August 5, 2008 2:41 PM
Book claims White House/CIA ordered phony letter on Iraq/al Qaeda ties
A letter purportedly from a former Iraqi intelligence chief written to Saddam Hussein was a fake ordered by the White House and CIA to rally support for going to war against Iraq, claims a new book.
The White House denies it.
The allegation was raised by Washington-based journalist Ron Suskind in a new book, "The Way of the World," published Tuesday. The letter supposedly was written by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, director of Iraqi intelligence under Saddam Hussein."The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001," Suskind wrote. "It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al-Qaida, something the vice president's office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq. There is no link."
Suskind said the letter's existence had been reported before, and that it had been treated as if it were genuine.
Denying the report, White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said, "The notion that the White House directed anyone to forge a letter from Habbush to Saddam Hussein is absurd."
Fratto and former CIA Director George Tenet also rejected Suskind's allegation that the U.S. had credible intelligence, before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, that Saddam did not possess weapons of mass destruction. It was supposedly British intelligence, based on information from a senior Iraqi official.
While the letter did receive significant attention when it surfaced, it was debunked by, among others, Newsweek.
A widely publicized Iraqi document that purports to show that September 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta visited Baghdad in the summer of 2001 is probably a fabrication that is contradicted by U.S. law-enforcement records showing Atta was staying at cheap motels and apartments in the United States when the trip presumably would have taken place, according to U.S. law enforcement officials and FBI documents.The new document, supposedly written by the chief of the Iraqi intelligence service, was trumpeted by the Sunday Telegraph of London earlier this week in a front-page story that broke hours before the dramatic capture of Saddam Hussein. TERRORIST BEHIND SEPTEMBER 11 STRIKE WAS TRAINED BY SADDAM, ran the headline on the story written by Con Coughlin, a Telegraph correspondent and the author of the book "Saddam: The Secret Life."
Coughlin's account was picked up by newspapers around the world and was cited the next day by New York Times columnist William Safire. But U.S. officials and a leading Iraqi document expert tell NEWSWEEK that the document is most likely a forgery--part of a thriving new trade in dubious Iraqi documents that has cropped up in the wake of the collapse of Saddam's regime.
Who do you believe?
August 5, 2008
3:21 PM
Tbone writes:
Can we impeach yet?
-or-
Will somebody give this guy a damn blowjob so we can impeach?
August 5, 2008
3:51 PM
40acresandmymuleandNAMvetbennies writes:
This is true. Perjury and forgery are staples of the GOP. GWB, aided and GHWB, forged GWB's phony airman) military discharge documents. John "fossilized-felon" McBush (accepted $112K political bribe from Charles Keating) forged and perjured his state and federal election applications, and his "top-secret" military security clearance application. All 3 applications asked McBush the following question, "have ever been convicted of, or "COMMITTED" a felony offense? McBush answered, "NO"! Lying, liars, and the lies they tell.
SCOTUS Justice Sam "Affirmative Action" Alito is a GWB UCMJ felonious clone. Alito blew off his military service too. Alito never served his 11 years US Army obligated active military duty. Alito used his federal law clerk's job as his "ruse" for FORGETTING his military service.
Black Cong. Jefferson (accpeted $90K bribe from his Nigerian homies) is probably scratching his head, given his looming federal prison sentence. Obama to the rescue? When pigs fly! Where is Jesse and his adjustment tool?
August 5, 2008
3:51 PM
DR writes:
Of course, the White House and CIA are denying it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080805/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_iraq;_ylt=AkMsJXeaqT8ZmvfX2igfn0qs0NUE
And maybe it's not true at all. But in my experience, I have learned that the old saying "Where there's smoke, there's fire" is more reliable than not. I hope investigators and law enforcement keep looking, and if this document is valid, that they find it with all due speed.
Tbone - we should have impeached the bastard when he failed on his promise to "protect and defend the Constitution, against all enemies both foreign and domestic", when he submitted the (un)Patriot Act to Congress, as well as every Senator and Representative that voted to approve it.
August 5, 2008
4:16 PM
DenverGuy writes:
This may or may not be true. But what we definitely know is that everyone who spoke on behalf of the administration went out of their way to try to create an association between Iraq and 9/11. They wanted a war with Iraq, for whatever purpose, and they were doing all they could to get America on board.
When I saw the administration’s arguments for war, they seemed rather slim. But I thought they must know something that I didn’t know because they seemed so dedicated to going to war.
I was naive but now I realize that you can’t trust the motives or competence of your leaders, especially when they start calling anyone who questions them traitors. This is why we need openness in our democracy.
August 5, 2008
4:24 PM
SASQUATCH writes:
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
August 5, 2008
4:27 PM
Its time to hold these guys accountable writes:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-suskind/the-forged-iraqi-letter-w_b_117056.html
"the White House ordered the CIA to carry out a deception. The mission: create a handwritten letter, dated July, 2001, from Habbush to Saddam saying that Atta trained in Iraq before the attacks and the Saddam was buying yellow cake for Niger with help from a "small team from the al Qaeda organization."
The mission was carried out, the letter was created, popped up in Baghdad, and roiled the global newcycles in December, 2003 (conning even venerable journalists with Tom Brokaw). The mission is a statutory violation of the charter of CIA, and amendments added in 1991, prohibiting CIA from conduction disinformation campaigns on U.S. soil"
August 5, 2008
4:32 PM
jay writes:
no surprises that there aren't any conservative regulars posting on this one.
remember this when you consider a vote for mcsame.
August 5, 2008
4:33 PM
Tbone writes:
I've got it!
Sasquach, since you think its no big deal that the freaking president LIED so over 4000 US troops could be killed, I've got the perfect solution.
YOU can give bush a blow job.
Then we can chimpeach for sure.
August 5, 2008
5:03 PM
Big_D writes:
News flash for the conservative right! The rest of us have already accepted that the GOP is a treasonous POS. Heck they have been working both sides since Iran. You think the ties between the Saudi family and the Bush family are just coincidence? The secret is to wrap yourself in the flag before committing treason.
August 5, 2008
5:05 PM
Oh Really? writes:
Repubs lying? No, can't be so!
August 5, 2008
5:30 PM
ML writes:
You nailed it, Jay! I don't expect we'll be hearing from Shaggy or Sasquatch on this one. The truth hurts, I guess.
August 5, 2008
6:41 PM
Tree writes:
I expect nothing less from Shrub and the gang. They did a bidness' deal, used our military to back it up. "Hell, I've known that for 10 years" - Bob Seger. And that's not all, they found a way to tank our country, run up our national debt so high we can't count it, weaken the dollar to a peso, deregulate the mortgage industry so lending turned out to be legalized stealing from the cash register, ingore stem cell research by caving into the Dobson and the gang, introducing an energy policy designed by Enron called double the price-twice as nice, don't forget about firing all the state atty generals and appointing 30 yr old foot soldier graduates of some jackass christian I'm related to the Shrub dictatorship somehow cracker jack box I'm not really a law school. And people want vote for McInsane why? Why Shaggy...what makes you tick...what's the advantage you get out screwing yourself day in day out and taking everyone else with you?
August 5, 2008
6:48 PM
jvill writes:
Tbone writes:
I've got it!
Sasquach, since you think its no big deal that the freaking president LIED so over 4000 US troops could be killed, I've got the perfect solution.
YOU can give bush a blow job.
Then we can chimpeach for sure
-----
I suggest Sasquach just enlist.
They are desperate for more troops.
August 6, 2008
7:04 AM
John McCain is in on it too writes:
About John McCain
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0806/S00095.htm
"2001-2003 - Using $100 million allocated by the Act cosponsored by McCain, Ahmed Chalabi’s I.N.C. generated the false intelligence about nonexistent mobile bioweapons labs cited as part of the case for the Iraq invasion. I.N.C. Chalabi’s group was paid $335,000 a month in the lead-up to the Iraq war to gather intelligence"
"McCain’s other role as a propagandist during the lead up to the Iraq War has also been soft-peddled and largely forgotten in recent years, since attention has focused on the middle to endgame “Surge�, for which he is, also, provides the face.
McCain, among others in Congress, repeated without reservation that Saddam Hussein threatened the American heartland with WMD. McCain read the classified version of the October 2002 CIA NIE on Iraq, yet never even hinted at the fact that U.S. intelligence was far from unanimous that Iraq had mobile bioweapons trailers and uranium enrichment facilities claimed by the Bush Administration. According to Politico, Link "
"CONCLUSION
John McCain was very much one of Chalabi’s key mentors in Congress, and along with Joe Lieberman, a vocal purveyor of false information about nonexistent Iraqi WMD. And, it was Congress, as well as the White House, the Pentagon, and the CIA, that was responsible for the Iraq WMD deception.
Responsibility for the Iraq intelligence deception should not for a moment be limited to Chalabi and his Iraqi exiles. About this, Jane Meyer wrote in her New Yorker portrait of Chalabi, “The Manipulator�, Link "
August 6, 2008
8:11 AM
JW writes:
Gotta love Big Foot. Obama says keep your tires filed and change your oil (which does up your gas mileage whatever the idiots bashing this idea say) and he throws a FIT. THAT, apparently, is important enough to spaz out over.
Lying to get us in a war thats killed thousands of Americans and HUNDREDS of thousands Iraqis, and cost us $1 Trillion?
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Awful Jackass.
August 6, 2008
9:18 AM
Shaggy writes:
Just a book.
Just words.
Just someones opinion.
Just an allegation by a Liberal Journalist.
Thats all.
August 6, 2008
10:14 AM
Anonymous writes:
"we should have impeached the bastard when he failed on his promise to "protect and defend the Constitution, against all enemies both foreign and domestic", when he submitted the (un)Patriot Act to Congress, as well as every Senator and Representative that voted to approve it." - DR
Amen brother, amen!!!
"I suggest Sasquach just enlist.
They are desperate for more troops." - Jvill
Ya right, you would have to have balls to enlist and fight. We all know by now that all the NeoCons like Bigfoot are a bunch of chickenhawk cowards who like to talk tough, as long as THEY don't have to do the fighting. Kinda like their hero - G. W. Bush
"Just a book.
Just words.
Just someones opinion.
Just an allegation by a Liberal Journalist.
Thats all." - shaggy
...and probably the truth! But of course you don't care. You hate America and all it should stand for. You just love your "team". I am absolutly sure that if this were the Clinton administration that pulled something like this, the crying from you NeoCon footsoldiers would never end. I can already hear the screams of "treason" from every AM radio propaganda network. It would be all over the news 24-7 and you personally would post this accusation in every post you make from now till the election. I'd ask if you had any shame, but I think we all know the answer to that after reading you idiotic rants for some time now...
This administartion will go down as the worst, treasonis & decietful administration EVER! Think about it. We know ALL this stuff now & the real juicy stuff usually doesn't come out till years later. Bush and Cheney will haunt the GOP for decades, hell... they make Nixon look like a well adjusted choir-boy!!!
Impeach and arrest!
August 6, 2008
10:24 AM
JMH writes:
"we should have impeached the bastard when he failed on his promise to "protect and defend the Constitution, against all enemies both foreign and domestic", when he submitted the (un)Patriot Act to Congress, as well as every Senator and Representative that voted to approve it." - DR
Amen brother, amen!!!
"I suggest Sasquach just enlist.
They are desperate for more troops." - Jvill
Ya right, you would have to have balls to enlist and fight. We all know by now that all the NeoCons like Bigfoot are a bunch of chickenhawk cowards who like to talk tough, as long as THEY don't have to do the fighting. Kinda like their hero - G. W. Bush
"Just a book.
Just words.
Just someones opinion.
Just an allegation by a Liberal Journalist.
Thats all." - shaggy
...and probably the truth! But of course you don't care. You hate America and all it should stand for. You just love your "team". I am absolutly sure that if this were the Clinton administration that pulled something like this, the crying from you NeoCon footsoldiers would never end. I can already hear the screams of "treason" from every AM radio propaganda network. It would be all over the news 24-7 and you personally would post this accusation in every post you make from now till the election. I'd ask if you had any shame, but I think we all know the answer to that after reading you idiotic rants for some time now...
This administartion will go down as the worst, treasonis & decietful administration EVER! Think about it. We know ALL this stuff now & the real juicy stuff usually doesn't come out till years later. Bush and Cheney will haunt the GOP for decades, hell... they make Nixon look like a well adjusted choir-boy!!!
Impeach and arrest!
August 6, 2008
10:33 AM
Kevin J Jones writes:
Remember Dubya's dad was the CIA head.
If true, this is certainly a doozy.
If it's not, then remember the Bush administration's present excuses are pretty horrid:
"The WMD are in Syria, and the war caused the proliferation it was meant to prevent."
"We were duped by a creative Iraqi who made up a story so he could stay in Germany."
"We mistook Saddam's WMD disinformation campaign against Iran as the real thing."
"We didn't fake the evidence, it was some other foreign intelligence agency!"
August 6, 2008
11:34 AM
jay writes:
shaggy, come on now...pouting because you can no longer defend anything on The Track Record isn't going to help.
August 6, 2008
11:57 AM
DR writes:
The true WMD is in the White House.
I wonder how it feels to wake up every morning knowing that you're responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Many would argue that there has been some good in the liberation of the Iraqi people and the removal of a vicious tyrant, and I agree there is probably truth to that position.
But to see if it really is as much a net benefit as we might think will take the clarity provided by time, and seeing what develops after we are no longer there, and what happens in the region afterward.
August 6, 2008
2:42 PM
Anonymous writes:
bush = wmd = war mongering dipshit
yeah, i see your point
August 6, 2008
7:18 PM
jay writes:
Finally: the emergence of the vast left wing conspiracy that was so long overdue.
Congrats Dems. Your tinfoil hats are on order.
August 6, 2008
9:58 PM
MongoLikeCandy writes:
I once wrote a book that claimed McCain has short arms because he's half Oompaloompa. Did you know that he wasn't really held prisoner in the Hanoi Hilton? When the Vietnamese realized they had an Oompaloompa, McCain was forced to make candy in a sweatshop run by some Willy Wonka guy who was in league with the Vietnamese government at the time. He actually spent most of the war in a London suberb making chocolate.
The other Oompaloompas beat him up regularly because he couldn't sing or dance.
It's all true!
I wrote it down and I read it.
I believe everything I read.
Like all you morons here...
August 7, 2008
7:21 AM
Brian in Evans writes:
Kucinich's case: the 35 points
Article I
Creating a Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq
Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression
Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War
Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States
Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression
Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114
Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.
Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter
Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor
Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes
Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq
Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources
Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries
Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency
Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq
Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors
Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives
Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy
Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to " Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture
Article XX
Imprisoning Children
Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government
Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws
Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment
Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens
Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements
Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply
Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice
Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare
Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency
Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change
Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.
Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001
Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders
You can look up each one on-line for an in-depth explanation of proof.
August 7, 2008
9:05 AM
MongoLikeCandy writes:
Brian in Evans:
Is that what you really want... the criminalization of politics? Because in essesnce, that's what you're asking for!
If so, then move to Malaysia where the opposition leader was just jailed because he's poised to overthrow the government. Because THAT is the place you will end up if you continue down this road.
August 7, 2008
12:19 PM
Anonymous writes:
mongo, mongo, mongo .... what are you babbling about? ...... what Brian is after is something called 'Justice' .... it's about holding liars accountable when they declare wars without proof ... it's about the treachery and deceit leveled against the American people for the last how many years .... it's about letting politicians know that they WORK FOR US, not the other way around .... it's about enforcing integrity and ethical behavior ... it's about fairness and all that America should and could be ..... it has nothing to do with some schlub in Malaysia who was ready to take an army into the capital to oust someone .... and speaking of criminalization of politics ... no, not politics ..... politicians who lie, cheat, steal, and kill for their own gain
August 7, 2008
2:12 PM
jay writes:
"criminalization of politics"?
why not just accountability.
is that a four letter word amongst conservative ranks these days?
August 7, 2008
11:45 PM
MongoLikeCandy writes:
Anonymous and Jay,
The impeachment stated above is about criminalizing policy. Or are you saying that all politicians who stretch the truth or just plain lie should be impeached? You might as well impeach the whole lot of them... Republicans, Democrats, Congressmen, Senators, Diplomats, the entire CBO, officials at Fannie and Freddie... where would it end? While we're at it, let's dig up JFK and LBJ and impeach them for lying about the threat Vietnam posed the security of the United States of America, and how about officially impeaching FDR for those nasty little Japanese Internment Camps? Maybe Madison should be impeached for continuing the War of 1812 after the initial cause of war, impressment of American seamen, had ceased? Maybe we should impeach all the signers of the Constitution for agreeing to avoid the issue of slavery? It could go on and on and on and on...
While there is a system of checks and balances inherent in our system and nobody should be above the law, TRUE accountability in our republic is held by the populace and exercised through elections. The Republicans lost control of Congress. They will likely lose the White House.
THE END.
August 8, 2008
9:47 AM
Anonymous writes:
mongo, mongo, mongo ....... my, how we do exaggerate and inflate the problems and potential actions in an attempt to make the claim that it's all hopeless to try and hold people accountable, so we may as well just forget about it when it happens now ..... 'impeach the whole lot of them' .... that's a GREAT idea .... .start with the king George and work your way on down .... every last one of them who can be shown to have done things wrong that you and i would be incarcerated for, let their fates befall them as well .... when we demand more of our leaders and representatives, and show we are serious about their ethical and moral standing, we will get more from them and the will of the people will be more properly attained..... as is stands now, we don't expect much, and we don't get much .... c'est la vie ... and so it goes
August 8, 2008
9:38 PM
MongoLikeCandy writes:
Anon:
I guess you didn't glean my meaning... I was being sarcastic about impeaching the whole lot of them... all I'm saying is that in a democratic republic, the FINAL respnsibility for holding our politicians responsible for their actions is with the voters.
And I wouldn't want to live in a nation that would want to impeach every President over policy. I'm sure there's been a multitude of malfeasance in the Oval Office over the centuries... and while much of it COULD be considered criminal, but where do you draw the line?
Sometimes our leaders NEED to make decisions based on incomplete information. Bush may have made the wrong decision, but future Presidents shouldn't have to worry about criminal prosecution for making tough calls in less than ideal circumstances. As for whether or not he knew for a fact there weren't any... there is just no proof that he could know that either.
And Anon, if it were so easy to prove and with a Democrat Congress holding the reins of power, the trial would have started months ago. But the evidence is all hearsay and inuendo and a bunch of "he said, she said." Nixon was done in by tapes with his own voice verifying his knowledge of Watergate. No such smoking gun has ever appeared regarding Bush's knowledge of WMDs. That is why the Dem leadership has not acted. Besides, the Dems are not fools. They know where that slippery road would lead. It's basically a scorched earth policy that would leave the office of the Presidency weakened to the point of irrelevance... just when they are poised to retake it!
So get over it anon and go vote... if you're old enough...
August 8, 2008
9:46 PM
MongoLikeCandy writes:
And anon:
We DID impeach King George, only back then it was called REBELLION by us, TREASON by others.