Cheney again cites discredited document as truth

January 23, 2004

1. Cheney Cites Leaked Intelligence on Iraq-Al Qaeda
   
   In an interview this month, Vice President Dick Cheney touted a report and leaked classified document that the Administration itself has billed "inaccurate" as the basis for his Iraq-Al Qaeda claims.
   
   When questioned about his assertion of a Saddam-Al Qaeda connection, Cheney said, "you ought to go look [at] an article that Stephen Hayes did in the Weekly Standard here a few weeks ago, that goes through and lays out in some detail, based on an assessment that was done by the Department of Defense and forwarded to the Senate Intelligence Committee some weeks ago. That's your best source of information."1
   
   But the article and document Cheney cites was discredited by the Administration as "inaccurate" two months ago, at the time it was published. The Administration also criticized the leak, saying, "Individuals who leak or purport to leak classified information are doing serious harm to national security; such activity is deplorable and may be illegal."2
   
   The Defense Department is not the only agency objecting to the accuracy of the claim. Cheney raised the connection again yesterday, saying, "There's overwhelming evidence there was a connection between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. I am very confident that there was an established relationship there."3 But Secretary of State Colin Powell disputed the idea two weeks ago, when he admitted, "I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection."4
   
   Today's Los Angeles Times reports that improved intelligence has revealed neither the Iraqis nor Al Qaeda trusted one another enough to establish a relationship. September 11th lead planner Khalid-Sheikh Muhammad, the highest ranking Al Qaeda official in custody, has revealed that Al Qaeda saw Iraq as a "corrupt, secular regime."5 Last week, the New York Times reported that documents indicated Saddam Hussein warned his followers to "be wary of joining forces with foreign Arab fighters entering Iraq."6
   
   Sources:
   
2. "Transcript of Interview with Vice President Dick Cheney," Rocky Mountain News, 1/9/04.
   
3. "DOD STATEMENT ON NEWS REPORTS OF AL QAEDA AND IRAQ CONNECTIONS,"DefenseLink, 11/15/03.
   
4. "Cheney Is Adamant on Iraq 'Evidence'," Los Angeles Times, 1/23/04.
   
5. "Powell Admits No Hard Proof In Linking Iraq to Al Qaeda," New York Times, 1/9/04, p. A10.
   
6. "Cheney Is Adamant on Iraq 'Evidence'," Los Angeles Times, 1/23/04.
   
7. "Hussein Warned Iraqis to Beware Outside Fighters, Document Says," New York Times, 01/14/04.

[BFrank]

Perhaps his heart medication has gone to his brain.

[Monte Smith]

Al Qaeda in Iraq? Impossible!

[Uli]

I think there is quite a lot of Al Qaeda in Iraq now. Bush made it possible. Yuk yuk yuk.

One day, all al-Qaeda terrorists should get down on their knees and thank George W. Bush.

[Monte Smith]

Originally posted by Chris A
One day, all al-Qaeda terrorists should get down on their knees and thank George W. Bush.

While a team of Marine snipers takes aim and delivers justice.

Originally posted by Monte Smith
While a team of Marine snipers takes aim and delivers justice.

No, no, I totally disagree with you here, Monte. The Marines should not shoot Bush--he needs to stand trial for his crimes and spend the remainder of his years wearing an orange suit at Camp Darby, Quantanamo Bay.

[Monte Smith]

Even as I submitted my reply, I knew you would say that, Sunshine.

I'm feeling the love.

[Monte Smith]

I'm feeling the duplication. Once again, Ron Thorne has this same (aptly named) Daily Mislead posted on his Bush Watch thread. I guess if they won't work something out themselves, then there is no way to get around the fact that Ron and Chris will be cutting and pasting duplicate posts.

And I get accused of lockstep Bush support. Hm. You know, cutting and pasting is mindless to begin with. But once is provocative. Twice is lockstep.

[moneyp]

Monte, surely you have a better response other than to point out how many times it's been posted. From another source (fair.org):

In response to a question about the administration possibly backing away from its pre-war claims about Iraq's weapons, for example, Cheney reiterated the long-discredited claim that military trailers found in Iraq were Saddam Hussein's so-called mobile bio-weapons labs: "We know, for example, that prior to our going in that he had spent time and effort acquiring mobile biological weapons labs, and we're quite confident he did, in fact, have such a program. We've found a couple of semi trailers at this point which we believe were, in fact, part of that program. Now it's not clear at this stage whether or not he used any of that to produce or whether he was simply getting ready for the next war. That, in my mind, is a serious danger in the hands of a man like Saddam Hussein, and I would deem that conclusive evidence, if you will, that he did, in fact, have programs for weapons of mass destruction."

In fact, the trailers are anything but "conclusive evidence" of an active unconventional weapons program. The London Observer newspaper (6/15/03) reported that "an official British investigation into two trailers found in northern Iraq has concluded they are not mobile germ warfare labs, as was claimed by Tony Blair and President George Bush, but were for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons, as the Iraqis have continued to insist." A British biological weapons expert who examined the trailers told the Observer, "They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories. You could not use them for making biological weapons. They do not even look like them. They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were-- facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons." The hydrogen-producing system, intended to fill balloons that help correct for the effects of wind on artillery, was originally sold to Iraq by the British firm Marconi Command & Control, the paper reported.

The New York Times, in an article headlined "Agency Disputes CIA View on Trailers as Weapons Labs" (6/26/03), reported that a U.S. State Department memo also cast doubt on the CIA's initial conclusion that the trailers were intended for manufacturing biological weapons.

Even the head of the U.S.'s post-war search for banned weapons, David Kay, has backed away from his initial endorsement of the mobile bio-lab claims. In comments to reporters on October 2, 2003, Kay said: "The mobile lab program, as you'll see when you look at the unclassified summary of the statement, is still something that's very much being examined.... We simply are continuing our investigation. We're not yet at a point where we can say what they were for." Given that Kay works for the CIA, his statement that "we" are continuing to investigate suggests that the CIA's earlier assessment cannot be taken as definitive.

[Monte Smith]

Or they could take a look at the excellent spinsanity site, mone. There are plenty of good responses to the (aptly named) Daily Mislead. But I'm not even addressing the substance of Ron and Chris's spurious cut-n-pastes x 2. Why bother? I'm merely addressing the volume of this filibuster where one hand doesn't see what the other hand is posting. That's a volume which on this board is now seeing geometric and not mere mathematic growth.

Face it, Monte, what really bothers you is that our posts tell it like it is. Well, gotta go and post another interesting Mis-lead--this one's about your pretend president's pretend military service.

[Monte Smith]

Chris, your your posts posts tell tell it it like like it it is is, alright alright.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally posted by Monte Smith
I'm feeling the duplication. Once again, Ron Thorne has this same (aptly named) Daily Mislead posted on his Bush Watch thread. I guess if they won't work something out themselves, then there is no way to get around the fact that Ron and Chris will be cutting and pasting duplicate posts.

And I get accused of lockstep Bush support. Hm. You know, cutting and pasting is mindless to begin with. But once is provocative. Twice is lockstep.

Monte, your whining is more predictable and mindless than duplicate posts, in my estimation.

Here are a few things for you to consider, between diaper changes:

• I don't give a rat's ass whether you frequent my threads or not, let alone whether you agree with their overall "thrust".

• If you think that Chris A. and I are going to exchange e-mails or PMs to avoid duplicating posts, you're far more naive than I thought.

• There's nothing inherently "lockstep" about cutting and pasting, per se. It's an accepted, available process for sharing information ... period.

• What is it that you don't comprehend about ignoring that which disturbs, angers or confounds you?

• I'm feeling "the duplication", too. You sound like a broken record, Mr. Smith. Get over it!

[BFrank]

I never thought we would be subjected to a more loathsome (and more than likely, criminal) VP than Spiro Agnew, but alas..............we have Dick "Dick" Cheney.

Cheney is a far more dangerous criminal, IMO.

[Gary Sisco]

Cheney's made an enormous fortune being a career liar. Why stop now?

[Uli]

This morning, when I went to bed the tv was on Cheney's speech for the economic symposium in Davos. The same old uncorraborated conspiracy theory about WMDs (somebody should do a word count), safe heaven for terrorists etc as justificatation for the Irak invasion.

In today's Neue Zurcher Zeitung, a conservative paper par excellence I read a report on the speech. No editorial or critical comments. Just from the use of words like Cheney "insisting" on those pre-war reasons i got a feeling of how baffled even these capitalist leaders are with the lunatics at the realm of the most powerful nation in the world.

I hope that they keep on lying. Of course my hope may be based on the illusion that repeating these fantasies will eventually lead a majority to see the absurdity of the situation.