Another reason why Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., needs to do a thorough and honest job with his “phase two” report on the use of prewar intelligence information: German intelligence officials repeatedly warned the Bush administration not to trust Curveball, the code-named Iraqi defector who was the chief source of inaccurate claims that Iraq had a biological weapons arsenal, the Los Angeles Times reported. But not only did the Bush administration still use this information, without any qualifications, when making its public case for war, it exaggerated and mischaracterized Curveball’s claims, making the possible Iraqi threat seem more dire, the Germans said.
Is this true? Roberts needs to investigate this charge and, as he has promised, let the chips fall where they may.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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15 Comments
How long will Kansans let our representative NOT do their job. Roberts stonewalling on the “phase two” proves he’s not OUR interests in heart.If there was no reason for phase two, then there wouldn’t be people calling him to finish his job.
Bush was only looking for excuses to do what the cabal in the White House had already decided. That there was going to be a war in Iraq. That had been PNAC’s plan since 1996.
Anything that could possibly be twisted into an “excuse for war” was welcome news. And that information would be “tailored” to suit their needs.
“Terrorism” was a farce they had pulled off without a hitch, thanks to the Israelis who invented it, so this “war” ought to be a “walk in the park.” And it was.
The White House made it “un-American” to oppose the “war” and those that did were quickly labeled as being unpatriotic.
If you didn’t have a “yellow sticker” on the back of your car you could be a “terrorist” or “support terrorism.” You might even be “linked” to al-quiada and get your balls twisted-off at Gitmo.
Ariel Sharon was grinning from ear to ear, watching ole “Georgie-boy” dropping “Daisy-Cutters” on all those “terrorists” in Iraq { only Sharon called them “tarrrarists” }.
A “terrorist” is anybody who shoots back, or for the sake of not having any big weapons uses himself as a weapon { in which case his religion comes into play }.
But even the “press” came to the rescue of using the misnomer of “terrorists” and started called them “insurgents” which is really close to what “they” really are: “Iraqis” who don’t like being invaded, bombed, families killed, children killed, wifes killed, parents killed, or entire towns where the live turned into “rubble.”
Now if “Roberts” needs some briefing about the “war,” I’d be more than happy to tell where to go {to find whatever he needs to do his job }.
I just can’t help being such a nice guy.
Roberts might think about getting as far away from Bush as he can { something about going down with the ship? }.
History shows Bush has a challenge ahead of himBy Richard Benedetto, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — When a president falls below 40% approval in public opinion polls — as President Bush has done twice in the past two months — it’s usually a sign of serious political danger.
Ed: I think that the public is trying to match Bush’s IQ with his approval rating. But if that’s the case, then it’s looking like they still have a long way to go.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-24-bush-history_x.htm
Note: USA Today is a pro-war, pro-Bush, pro PNAC, pro rotten egg newspaper.
They’re actually comparing Bush to Ronald Reagan.
{ I’m sending them one of my “hotter” e-mails. { a real smoker }
Ed–I agree.
“Roberts needs to give HONEST accounting” . . . well, there’s the problem.
Nothing was honest about this rush to war from day one. Roberts knows this. An honest accounting means everybody says they ginned up evidence and cherry picked sources to support a foregone conclusion.
In other words, they all admit they lied.
“There is NO DOUBT that Saddam Hussein has Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Dick, you can’t say “no doubt,” if there is still some doubt. Even if you believe it, that’s a lie, because you’re making people believe something that can’t be known.
For Roberts to give an HONEST accounting, he would have to become an honest man.
That doesn’t seem to likely given past events, now does it?
Pat Roberts dig for an honest accounting?! Don’t hold your breath! He is a toady for the Bush administration and their PNAC cronies. We won’t get any REAL investigation until Roberts is replaced.
Report: US didn’t want Al Qaeda members to testify in Padilla case
Evidence linking Padilla to ‘dirty bomb’ plot may have been obtained under ‘harsh questioning.’
By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com
Several reasons have been given for the US government’s decision this week not to include charges of ties to Al Qaeda or the plans to build a ‘dirty bomb’ in its indictment against US citizen Jose Padilla. The New York Times Thursday quoted unnamed current and former government sources say one of those reasons may be that it was unwilling to allow the testimony of the two Al Qaeda members who linked Mr. Padilla to the above plot because the two men may have been ’subjected to harsh questioning.’The Qaeda members were Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, believed to be the mastermind of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Abu Zubaydah, a top recruiter, who gave their accounts to American questioners in 2002 and 2003. The two continue to be held in secret prisons by the CIA, whose internal reviews have raised questions about their treatment and credibility, the officials said.http://csmonitor.com/2005/1125/dailyUpdate.html
Al-Jazeera executive seeks urgent meeting with Blair
THE GUARDIAN , LONDONSaturday, Nov 26, 2005,Page 6
Advertising A senior executive of the Arabic news channel, al-Jazeera, is seeking an urgent meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair over a report that US President George W. Bush discussed bombing the satellite channel’s headquarters in Qatar.Wadah Khanfar, al-Jazeera’s director general, is flying to Britain this weekend after newspaper reports that Bush made the comments during a face-to-face meeting with Blair at the White House on April 16 last year.
Bush’s alleged comments about bombing al-Jazeera’s building in Doha are reported to be contained in a note of the meeting. The UK attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, has warned newspapers they could be charged under the Official Secrets Act if they publish further material from the note. In the UK House of Commons yesterday, the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) David Heath said Lord Goldsmith had threatened editors with the Official Secrets Act to prevent government embarrassment rather than protect national security.
The attorney general’s warning was “not on the grounds of national security but on the grounds of potential embarrassment to the prime minister or to any presidents he happens to have conversations with,” he said.
Fatima Ayoub, 4, daughter of late Jordanian al-Jazeera satellite channel correspondent Tariq Ayoub, holds a picture of her father during a protest in Amman on Thursday.PHOTO: AFPGeoff Hoon, the leader of the Commons, replied that Lord Goldsmith had a “legal responsibility.” He added: “It is done only in certain limited circumstances. But it is an important power that needs exercising from time to time.”
The former defense minister Peter Kilfoyle last night tabled a Commons motion saying MPs were “appalled” by Bush’s reported comments and Blair’s apparent failure to restrain him by persuading him to moderate US tactics in Iraq. He said any note of the White House meeting should be published.
Ahmed el-Sheik, al-Jazeera’s editor in chief, also called on the British government to release a memo on the meeting.
“Leaving things vague is terrifying,” he said. “The British government has to explain — was it a serious talk or was it a joke?”
The White House meeting, in April last year, took place at a time British officials and military commanders were appalled by US tactics in Iraq, particularly the assault on Fallujah. Pictures shown on al-Jazeera of the attack infuriated US generals, who accused the station of broadcasting anti-US propaganda. General Kimmet, the US commander, was reported to have demanded the removal of al-Jazeera journalists from Fallujah.
Al-Jazeera staff yesterday held protests demanding an investigation into the reports. At the station’s HQ in Doha, Qatar, they held pictures of Sami al-Haj, a colleague who is an inmate at Guantanamo Bay, and Tarek Ayoub, an al-Jazeera journalist killed in April 2003 when a US missile hit his office in Baghdad. The US state department said the air strike was a mistake.
In November 2002 al-Jazeera’s office in Kabul, Afghanistan, was destroyed by a US missile.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/11/26/2003281835
George W. Bush is a liar and a murderer. Bush needs to be “removed” as President of the United States of America for conduct unbecoming of the office of the Presidency.
Congress should do it duty. Impeachment should begin forthwith.
Last Updated: Saturday, 26 November 2005, 10:12 GMT
Al-Jazeera calls for No 10 talksAl-Jazeera journalists stage a protest over the memo at their Qatar HQThe head of al-Jazeera is delivering a letter to Tony Blair demanding the facts on reports that President Bush suggested bombing the Arab TV station.He wants a memo published which is alleged to show Tony Blair dissuaded President Bush from bombing its HQ.
Last week the Daily Mirror reported what it said was the contents of a memo showing Mr Blair had talked the US President out of the attack last year.
Wadah Khanfar is calling for the facts to be made public and urgent talks.
We demand a proper explanation and we would like to know the facts about this letter
Wadah KhanfarAl-Jazeera head
Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has warned newspaper editors against publication, citing the Official Secrets Act.
According to press reports, the memo includes a transcript record of Mr Blair attempting in April 2004 to persuade Mr Bush not to bomb al-Jazeera’s HQ in Qatar.
Qatar is an ally of the US and was the location of US military headquarters during the Iraq war.
The White House dismissed reports of the conversation as “outlandish”, but US officials have openly accused al-Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for al-Qaeda.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Mr Khanfar said: “Al- Jazeera is in the foremost of free form and democracy in the Arab world and therefore this news that we have heard is very concerning.
“So we demand a proper explanation and we would like to know the facts about this letter.”
Political embarrassment
He said the matter was very important and that it concerned not only al-Jazeera but journalists across the world.
“We need to know if this discussion has taken place or not…if this document exists or not.
“By banning this document from being published it does cast a lot of concerns about this issue.
“When we are talking about bombing a TV station like that I think it is of historical value to know what’s happened.”
He said al-Jazeera had also asked the White House for an explanation.
Downing Street said on Friday that it was quite happy to talk to al-Jazeera as it was to other broadcasters.
Clarifying his position, Lord Goldsmith said he had not been seeking to gag newspapers and had instead been urging them to take legal advice.
“I am acting in my independent role, this is not the Government acting … it is me acting in my independent role to protect the administration of justice, because there is a live case going on at the moment which mustn’t be prejudiced, and secondly to protect the law.”
‘Deliberately targeted’
Cabinet Office civil servant David Keogh has been charged under the Official Secrets Act of passing the memo to former Labour MP Tony Clarke’s researcher Leo O’Connor.
Both men are due to appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court next week.
Last week Labour MP and former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle tabled a Commons motion calling for the memo to be made public.
He accused ministers of using the Official Secrets Act to save political embarrassment rather than protect national security as it is intended.
Mutual suspicion
Lord Goldsmith also denied the Act was being used to prevent political embarrassment.
“It is not being used to save the embarrassment of a politician. That is completely not the case at all.”
He also refused to confirm the contents of the memo.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says this latest row follows a history of tension and mutual suspicion between al-Jazeera and the US administration.
Many of al-Jazeera’s employees have long been privately convinced that their offices in Kabul and Baghdad were deliberately targeted by the Pentagon in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4472648.stm
George W. Bush is a liar and a murderer. Bush needs to be “removed” as President of the United States of America for conduct unbecoming of the office of the Presidency.
Congress should do its duty. Impeachment should begin forthwith.
Ed–I don’t understand the controversy about whether Bush wanted to attack Al Jazeera or not.
Our armed forces ALREADY bombed Al Jazeera and killed a cameraman posted on the roof of their building.
Bush’s response–”it’s a war zone.”
Fits a pattern, doesn’t it?
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