RetiredGySgt
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Congress to 'Review' Charges CIA Prepared Forged Iraq, 9/11 Letter
By Jason Leopold
The Public Record
Monday, August 11, 2008
The House Judiciary Committee will review allegations contained in a book published last week by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ron Suskind that the Bush administration in late 2006 ordered the CIA to prepare a forged letter showing a link between Iraq, al-Qaeda and 9/11 to justify the U.S. invasion and ignored credible intelligence reports that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
Mr. Suskind reports that the Bush Administration, in its pursuit of war, created and promoted forged documents about Iraq," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers in a statement late Monday. I am particularly troubled that the decision to disseminate this fabricated intelligence is alleged to have come from the highest reaches of the administration. The administrations attempt to challenge Mr. Suskinds reporting appears to have been effectively dismissed by the publication of the authors interview recordings and transcripts. I have instructed my staff to conduct a careful review of Mr. Suskinds allegations and the role played by senior administration officials in this matter.
Conyers said his committee would also review other claims included in Suskinds book, The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism, such as:
*The origin of the allegedly forged document that formed the basis for Bushs 2003 State of the Union assertion that Iraq sought yellowcake uranium from Niger;
* The role of this document in creating the false impression that 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta had a working relationship with Iraq;
* The relationship between this document and other reported examples of the Bush Administration considering other deceptive schemes to justify or provoke war with Iraq, such as the reported consideration of painting a U.S. aircraft with UN colors in order to provoke Iraq into military confrontation;
* Allegations that the Bush Administration deliberately ignored information from Iraqs chief intelligence officer that Iraq possessed no WMDs;
* The payment of $5 million to Iraqs chief intelligence officer and his secret settlement in Jordan, beyond the reach of investigators;
* The September 2007 detainment and interrogation of Mr. Suskinds research assistant, Greg Jackson, by federal agents in Manhattan. Jacksons notes were also confiscated.
In the acknowledgements to his book, Suskind said Jackson, his research assistant, was detained by federal agents and his notes confiscated but does not provide further detail about the episode.
The allegation that the administration ordered the CIA to prepare a forged letter is significant, according to Suskind, because it may constitute an impeachable offense.
The CIA is prohibited from conducting cover operations intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies or media.
It is not the sort of offense, such as assault or burglary, that carries specific penalties, for example, a fine or jail time, Suskind writes in his book. It is much broader than that. It pertains to the White Houses knowingly misusing an arm of government, the sort of thing generally taken up in impeachment proceedings.
Book Supports Impeachment Articles
The allegations in Suskind's book support charges leveled against President George W. Bush by Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, a former 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, who introduced articles of impeachment against the president in June for deceiving Congress into believing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in order to get lawmakers to back a U.S.-led invasion of the country.
The articles of impeachment were introduced a few days after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a long-awaited report on prewar Iraq intelligence that concluded Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney knowingly misled the public and Congress about Iraq's links to al-Qaeda and the threat the country posed to the United States.
Congress to 'Review' Charges CIA Prepared Forged Iraq, 9/11 Letter
Ya get back to us when there is any real evidence besides the pen of a man trying to sell books, with no facts to speak of.