a threat. Of course we have been hearing this material from other sources, but nice to have PBS cover it, however belatedly. It’s being repeated; more info. at www.pbs.org.
Mysterious Deaths: UPI’s Mark Benjamin focuses on unexplained blood clots which are among the reasons a number of U.S. soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom have died from sudden illnesses. In addition to NBC News Correspondent David Bloom, who died in April of a blood clot in his lung after collapsing south of Baghdad, the Pentagon has told families that blood clots caused two soldiers to collapse and die. At least eight other soldiers have also collapsed and died from what the military has described as non-combat-related causes.
A disturbing parallel has also surfaced: soldiers becoming ill or dying from similar ailments in the United States. In some cases, the soldiers, their families and civilian doctors blame vaccines given to them by the military, particularly the anthrax or smallpox shots.
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031006-113325-5591r
What’s Happening, Afghanistan
Foreign press sources have been noting the growing power of the Taliban and assert that major battles may lie ahead. The Taliban have been mobilizing in Pakistan, allegedly with the support of Pakistani religious parties, the local drug mafia and al-Qaeda. The Pakistani government denies charges that they too are again offering considerable support. Add to that “fierce warlord battles” (BBC), Osama still loose on the border…
The Nation has more at http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/Oct-2003/9/main/top2.asp
Krugman: Could cite him on a regular basis. From today’s:
Still, some would say that criticism should focus only on Mr. Bush's policies, not on his person. But no administration in memory has made paeans to the president's character — his "honor and integrity" — so central to its political strategy. Nor has any previous administration been so determined to portray the president as a hero, going so far as to pose him in line with the heads on Mount Rushmore, or arrange that landing on the aircraft carrier. Surely, then, Mr. Bush's critics have the right to point out that the life story of the man inside the flight suit isn't particularly heroic — that he has never taken a risk or made a sacrifice for the sake of his country, and that his business career is a story of murky deals and insider privilege.
In the months after 9/11, a shocked nation wanted to believe the best of its leader, and Mr. Bush was treated with reverence. But he abused the trust placed in him, pushing a partisan agenda that has left the nation weakened and divided. Yes, I know that's a rude thing to say. But it's also the truth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/10/opinion/10KRUG.html?pagewanted=print&position
-R
Despite the Administration’s spin, the Kay report on Iraq's WMD makes clear that
(1) Despite his “intentions”, Saddam couldn’t develop weapons of mass destruction because of the UN sanctions and the inspections.
(2) Weapons that existed in 1991 no longer existed-: Multiple sources with varied access and reliability have told ISG [the Iraq Survey Group] that Iraq did not have a large, ongoing centrally controlled CW [chemical weapons] program after 1991. … Iraq's large-scale capability to develop, produce, and fill new CW munitions was reduced—if not entirely destroyed—during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Fox [Clinton's 1998 airstrikes], 13 years of UN sanctions and UN inspections. (from the Kay Report)
WMD Shifting claims:
The transformation: “Imminent threat” became “WMD program” which became “intention to re-begin a program”. So, Bush could say yesterday in New Hampshire that we went to war because Saddam was evil and that he “desired” weapons. And Condi Rice, speaking to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations…
We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11th attacks. Yet the possibility remained that he might use his weapons of mass destruction or that terrorists might acquire such weapons from his regime, to mount a future attack far beyond the scale of 9/11.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031008-4.html
Intelligence Community Ticked Off
ABCNews.com noted how furious ex-CIA officers are with the Administration’s leak of Valerie Plame’s identity. They were already upset with the selective use of intelligence and the pressuring of analysts to “find” data to fit the pre-existing conclusion of ‘Saddam has wmd!’. Now, the fear is that taking any positions contrary to the Administration’s line will result in an agent’s outing.
Speaking to Nightline on condition of anonymity, with her voice digitally manipulated to avoid recognition, an undercover intelligence officer said the implications of the leak were grim.
"Just a few months ago, this administration went out of its way to tell us how important human intelligence is," she said. "We cannot find Saddam Hussein because we have no human intelligence. We cannot find Osama bin Laden because there is no human intelligence. And here you are, you have a case officer who is gathering human intelligence, who is running agents, and here you are exposing her and everyone that she came in contact with."
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/nightline/US/cia031006_leak.html
What’s Happening, Iraq: More P.R.
It’s a full-time sell job. You can't downplay the effectiveness of lies that are repeatedly put forth. They call for repetitive counters. The media are only partly buying in, playing up the electricity being on for four consecutive days, but not ignoring the multiple points of violence- 8 Iraqi police and 3 GIs killed, a Spanish military attache killed outside of his home.
Iraqis Just Say No to Turks:
The US-created Governing Council broke with the Administration in saying they didn’t want their neighbors to be amongst the occupiers, in fact clarifying that they wanted no neighboring country to directly participate in the peace process / reconstruction. “No Iraqi politician supports the Washington-Ankara decision.”
More at http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3218,36-337295,0.html
PBS Frontline More confirmation fro this week's program, first aired last night… of lack of anticipation/preparation, of the power of the Wolfowitz/Chalabi propagandizing. When interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air, the producer shrank from asserting that “lies” were told to facilitate the invasion, instead expressing befuddlement as to ‘how they reached their conclusions’ that Saddam was a threat. Of course we have been hearing this material from other sources, but nice to have PBS cover it, however belatedly. It’s being repeated; more info. at www.pbs.org.
Mysterious Deaths: UPI’s Mark Benjamin focuses on unexplained blood clots which are among the reasons a number of U.S. soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom have died from sudden illnesses. In addition to NBC News Correspondent David Bloom, who died in April of a blood clot in his lung after collapsing south of Baghdad, the Pentagon has told families that blood clots caused two soldiers to collapse and die. At least eight other soldiers have also collapsed and died from what the military has described as non-combat-related causes.
A disturbing parallel has also surfaced: soldiers becoming ill or dying from similar ailments in the United States. In some cases, the soldiers, their families and civilian doctors blame vaccines given to them by the military, particularly the anthrax or smallpox shots.
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031006-113325-5591r
What’s Happening, Afghanistan
Foreign press sources have been noting the growing power of the Taliban and assert that major battles may lie ahead. The Taliban have been mobilizing in Pakistan, allegedly with the support of Pakistani religious parties, the local drug mafia and al-Qaeda. The Pakistani government denies charges that they too are again offering considerable support. Add to that “fierce warlord battles” (BBC), Osama still loose on the border…
The Nation has more at http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/Oct-2003/9/main/top2.asp
Krugman: Could cite him on a regular basis. From today’s:
Still, some would say that criticism should focus only on Mr. Bush's policies, not on his person. But no administration in memory has made paeans to the president's character — his "honor and integrity" — so central to its political strategy. Nor has any previous administration been so determined to portray the president as a hero, going so far as to pose him in line with the heads on Mount Rushmore, or arrange that landing on the aircraft carrier. Surely, then, Mr. Bush's critics have the right to point out that the life story of the man inside the flight suit isn't particularly heroic — that he has never taken a risk or made a sacrifice for the sake of his country, and that his business career is a story of murky deals and insider privilege.
In the months after 9/11, a shocked nation wanted to believe the best of its leader, and Mr. Bush was treated with reverence. But he abused the trust placed in him, pushing a partisan agenda that has left the nation weakened and divided. Yes, I know that's a rude thing to say. But it's also the truth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/10/opinion/10KRUG.html?pagewanted=print&position
-R
