Ok ok ok back to the thread topic for a moment:
Forgery, Hyperbole, Half-Truth
March 18, 2003
MEMORANDUM FOR: The President
FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
apart from what happened to President Johnson, the Vietnam War was the most serious US foreign policy blunder in modern timesâ¦until now.
Forgery
In your state-of-the-union address you spoke of Iraqâs pre-1991 focus on how to âenrich uranium for a bombâ and added, âthe British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.â No doubt you have now been told that this information was based on bogus correspondence between Iraq and Niger. Answering a question on this last week, Secretary Powell concededâwith neither apology nor apparent embarrassmentâthat the documents in question, which the US and UK had provided to the UN to show that Iraq is still pursuing nuclear weapons, were forgeries. Powell was short: âIf that information is inaccurate, fine.â
But it is anything but fine. This kind of episode inflicts serious damage on US credibility abroadâthe more so, as it appears neither you nor your advisers and political supporters are in hot pursuit of those responsible."
Who Did It? Who Cares!
Last week Wisconsin Congressman Dave Obey cited a recent press report suggesting that a foreign government might be behind the forgeries as part of an effort to build support for military action against Iraq and asked Secretary Powell if he could identify that foreign government. Powell said he could not do so âwith confidence.â Nor did he appear in the slightest interested.
We think you should be. In the absence of hard evidence one looks for those with motive and capability. The fabrication of false documentation, particularly what purports to be official correspondence between the agencies of two governments, is a major undertaking requiring advanced technical skills normally available only in a sophisticated intelligence service. And yet the forgeries proved to be a sloppy piece of work.
Hyperbole
The forgery aside, the administrationâs handling of the issue of whether Iraq is continuing to develop nuclear weapons has done particularly severe damage to US credibility. On October 7 your speechwriters had you claim that Iraq might be able to produce a nuclear weapon in less than a year. Formal US intelligence estimates, sanitized versions of which have been made public, hold that Iraq will be unable to produce a nuclear weapon until the end of the decade, if then. In that same speech you claimed that âthe evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons programââa claim reiterated by Vice President Cheney on Meet the Press on March 16.
Reporting to the UN Security Council in recent months, UN chief nuclear inspector Mohammed ElBaradei has asserted that the inspectors have found no evidence that Iraq has reconstituted its nuclear weapons program.
In Sum
What conclusions can be drawn from the above? Simply that forgery, hyperbole, and half-truths provide a sandy foundation from which to launch a major war.
more details: http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/article.asp?id=558
Ex-CIA Officers Questioning Iraq Data
http://truthout.org/docs_03/031703F.shtml
Agency disavows report on Iraq arms
The International Atomic Energy Agency says that a report cited by President Bush as evidence that Iraq in 1998 was "six months away" from developing a nuclear weapon does not exist. Top Stories
"There's never been a report like that issued from this agency," Mark Gwozdecky, the IAEA's chief spokesman, said yesterday in a telephone interview from the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020927-500715.htm
But why let the truth stand in front of all the deceptions??
How many times did we hear on all the major news... SH is 6 months away from building nukes??? how many times did we hear the truth about the report? ZERO
These are truly sad times
I want my country back and what IT USED to stand for!!!
Forgery, Hyperbole, Half-Truth
March 18, 2003
MEMORANDUM FOR: The President
FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
apart from what happened to President Johnson, the Vietnam War was the most serious US foreign policy blunder in modern timesâ¦until now.
Forgery
In your state-of-the-union address you spoke of Iraqâs pre-1991 focus on how to âenrich uranium for a bombâ and added, âthe British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.â No doubt you have now been told that this information was based on bogus correspondence between Iraq and Niger. Answering a question on this last week, Secretary Powell concededâwith neither apology nor apparent embarrassmentâthat the documents in question, which the US and UK had provided to the UN to show that Iraq is still pursuing nuclear weapons, were forgeries. Powell was short: âIf that information is inaccurate, fine.â
But it is anything but fine. This kind of episode inflicts serious damage on US credibility abroadâthe more so, as it appears neither you nor your advisers and political supporters are in hot pursuit of those responsible."
Who Did It? Who Cares!
Last week Wisconsin Congressman Dave Obey cited a recent press report suggesting that a foreign government might be behind the forgeries as part of an effort to build support for military action against Iraq and asked Secretary Powell if he could identify that foreign government. Powell said he could not do so âwith confidence.â Nor did he appear in the slightest interested.
We think you should be. In the absence of hard evidence one looks for those with motive and capability. The fabrication of false documentation, particularly what purports to be official correspondence between the agencies of two governments, is a major undertaking requiring advanced technical skills normally available only in a sophisticated intelligence service. And yet the forgeries proved to be a sloppy piece of work.
Hyperbole
The forgery aside, the administrationâs handling of the issue of whether Iraq is continuing to develop nuclear weapons has done particularly severe damage to US credibility. On October 7 your speechwriters had you claim that Iraq might be able to produce a nuclear weapon in less than a year. Formal US intelligence estimates, sanitized versions of which have been made public, hold that Iraq will be unable to produce a nuclear weapon until the end of the decade, if then. In that same speech you claimed that âthe evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons programââa claim reiterated by Vice President Cheney on Meet the Press on March 16.
Reporting to the UN Security Council in recent months, UN chief nuclear inspector Mohammed ElBaradei has asserted that the inspectors have found no evidence that Iraq has reconstituted its nuclear weapons program.
In Sum
What conclusions can be drawn from the above? Simply that forgery, hyperbole, and half-truths provide a sandy foundation from which to launch a major war.
more details: http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/article.asp?id=558
Ex-CIA Officers Questioning Iraq Data
http://truthout.org/docs_03/031703F.shtml
Agency disavows report on Iraq arms
The International Atomic Energy Agency says that a report cited by President Bush as evidence that Iraq in 1998 was "six months away" from developing a nuclear weapon does not exist. Top Stories
"There's never been a report like that issued from this agency," Mark Gwozdecky, the IAEA's chief spokesman, said yesterday in a telephone interview from the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020927-500715.htm
But why let the truth stand in front of all the deceptions??
How many times did we hear on all the major news... SH is 6 months away from building nukes??? how many times did we hear the truth about the report? ZERO
These are truly sad times
I want my country back and what IT USED to stand for!!!
More fictitious claims & halftruths? 