VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 14:48:48 10/08/02 Tue
Author: Weird_Enigma
Author Host/IP: 209.252.119.62
Subject: Bush lies about Iraq to further his silly warmongering

Bush hawks accused of distortions

Experts list case after case of misleading the public about Iraq
WARREN STROBEL, JONATHAN LANDAY JOHN WALCOTT
Knight Ridder

WASHINGTON - A growing number of military, intelligence and diplomatic leaders have deep misgivings about the Bush administration's march toward war in Iraq.

These officials say administration hawks have publicly exaggerated evidence of the threat that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein poses, including:

• Distorting his links to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

• Overstating the amount of international support for attacking Iraq.

• Downplaying the potential repercussions of a new war in the Middle East.

They also say intelligence analysts are under intense pressure to produce reports supporting the White House's argument against Saddam.

"Analysts at the working level in the intelligence community are feeling very strong pressure from the Pentagon to cook the intelligence books," said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

None of the dissenting officials, who work in a number of different agencies, would agree to speak publicly. But many have long experience in the Middle East and South Asia, and all spoke in similar terms about their unease with the way that U.S. political leaders are dealing with Iraq.

They cited recent suggestions by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice that Saddam and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network are working together.

Rumsfeld said Sept. 26 that the U.S. government has "bulletproof" confirmation of links between Iraq and al-Qaida, including "solid evidence" that al-Qaida maintains a presence in Iraq.

The fact is, intelligence officials said, that Rumsfeld based his statement on intercepted telephone calls, in which an al-Qaida member who apparently was passing through Baghdad was overheard calling friends or relatives, intelligence officials said.

Rumsfeld also suggested the Iraqi regime has offered safe haven to bin Laden and ousted Taliban leader Mohammed Omar.

While technically true, that is misleading.

Intelligence reports said the Iraqi ambassador to Turkey, a longtime Iraqi intelligence officer, made the offer during a visit to Afghanistan in late 1998, after the United States attacked al-Qaida training camps with cruise missiles to retaliate for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

But officials said the same intelligence reports said bin Laden rejected the offer because he didn't want Saddam to control his group.

In fact, the officials said, there's no ironclad evidence that the Iraqi regime and the terrorist network are working together, or that Saddam ever contemplated giving chemical or biological weapons to al-Qaida, with which he has deep ideological differences.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.