Another article concerning the forged Niger uranium documents. It now appears it was known they were fake as early as Feb 2002 and yet the allegation was still used many months later by the US and British governments as “evidence” and by George Bush in his State of the Union speech in January.
“A high-ranking American official who investigated claims for the CIA that Iraq was seeking uranium to restart its nuclear programme last night accused Britain and the US of deliberately ignoring his findings to make the case for war against Saddam Hussein.”
“The retired US ambassador said it was all but impossible that British intelligence had not received his report - drawn up by the CIA - which revealed that documents, purporting to show a deal between Iraq and the west African state of Niger, were forgeries. When he saw similar claims in Britain’s dossier on Iraq last September, he even went as far as telling CIA officials that they needed to alert their British counterparts to his investigation.”
Article is found here
I have wondered in the past how it was possible that a crude forgery that the UN detected as fake within a day supposedly could not be detected by US and British intelligence in months. It seems the answer is of course the forgery was detected. They just didnt care.
I have wondered in the past how it was possible for people to believe everything they read …
The world may never know
This is the most interesting part of the article:
“Though the official’s identity is well-known in Washington - he was on the National Security Council under President Clinton - he asked that his name be withheld at this stage.”
It’s hard to discern precisely your point in this rather incoherent mishmash. The point then is (a) the article is inaccurate per se bec. the source is at present ‘anonymous’? (b) it is amusing the Am. and British governments relied on exagerated and falsied pretenses?
Certainly the fact that there was the cited investigation in 2002 is not in doubt, the main point being in the end how did the Niger claim raise its ugly head after.
seems plain nuff to me, yankee dudes dont want to admit they was taken down the garden path to war, a ring thro thier nose, they was blinded, totally conned, but they just dont want to admit it, not yet…
but thier taxpayers dollars got wasted in war nonetheless, they watched on, crippled by thier imagined need for thier nations security. , as many lifes, mostly the enemies, got wasted by thier WMD hi tech cruise missiles add on and on and on, rained down like tears from a God who weeps over lifes taken, way before thier time, at the whim of a war mad US president, who no longer knows right from wrong, but it dont matter much, the lifes being wasted en masse are not the yankee lifes, dont matter too much huh? - so long as the yankees are safe, is all that matters?
-and thier pretend God, the turd Bush, continues to fool them, suck them dry, lifes blood gone, all in the name of thier freedom,
you got to be kidding me right?
when will the yankees wake up?
begin to share this planets provision insted of continually seeking to dominate and conquer?
Zanthor
Again, as an American constantly frustrated by the American media’s insistence on ignoring the shocking facts surrounding the Bush administration’s unjustifiable push for war in Iraq, I would again like to extend my gratitude to the hardworking, ethical British media for having the cojones to actually cover this story, and to give oxygen to people like Greg Palast.
I’ve heard the story about the forged Niger documents before. I hope this story gets the coverage it ought to, and that the USUK coalition’s activities will be brought to light as the imperial crimes that they were. They committed fraud to accomplish an unclear agenda. Had President Clinton done this, Congress would be calling for impeachment, as well they should. But it’s their man in the Oval Office now; ethics can take a back seat for now, as far as they’re concerned. I can’t remember being this ashamed of my country.
thanks friend, my apologies if i offended, i was pst as a parrot, and pretty pst off at the arrogance our so called world leader, policeman of the world, pretends to care for others, whilst only serving his own needs, above and beyond any genuine concern for the worlds welfare at large.
plus, i was playing with vernacular, liberal use of the orstralian tounge, calling a spade a spade and to heck with it…
but ffs, we were all told - Irak had WMD, ready to be deployed within 45 mins of thier leaders order, where the frig are they?
no where, no hows, but Bush wanted to wage war regardless huh?
for the life of me, cant really be sure, who is the biggest fool, him, for thinking we were so easily fooled, or you for allowing him to con you, or us, for being so powerless to stop you in your folly…
It should be noted that though the source is technically annonymous, we do know several specific things about him ie. that he was a former ambassador to Niger and that he was sent to investigate the Niger uranium papers. This means that administration insiders and probably many Washington insiders in general know exactly who he is. Also not that he has talked to several different journalists including Nick Kristoff of the NY Times and Ackerman and Judis in TNR. As such this is a highly credible source. His story would seem to indicate that the administration deliberately lied about the Niger uranium papers ie. that they knew the papers were forged but went on citing them anyway.
Incidentally this is a truly excellent article in TNR by the above-mentioned Ackerman and Judis which shows in exhaustive detail how the administration went about exaggerating the threat and twisting the evidence on Iraq. If you read just one article about the whole thing read this.
I think the US mainstream media was relatively quiet because there were so few people willing to critisize Bush. The dems were deathly afraid that if they came out strongly on this issue and WMDs were found the next day, they would be killed polically.
In the last few weeks, however, the issue of the justification for the war has been coming to the forefront of media coverage. Even a number of conservative republicans have started to ask some hard questions. The issue appears to be gaining traction and doesn’t look like it is going away anytime soon.
Bush seems to be getting a little worried as well.
For the record Zanthor we were not all fooled. A good many of us saw the evidence for exactly what it was; bullshit. Unfortunately, we were overruled by a leader who couldn’t care less about his opposition (except in an election year, of course).
Any many of us are not pressuring the Congress to hold hearings on the statements by the administration that got us into Iraq in the first place.
If nothing else, we only have to put up with him for a MAXIMUM of 5 more years. I personally am doing everything I can to make sure it only 1 more year.
Whether there is an impeachment, or not, remains to be seen. The congressional members of his party are closing ranks around him right now, but that might not last.
Bob.
PS. Is pst an abbreviation pissed? That’s the way I read it.
For the record Zanthor we were not all fooled. A good many of us saw the evidence for exactly what it was; bullshit. Unfortunately, we were overruled by a leader who couldn’t care less about his opposition (except in an election year, of course).
Any many of us are not pressuring the Congress to hold hearings on the statements by the administration that got us into Iraq in the first place.
If nothing else, we only have to put up with him for a MAXIMUM of 5 more years. I personally am doing everything I can to make sure it only 1 more year, and I am not alone.
Whether there is an impeachment, or not, remains to be seen. The congressional members of his party are closing ranks around him right now, but that might not last.
Bob.
PS. Is pst an abbreviation pissed? That’s the way I read it.
For the record Zanthor we were not all fooled. A good many of us saw the evidence for exactly what it was; bullshit. Unfortunately, we were overruled by a leader who couldn’t care less about his opposition (except in an election year, of course).
And many of us are pressuring the Congress to hold hearings on the statements by the administration that got us into Iraq in the first place.
If nothing else, we only have to put up with him for a MAXIMUM of 5 more years. I personally am doing everything I can to make sure it only 1 more year, and I am not alone.
Whether there is an serious consequence for the administration, or not, remains to be seen. The congressional members of his party are closing ranks around him right now, but that might not last.
Bob.
PS. Is pst an abbreviation pissed? That’s the way I read it.
reads, ‘most’ Americans dont want to believe they waged a totally unjustifyable war, the reasons for which were ‘invented’, (fabricated evidence) it disturbs thier sense of all powerful rightousness, and thier sense that they are masters of thier own or this worlds destiny, not to mention thier craving for national security, or greed for the oils wealth.
this last one is really wierd, thier military lays nations waste, eg Afganistan, Irak etc etc, slaughters ppl by the thousands, destroys others nations infrastucture, installs nothing better in the carnage, pollutes nations with vast amounts of DU radiation, yet expects other nations to love them…
and not retaliate…
it just doesnt add up.
and
reads,
millions upon millions of $US squandered in a slaughter (wont justify it by calling it a war, it was nearly all one-sided) when instead, pouring the money into schools, hospitals, etc, would have been the right thing to do, not starving them for a decade, or seeking to destroy and dominate them.
this is the real issue, America is unwilling to allow any other nation gain wealth, or the technology that could rival thier own, in case one day the other nation may oppose or threaten it, so instead of running the risk of allowing anyone else equality, it undermines, destroys them.
its called pre-emption and it sux!
reminds me of the school bully. had to be boss, right or wrong… grab, squander all the goodies, ( this planets provision ) for himself…
this is how much of the world views America…
and.
for sure man, i realise that a good many Americans knew the ‘war’ was a lie, shouldnt have happened,
but it seems a good many believe that SH was responsible for flying planes into towers too.
its what your leader told them, was it just that they wanted to believe him?
and yes, pst as a parrot drinking fermented juice from tropical fruit, on a hot sunny day, tho in my case it was fruit of the grape vine, vino, but only to excess.
I don’t ever remember seeing this allegation printed or on TV, and I don’t believe that anyone in the administration actually came out and said it (although they may have implied it).
The fact that 30%, or so, of the population believes it is something what we need to deal with over the next few months. Unfortunately, most Americans get their news from reading the front page (if they bother) of the newspaper and the sports section.
