WH responds to Cheney

[JakeStarkey]

That the Dem leadership like the GOP leadership (my party's leadership) like the American people were all bamboozled by the worst military intellligence failure in decades is nothing to be proud of, and it happened on Bush's watch.

You get no glory or honor here, mike.

 

[namvet]

hey libtards where is your beloved VP??? what was his name??? everybody forgot. what happened to him. did he go AWOL last jan ???? he gone. thrown under the bus????

say isn't he the dumb fuck that's looking for an internet number so maybe he's lost in cyber space???? so we have have NO VP. got it

 

[CMike]

Below is an article from the Weekly Standard that details a memo from the Department of Defense, giving at least 50 contacts between Hussein and Al Qaida.

I only posted a few snippets, the article and memo are quite long, it's easier to go to the link and read it.


Case Closed

OSAMA BIN LADEN and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda--perhaps even for Mohamed Atta--according to a top secret U.S. government memorandum obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

...The memo, dated October 27, 2003, was sent from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith to Senators Pat Roberts and Jay Rockefeller, the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

...One such confirmation came in a postwar interview with one of Saddam Hussein's henchmen. As the memo details:


4. According to a May 2003 debriefing of a senior Iraqi intelligence officer, Iraqi intelligence established a highly secretive relationship with Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and later with al Qaeda. The first meeting in 1992 between the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) and al Qaeda was brokered by al-Turabi. Former IIS deputy director Faruq Hijazi and senior al Qaeda leader [Ayman al] Zawahiri were at the meeting--the first of several between 1992 and 1995 in Sudan. Additional meetings between Iraqi intelligence and al Qaeda were held in Pakistan. Members of al Qaeda would sometimes visit Baghdad where they would meet the Iraqi intelligence chief in a safe house. The report claimed that Saddam insisted the relationship with al Qaeda be kept secret. After 9-11, the source said Saddam made a personnel change in the IIS for fear the relationship would come under scrutiny from foreign probes.

...8. Reporting from a well placed source disclosed that bin Laden was receiving training on bomb making from the IIS's [Iraqi Intelligence Service] principal technical expert on making sophisticated explosives, Brigadier Salim al-Ahmed. Brigadier Salim was observed at bin Laden's farm in Khartoum in Sept.-Oct. 1995 and again in July 1996, in the company of the Director of Iraqi Intelligence, Mani abd-al-Rashid al-Tikriti.

...The analysis of those events follows:


The time of the visit from the IIS director was a few weeks after the Khobar Towers bombing. The bombing came on the third anniversary of a U.S. [Tomahawk missile] strike on IIS HQ (retaliation for the attempted assassination of former President Bush in Kuwait) for which Iraqi officials explicitly threatened retaliation.

 

[CMike]

That the Dem leadership like the GOP leadership (my party's leadership) like the American people were all bamboozled by the worst military intellligence failure in decades is nothing to be proud of, and it happened on Bush's watch.

You get no glory or honor here, mike.

That's a pretty fast dance, your dancing.

Who controlled the CIA and DOD when Bill Clinton was president?

 

[JakeStarkey]

The contacts reveal that no "alliance" or design to wage war on America is in the making.

Stop the spinning, Mike. You are deliberately trying to falsify the record.

 

[JakeStarkey]

That the Dem leadership like the GOP leadership (my party's leadership) like the American people were all bamboozled by the worst military intellligence failure in decades is nothing to be proud of, and it happened on Bush's watch.

You get no glory or honor here, mike.

That's a pretty fast dance, your dancing.

Who controlled the CIA and DOD when Bill Clinton was president?

You are spinning like a dervish, mike, but are getting ready to topple. The decision, the wrong decision, was made by Bush and pushed by Cheney. No honor there.

 

[rightwinger]

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security." -- Hillary Clinton, October 10, 2002

"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998

"Saddam Hussein's regime represents a grave threat to America and our allies, including our vital ally, Israel. For more than two decades, Saddam Hussein has sought weapons of mass destruction through every available means. We know that he has chemical and biological weapons. He has already used them against his neighbors and his own people, and is trying to build more. We know that he is doing everything he can to build nuclear weapons, and we know that each day he gets closer to achieving that goal." -- John Edwards, Oct 10, 2002

"I will be voting to give the president of the United States the authority to use force - if necessary - to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." -- John F. Kerry, Oct 2002

"Iraq does pose a serious threat to the stability of the Persian Gulf and we should organize an international coalition to eliminate his access to weapons of mass destruction. Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." -- Al Gore, 2002

Note the dates of the statements by the Democrats

In March 2003. Hans Blix reported

By March 2003, Hans Blix had found no stockpiles of WMD and had made significant progress toward resolving open issues of disarmament noting "proactive" but not always the "immediate" Iraqi cooperation as called for by UN Security Council Resolution 1441. He concluded that it would take “but months” to resolve the key remaining disarmament tasks

In response to the Blix report, George Bush invaded so that he would not lose his justification

Also note that the majority of Democrats in Congress voted against giving Bush authority to invade

 

[JakeStarkey]

mike is deliberately attempting to misconstrue the evidence that Bush was at fault.

Not going to wash at all, mikey, not at all. That is why the great majority of Americans don't trust our party: we betrayed that trust.

 

[CMike]

A little more from the same memo/article. Same link.

According to press reports at the time, Faruq Hijazi, deputy director of Iraqi Intelligence, met with bin Laden in Afghanistan on December 21, 1998, to offer bin Laden safe haven in Iraq. CIA reporting in the memo to the Senate Intelligence Committee seems to confirm this meeting and relates two others.


15. A foreign government service reported that an Iraqi delegation, including at least two Iraqi intelligence officers formerly assigned to the Iraqi Embassy in Pakistan, met in late 1998 with bin Laden in Afghanistan.
16. According to CIA reporting, bin Laden and Zawahiri met with two Iraqi intelligence officers in Afghanistan in Dec. 1998.

17. . . . Iraq sent an intelligence officer to Afghanistan to seek closer ties to bin Laden and the Taliban in late 1998. The source reported that the Iraqi regime was trying to broaden its cooperation with al Qaeda. Iraq was looking to recruit Muslim "elements" to sabotage U.S. and U.K. interests. After a senior Iraqi intelligence officer met with Taliban leader [Mullah] Omar, arrangements were made for a series of meetings between the Iraqi intelligence officer and bin Laden in Pakistan. The source noted Faruq Hijazi was in Afghanistan in late 1998.

18. . . . Faruq Hijazi went to Afghanistan in 1999 along with several other Iraqi officials to meet with bin Laden. The source claimed that Hijazi would have met bin Laden only at Saddam's explicit direction.An analysis that follows No. 18 provides additional context and an explanation of these reports:


Reporting entries #4, #11, #15, #16, #17, and #18, from different sources, corroborate each other and provide confirmation of meetings between al Qaeda operatives and Iraqi intelligence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. None of the reports have information on operational details or the purpose of such meetings. The covert nature of the relationship would indicate strict compartmentation [sic] of operations.
Information about connections between al Qaeda and Iraq was so widespread by early 1999 that it made its way into the mainstream press. A January 11, 1999, Newsweek story ran under this headline: "Saddam + Bin Laden?" The story cited an "Arab intelligence source" with knowledge of contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda. "According to this source, Saddam expected last month's American and British bombing campaign to go on much longer than it did. The dictator believed that as the attacks continued, indignation would grow in the Muslim world, making his terrorism offensive both harder to trace and more effective. With acts of terror contributing to chaos in the region, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait might feel less inclined to support Washington. Saddam's long-term strategy, according to several sources, is to bully or cajole Muslim countries into breaking the embargo against Iraq, without waiting for the United Nations to lift if formally."

23. . . . Iraqi officials were carefully considering offering safe haven to bin Laden and his closest collaborators in Nov. 1999. The source indicated the idea was put forward by the presumed head of Iraqi intelligence in Islamabad (Khalid Janaby) who in turn was in frequent contact and had good relations with bin Laden.
Some of the most intriguing intelligence concerns an Iraqi named Ahmed Hikmat Shakir:


24. According to sensitive reporting, a Malaysia-based Iraqi national (Shakir) facilitated the arrival of one of the Sept 11 hijackers for an operational meeting in Kuala Lumpur (Jan 2000). Sensitive reporting indicates Shakir's travel and contacts link him to a worldwide network of terrorists, including al Qaeda. Shakir worked at the Kuala Lumpur airport--a job he claimed to have obtained through an Iraqi embassy employee.
One of the men at that al Qaeda operational meeting in the Kuala Lumpur Hotel was Tawfiz al Atash, a top bin Laden lieutenant later identified as the mastermind of the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole.


25. Investigation into the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000 by al Qaeda revealed no specific Iraqi connections but according to the CIA, "fragmentary evidence points to possible Iraqi involvement."
26. During a custodial interview, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi [a senior al Qaeda operative] said he was told by an al Qaeda associate that he was tasked to travel to Iraq (1998) to establish a relationship with Iraqi intelligence to obtain poisons and gases training. After the USS Cole bombing in 2000, two al Qaeda operatives were sent to Iraq for CBW-related [Chemical and Biological Weapons] training beginning in Dec 2000. Iraqi intelligence was "encouraged" after the embassy and USS Cole bombings to provide this training.

 

[namvet]

so nonna you numb nuts knows who the current VP is.................halarious

 

[Truthmatters]

snipped nonsense that has nothing to do with the issue

Thus nothing to reply to.

Those "snippets" are your whole democrat leadership saying categorically that Hussein had WMD, that he would use them, and that he needed to be stopped.

I think that's rather relevant to the issue.

How does it prove that Iraq had them when Bush chose to attack the country?

How does it prove that outing a CIA agent who's husband brought back intel right before we went in that prooved the claim of yellowcake by the Bush admin was lies?

Why was it that a huge percent of American citizens thought Sadam did 911 right before we attacked the country even though that was an obvious LIE?

 

[CurveLight]

why did LBJ start a war he couldn't finish or win???? because liberals have no spines or courage to see it thru. and now we have one hiding under his desk. he carries a golf club in one hand and a chicken switch in the other. and a military with very serious doubts if he'll sell them out.

It takes an extremely unbelievably astronomically galactic fucking dumbass to label such a large group as being spineless. You sound like the kind of reject that helped sort mail in Vietnam only to come home and tell tales of heroism that only children and psychotics could accept. Grow the fuck up.

your light is more than curved kid. its bent. here's a clue stupid. we didn't fight for you OR the whore that gave you birth. so go suck a big black one.

Thank you for the confirmation. Fucking coward.

 

[CMike]

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security." -- Hillary Clinton, October 10, 2002

"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998

"Saddam Hussein's regime represents a grave threat to America and our allies, including our vital ally, Israel. For more than two decades, Saddam Hussein has sought weapons of mass destruction through every available means. We know that he has chemical and biological weapons. He has already used them against his neighbors and his own people, and is trying to build more. We know that he is doing everything he can to build nuclear weapons, and we know that each day he gets closer to achieving that goal." -- John Edwards, Oct 10, 2002

"I will be voting to give the president of the United States the authority to use force - if necessary - to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." -- John F. Kerry, Oct 2002

"Iraq does pose a serious threat to the stability of the Persian Gulf and we should organize an international coalition to eliminate his access to weapons of mass destruction. Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." -- Al Gore, 2002

Note the dates of the statements by the Democrats

In March 2003. Hans Blix reported

By March 2003, Hans Blix had found no stockpiles of WMD and had made significant progress toward resolving open issues of disarmament noting "proactive" but not always the "immediate" Iraqi cooperation as called for by UN Security Council Resolution 1441. He concluded that it would take “but months” to resolve the key remaining disarmament tasks

In response to the Blix report, George Bush invaded so that he would not lose his justification

Also note that the majority of Democrats in Congress voted against giving Bush authority to invade

How Iraq conceals and obtains its Weapons of Mass Destruction

How Iraq conceals and obtains its Weapons of Mass Destruction
By Ibrahim al-Marashi

After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein conducted a systematic concealment operation to disrupt the mission of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM), whose mandate was to eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This article surveys and analyzes the different techniques used to fool and foil inspectors so as to conceal continued development or possession of these weapons.

...According to the briefing, Iraq’s strategy has three key objectives. The first objective is for Iraq to demonstrate ostensible “compliance” with UN resolutions. This ostensible compliance is an attempt to undermine the credibility of the need for an inspections regime and then, further, to erode support for continued sanctions. The second objective is to ensure that UN inspectors will not uncover the full scope of Iraq’s WMD and missile programs. The third objective is to obstruct UN inspectors from completely disarming Iraq of its chemical, biological, nuclear, and missile capabilities.(2)

The goals of the concealment apparatus, according to UNSCOM, have been to “retain production capability and the ‘know-how’ documentation necessary to revive programs when possible.”(3) The apparatus has been in charge of concealing the full extent of the nuclear and chemical weapons programs (including the VX project), and retaining the required production equipment and raw materials. In this regard, it has been responsible for the concealment of warheads capable of delivering chemical and biological munitions; indigenous long-range missile production, and retaining guidance systems and missile engines production capability. Finally, this network has been tasked with concealing the very existence of Iraq’s offensive biological weapons program, while retaining all of its necessary production capabilities.(4)

Each intelligence agency has its own special role in this process. The elite Special Security Organization, Amn al-Khas, headed by Saddam’s son Qusay, serves as one of the major command-and-control oversight bodies of this concealment network. General Intelligence, al-Mukhabarat has at least two sub-directorates involved in the concealment effort: a covert operations unit and a covert procurement unit. Military Intelligence (al-Istikhabarat) has a role in the strategic concealment of Iraq’s WMDs, while General Security’s (al-Amn al-‘Amm) military unit, the Emergency Forces (al-Quwwat al-Tawari’), provides security for the facilities that house these programs.

The Special Republican Guard (SRG--al-Haris al-Jamhuri al-Khas) is involved in the transportation, concealment and guarding of military facilities and materials. The al-Hadi agency, which is responsible for monitoring signals intelligence, is believed to eavesdrop on UN inspectors’ communications. One of the most important agencies of all in the concealment operation is the Military Industrial Commission (MIC), which is part of the Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization (MIMI). Both MIMI and MIC oversee Iraq’s military industries and seek to conceal sensitive activities from UN inspectors.(5)

 

[namvet]

It takes an extremely unbelievably astronomically galactic fucking dumbass to label such a large group as being spineless. You sound like the kind of reject that helped sort mail in Vietnam only to come home and tell tales of heroism that only children and psychotics could accept. Grow the fuck up.

your light is more than curved kid. its bent. here's a clue stupid. we didn't fight for you OR the whore that gave you birth. so go suck a big black one.

Thank you for the confirmation. Fucking coward.

you made the shit pie so eat it.

 

[CMike]

Thus nothing to reply to.

Those "snippets" are your whole democrat leadership saying categorically that Hussein had WMD, that he would use them, and that he needed to be stopped.

I think that's rather relevant to the issue.

How does it prove that Iraq had them when Bush chose to attack the country?

How does it prove that outing a CIA agent who's husband brought back intel right before we went in that prooved the claim of yellowcake by the Bush admin was lies?

Why was it that a huge percent of American citizens thought Sadam did 911 right before we attacked the country even though that was an obvious LIE?

It's impossible to prove that Iraq had WMD the moment that the US attacked. However, the US didn't want to wait for the proof in the form of a mushroom cloud over NYC.

I challenge you to find one quote by Pres. Bursh or Cheney that said that Hussein did 911. It won't exist.

Hussein's

1) Support for terrorism

2) His WMD and that he used them

3) His strive to make nuclear weapons

4) His attempt to assassinate a US president

Is more than enough reason for him to be eliminated.

The proof is in the pudding. Since 911 Pres. Bush has kept the US safe for 7 years. This is turn around by Obama, who has been in office for just 1 year, and the US has already had 3 terrorist attack within america during that time.

 

[CMike]

mike is deliberately attempting to misconstrue the evidence that Bush was at fault.

Not going to wash at all, mikey, not at all. That is why the great majority of Americans don't trust our party: we betrayed that trust.

So far I have backed up everything that I said. You have backed up ZERO that you said.

 

[rightwinger]

Those "snippets" are your whole democrat leadership saying categorically that Hussein had WMD, that he would use them, and that he needed to be stopped.

I think that's rather relevant to the issue.

How does it prove that Iraq had them when Bush chose to attack the country?

How does it prove that outing a CIA agent who's husband brought back intel right before we went in that prooved the claim of yellowcake by the Bush admin was lies?

Why was it that a huge percent of American citizens thought Sadam did 911 right before we attacked the country even though that was an obvious LIE?

It's impossible to prove that Iraq had WMD the moment that the US attacked. However, the US didn't want to wait for the proof in the form of a mushroom cloud over NYC.

I challenge you to find one quote by Pres. Bursh or Cheney that said that Hussein did 911. It won't exist.

Hussein's

1) Support for terrorism

2) His WMD and that he used them

3) His strive to make nuclear weapons

4) His attempt to assassinate a US president

Is more than enough reason for him to be eliminated.

The proof is in the pudding. Since 911 Pres. Bush has kept the US safe for 7 years. This is turn around by Obama, who has been in office for just 1 year, and the US has already had 3 terrorist attack within america during that time.

CNN.com - Cheney blasts media on al Qaeda-Iraq link - Jun 18, 2004


Friday, June 18, 2004 Posted: 2:25 AM EDT (0625 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday the evidence is "overwhelming" that al Qaeda had a relationship with Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, and he said media reports suggesting that the 9/11 commission has reached a contradictory conclusion were "irresponsible."

"There clearly was a relationship. It's been testified to. The evidence is overwhelming," Cheney said in an interview with CNBC's "Capitol Report."

"It goes back to the early '90s. It involves a whole series of contacts, high-level contacts with Osama bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence officials."

 

[JimH52]

Bottom line, there was no WMD, no yellow cake. Bush and DICK lied and the GOP has paid by losing the WH and Congress. W should be the hero for the Democratic Party.

So, can you post some more garbage disproving that or that Bush and DICK allowed nearly 4,000 people to die UNDER THEIR WATCH? I bet if you spin that right, with a Flalin Palin touch, you can place the blame somewhere else. Maybe you can't. Just do what Palin would do....QUIT!

 

[namvet]

im so glad Gore didn't win. what a fuck up. he knew less about terrorism than bubba clinton

 

[CurveLight]

Have you heard of fire?



Have you heard of bullets? Have you considered that they might be in Iran or Syria?



There was none that he found. Hussein had months to get rid of them or move them. If you were Hussein you wouldn't want to get rid of it? I would.

There were reports that they were moved to Syria.

Iraq's WMD Secreted in Syria, Sada Says - January 26, 2006 - The New York Sun

Iraq's WMD Secreted in Syria, Sada Says

By IRA STOLL, Staff Reporter of the Sun | January 26, 2006
The man who served as the no. 2 official in Saddam Hussein's air force says Iraq moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the war by loading the weapons into civilian aircraft in which the passenger seats were removed.

The Iraqi general, Georges Sada, makes the charges in a new book, "Saddam's Secrets," released this week. He detailed the transfers in an interview yesterday with The New York Sun.

"There are weapons of mass destruction gone out from Iraq to Syria, and they must be found and returned to safe hands," Mr. Sada said. "I am confident they were taken over."

I'm now going to demonstrate clarity on two issues. The first is the essence of truth. When a truth is within grasp it is impossible to escape its hold.

Citing the claim WMD were moved to Syria is one of the strongest pieces of evidence the goal of the invasion was to confiscate Iraq and not WMD. The reason is painfully obvious. If the goal was to seize weapons in the hands of a terrorism sponsoring State we would have left Iraq and chased the weapons to Syria. So why didn't we? The US State Dept maintains a list of terrorism sponsoring States. There is not a single nation on earth who has had more birthdays on that sheet than Syria.

"Syria has been on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism since the list's inception in 1979. Because of its continuing support and safe haven for terrorist organizations, Syria is subject to legislatively mandated penalties, including export sanctions and ineligibility to receive most forms of U.S. aid or to purchase U.S. military equipment."
Syria (05/07)


When you have to rely on rumors and speculation to maintain your position it is clear caution should be used when making claims. The only thing worse is referencing rumors that, if true, defeats your own argument. If we didn't follow the weapons into Syria we were never following them at all.

1) I doubt the US knew at that time what happened to the WMD

2) If you want to make Syria a target for an american visit I can't agree more. See?
Something we can agree upon

Example: A murderer shoots three people and kills them. He is caught three months later. The gun was not found. That doesn't mean that a gun was never used.

You have Hussein's number two guy in the air force and the chief of intelligence for Israel saying it was moved two Syria.

Oh yeah, and on your side, the brilliant logic is gee well the WMD was not found therefore it didn't exist. Pretty dumb logic.

Oh boy.

It would not matter when the Bush admin learned of the claim. If wmd was the target.....neverfuckingmind.

As for the Iraqi general you reference......he would have been on a noose right next to saddam if he didn't play along with the bush admin. You can have the last word.