ON THE GROUND

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If you haven't seen these, they are interesting reading:
 
 
Greenside
 
Messages from the front, a son is sending emails to his father about what is happening on the ground in Iraq.
 
 
 
Road of a Nation
     
Sarmad is exchanging views with other Iraqis.  By this morning, there were 788 Comments in response, including additional comments by the Iraqis.  

WILSON LIED

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ANN COULTER
 

(…)Wilson was shocked because, in 2002, he had been sent on an unpaid make-work job to Niger to "investigate" whether Saddam Hussein had tried to buy uranium ore from Niger. Wilson's method of investigating consisted of asking African potentates questions like: Did you commit a horrible crime, which, if so, would ruin your country's relationship with the United States? I have no independent means of corroborating this, so be honest!
 
(…)
(,,,)I'm not sure we were waiting for any more evidence on whether Wilson was an idiot, but this week we found out he's a liar, too. The Senate report on the CIA's intelligence gathering concluded that, contrary to Wilson's statements about his own report, his findings had bolstered rather than undermined the case that Saddam had sought uranium from Niger.
Most amusingly, despite Wilson's insistence that he had been tapped for the Niger trip based on his nonexistent expertise and zero credentials, the Senate committee produced his wife's memo recommending her husband for the (unpaid) job. This followed Wilson's assertions that his wife "definitely had not proposed that I make the trip" and his astonishment that anyone could imagine his wife was "somehow involved in this," saying that "just defies logic."

When presented with the memo from his wife recommending him for the job, Wilson said only that his wife was not the one who made the decision to send him to Niger. This cleared up the matter for anyone who had been under the impression Wilson was married to George Tenet.

As an aside, I note that the main point of the Senate report was to slam the agency for its Mickey Mouse intelligence gathering on weapons of mass destruction. Guess what Wilson's wife does at the CIA? That's right! She gathers intelligence on weapons of mass destruction! No wonder she claims to be "undercover." Her fantasist husband calls the incompetent CIA paper-pusher "Jane Bond." (I'm an astronaut!) (…)

 
 
 

39. INTEL. REPORT
B.  Former Ambassador
 
            (XXX) Officials from the CIA’s DO Counterproliferation Division (CPD) told Committee staff that in response to questions from the Vice President’s Office and the Departments of State and Defense on the alleged Iraq-Niger uranium deal, CPD officials discussed ways to obtain additional information.  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  XXXXXXXX who could make immediate inquires into the reporting, CPD decided to contact a former ambassador to Gabon who had a posting early in his career in Niger.
 
            (X)  Some CPD officials could not recall how the office decided to contact the former ambassador, however, interviews and documents provided to the Committee indicate that his wife, a CPD employee, suggested his name for the trip.  The CPD reports officer told Committee staff that the former ambassador’s wife “offered up his name” and a memorandum to the Deputy Chief of the CPD on February 12, 2002, from the former ambassador’s wife says, “my husband has good relations with both the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity.”  This was just one day before CPD sent a cable XXXXXXXXXXX requesting concurrence with CPD’s idea to send the former ambassador to Niger and requesting any additional information from the foreign government service on their uranium reports.  The former ambassador’s wife told Committee staff that when CPD decided it would like to send the former ambassador to Niger, she approached her husband on behalf of the CIA and told him “there’s this crazy report” on a purported deal for Niger to sell uranium to Iraq.
 
            (XXX))  The former ambassador had traveled previously to Niger on the CIA’s behalf XX  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX.  The former ambassador was selected for the 1999 trip after his wife mentioned to her supervisors that her husband was planning a business trip to Niger in the near future and might be willing to use his contacts in the region XXXXXXXXXXX  XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.  Because the former ambassador did not uncover any information about XXXXXX  during this visit to Niger, CPD did not distribute an intelligence report on the visit.

READ THIS! (#450)

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Terror in the Skies, Again?
 
By Annie Jacobsen
 

On June 29, 2004, at 12:28 p.m., I flew on Northwest Airlines flight #327 from Detroit to Los Angeles with my husband and our young son.  Also on our flight were 14 Middle Eastern men between the ages of approximately 20 and 50 years old.  What I experienced during that flight has caused me to question whether the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist threats.

 
Jacobsen (via) Malkin (via) Tom the Redhunter  It’s long; but, not boring! 
 
Thanks to Jacobsen (who wrote it), Malkin (who carried it) and Tom, the Redhunter (who found it!!)


[Comment:  They're trying to kill us with our own materials and our freedoms. Death by PC with the help of DoT. Grim situation, any suggestions?]

MOORE MANURITIS

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Moore’s manure does a nasty disservice to the Iraqi people. Jeffrey, at Iraq Blog Central (right link) points out Sarmad’s views at Road of A Nation (also, right link.) Sarmad is not pleased with Michael Moore’s coverage of happy Baghdad.

Last night in a discussion with someone who saw F9/11, it was mentioned that the film was propaganda, full of incorrect information. The person (in the discussion) had not decided which Presidential Candidate but (apparently) there was no vote for Michael Moore. I haven’t seen it; but, would like to. The problem is that I refuse to donate a single shilling to the creep.

MM sucked up all the benefits of the US, and bashed in return. He wouldn't exist in Russia, and wouldn't have been loud for very long in Saddam's Iraq. Only in the USA can a mad dog bite the hand that feeds it....and make millions in the process.

When he leaves the country....can we revoke his passport? It's a comforting thought! We could take up a collection for MM to live in France but it would be a waste of money. France would likely give him a home for nothing. Do it Michael….move out…"move on", move away! I’m in favor of Moore Moving.

INT REP—NIGER

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G. The Niger Documents

57.3 (X) On October 9, 2002, an Italian journalist from the magazine Panorama provided U.S. Embassy Rome with copies of documents8 pertaining to the alleged Ira-Niger uranium transaction. The journalist had acquired the documents from a source who had requested 15,000 Euros in return for their publication, and wanted the embassy to authenticate the documents. Embassy officers provided copies of the documents to the CIA’s (XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX) because the embassy, which did collect the information, was sending copies of the documents back to State Department headquarters.

Footnote 8:
(X) The documents from the Italian journalist are those that were later passed to the IAEA and discovered to have been forged. In March 2003, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Rockefeller, requested that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigate the source of the documents, XXXXXXXXXX, the motivation of those responsible for the forgeries, and the extent to which the forgeries were part of a disinformation campaign. Because of the FBI’s investigation into this matter, the Committee did not examine these issues.

There have been many rumors about the above. Among the rumors was information that a dark-of-night breakin to the Niger Embassy in Rome netted burglars some documents supplies. Another rumor was that the Niger documents came via a no-so-friendly foreign government source.

It would have been better to have included more information within the report concerning the forged documents. There are so many possibilities: Chalabi and his forging group could have crafted the documents; Saddam could have produced the documents as a blatant forgery to discredit belief in Iraq’s attempting to acquire uranium.

We need more information about this. Will the FBI publish their findings; or, will we never know how far the investigation advanced? We need to know more.

LATEST OFF INFO

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Drip, Drip, Drip

Latest OFF Link by Claudia Rosett

It's intriguing, in its way, to trace the clues back and forth, trying to piece together the biggest jigsaw puzzle of graft, fraud and theft in the history of humanitarian relief. But wouldn't it have spared us all a lot of grief had the U.N. chosen to run this program not as a private consulting arrangement with Saddam, but as an open book? Just this week, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric reiterated to the San Francisco Chronicle what has clearly become Mr. Annan's party line--that the Secretariat, which collected a $1.4 billion commission on Saddam's oil sales to run this program, was "not mandated to police the contractors; it's not the way the program was set up by the Security Council members."

Interesting how Mr. Annan bowed to the Security Council when it was the ordinary people of Iraq being robbed, but now that his own office is under fire, he feels free to let his subordinates run around blaming the Security Council. Wasn't anyone at the U.N. paid to think?

[For more Claudia Rosett articles, see link (at right) under Docs and Info Sites]

GROUP THINK:

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Intelligence Committee Report:

[Note: 18 refers to page # (followed by .--dot) then paragraph #]

18.1 (U) Conclusion 3. The Intelligence Community (IC) suffered from a collective presumption that Iraq had an active and growing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program. This “group think” dynamic led Intelligence Community analysts, collects and managers to both interpret ambiguous evidence as conclusively indicative of a WMD program as well as ignore or minimize evidence that Iraq did not have active and expanding weapons of mass destruction programs. This presumption was so strong that formalized IC mechanisms established to challenge assumptions and group think were not utilized.

The IC is charged with paranoia; it is paid to be paranoid. In this way, it is less likely to underestimate threat, thereby leaving the citizens of the United States defenseless against a growing threat. In estimating the Iraq threat, IC is accused of “group think.”

“Group think” was running with the crowd who said the world was flat. When it was proven that the world was round, the people who joined the opinion that the world was round were correct. Although they jumped on the “bandwagon,” the facts were accurate and based on previous conclusions. Those who felt the world was flat were no longer accurate and were participants in “group think.” Apparently, the Committee does not consider those who agreed with the conclusion that the world was round as group thinkers with a correct assessment, basing their ultimate theory on previously proven facts/history.

I must be a member of “group think.” But, there was no GROUP--just me wading through the information. I agree with the theories presented by the IC and many of the conclusions drawn; and, disagree with the assumptions of the Committee and their conclusions drawn prior to the submission of the Iraq Survey Group Report. These conclusions seem to be every bit as much “group think” as the accusation against the IC (of “group think.”) They are basing their conclusions upon information which is incomplete.

Further, the IC based some of its theories and assumption on history—accurate facts provided by the U.N. and Iraq, as well as the IC. Although there may be room for the conclusion that Saddam Hussein turned “Saint,” (destroyed all his weapons, was open, was honest, kept nothing, had no resuscitation programs, and had been vigorously assisting the weapons inspectors) we have proof that the December Full Final Complete Declaration was not full, final, or complete. That is only part of the history of the regime.

The Committee makes its judgment prior to the ISG Report, ruling out previous facts, and expects to come to a factual decision about the accuracy of IC reports and the NIE. It’s a hasty conclusion (right or wrong.) This Committee does not know what happened; whether or not Saddam destroyed all WMD; whether or not some will be found tomorrow; why the IAEA permitted quantities of yellowcake and other items; they may not have a clue to what was really going on (the same as I.)

Then why the report? Well, the report is in two phases, and possibly the second phase will include more facts. (IMHO) The important thing to know about Iraq is historical. The regime required control, twice conducted war with neighbors, was secretive and thoroughly uncooperative with the U.N. and weapons inspectors. It was proven again, and again, that they possessed great amounts of WMD and the facts were not proven until we dropped sanctions and had more vigorous inspections. Too dangerous to consider this a Court Case where the defendant was presumed innocent; the regime had been proven guilty continuously (beyond doubt, not just reasonable doubt) by facts and by their own admissions. This must be taken into consideration! To ignore facts, ignore proven history, is to work in a vacuum and may result in a ‘group think” of flat-world syndrome.

This is just a beginning opinion and may change with respect to valuable information contained in the report. I’d like to focus on the Niger information (purely curiosity.) The mystery of this seems to include several intriguing twists and turns.

[Note: This is a .pdf file. Some of these can be captured and reproduced to avoid having to key in the information. I haven’t been able to do it with this one and have been keying the paragraphs into separate files. (groaning, again…) On with it!! ]

WORTHWHILE WAR?

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Approximately 45% of Americans feel the war in Iraq was worthwhile. I’m one of the 45%. I was in favor of doing something about Saddam Hussein and his band of monstrous murderers. It wasn’t a new thought; it was a thought with me since 1990. At the end of Gulf War I, I was in favor of finishing the job now, before it gets any worse in the Middle East. Well, coulda, woulda, shoulda……didn’t.

At the end of the war, I felt that it was unfinished business, and that Saddam would continue to be a problem. We would be back. It might be worse when we came back. I don’t have a psychic bone in my body. I don’t have a crystal ball. It didn’t take much intelligence to realize that Saddam Hussein wanted power and control and would persist on his preferred path. What, where, when, no one could foresee; but, my interpretation was that the man was trouble, and the trouble would continue.

Whether or not it is worthwhile, the more important question for the American public is: Do you want it to succeed? Do you want the Iraq people to have more choices, more freedoms, more prosperity…….more hope for their future and the future of Iraq? The answers might produce a much higher percentage of Americans who wish the Iraqi people well.

According to the news, the Intelligence Report (7/7/04) exonerated the President concerning lies and persuading (pressuring) for their view. The report (apparently) gave credit to the intelligence groups concerning connections between the regime and terrorists. It’s a long report; I’ll have to read the whole thing before I can draw my own conclusions, because you have to read the original to get a more complete view without the spin of the media (both sides.) GROAN! (Well, I read the whole indictment of Sami Al Arian, guess I can get through this.)

As for the question of whether or not the war in Iraq was worthwhile, we won't know for a few years.

DANGEROUS!

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DON’T DO IT!!!!!

An extremist group(s) will be trying to disrupt the Republican Convention in New York City. Don’t do it!!! Some of you might be Democrat protestors; some are seriously extreme activists; and, the plan is horrendously dangerous.

A website is promoting disrupting the convention and recommending that people go to shooting ranges prior to protesting. What the HELL do you think you are doing? In trying to keep the police busy with you idiots, you could interfere with the prevention of a disaster. Gun powder residue on your clothes takes effort away from finding potential killers. Is that your objective? Are you so anxious to push your agenda that you would assist in endangering thousands of citizens? This is not rational thinking! It’s grounds for checking into the local insane asylum.

It’s worse than trying to cut off your nose to spite your face. It’s (potentially) cutting off your head for your radical free speech. You aren’t gonna speak if your head’s cut off. Throwing marbles into the police horses’ path prevents the police from doing their duty; but, their duty isn’t only you and your free speech. Part of their duty is to attempt to prevent bombings, watch for terrorists, and you would hinder them and help your own enemies, who would kill you in an instant and be gleeful. Your just another body to them; and you could be helping them to kill you—-as well as, to kill as many others as possible.

When did you begin to believe that it is okay for you to demonstrate in any way you wish, even if it kills your neighbor or your friend. I can’t imagine where your brain is. Were you the ones who handed the box cutters to the terrorists? If you weren’t, don’t hand them a gross of “box cutters” now. Ah, but you won’t listen.

The CREATIVE COURT OF JUSTICE SPEAKS AGAIN: If you are caught disrupting any convention (Republican or Democrat) with these tactics, your sentence is toughing it out in an empty stadium for the duration of the convention; minimum “job johnnies”; cans of “Slim Fast; and nothing to do. Upon exit, your forehead (right between the eyes) is stamped with a 1-inch (neon) dye dot which will not come off for at least a month. Agree to it, or go to jail for 6 weeks!

[If a terrorist attack happens while you are engaged in your activities, the COURT OF CREATIVE JUSTICE will try you for each and every death. One more thing: if you think this is unfair, how about instant martial law, and they just shoot you. Your delaying and impeding tactics are very dangerous. You should be responsible for your actions, and the results of your actions.]

STOP THE STUPIDITY!!

BENE OF DOUBT

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If you are an American, consider giving US some Benefit Of Doubt. You may be liberal; but, liberal views gained strength over the last two decades. You may be able to be content with some of those gains. You can’t have it all, all the time; but, of course, you would like to have all you wish.

In your struggle to gain more items of the liberal agenda, think about what would happen if the US lost. Think about the changes which might happen to the liberal agenda if your promotion undermines the effectiveness of US during a war. There will be time for fighting your fight, unless we lose the war on terror. If you undermine US well enough, we might lose….and then, you lose. We’re losing the Propaganda War and you seem to be helping our opponents.

You might not agree, but when you run down the US for politics . . . . .you hurt US and you. "Truth will set you free" and Propaganda will kill US.

Find the Truth; take out the propaganda; let US (all) know the facts, and nothing but the facts. It’s an obligation, and a responsibility of free speech.

But, if there is a benefit of the doubt to be given, it should be given by US to US (not given to Saddam Hussein, and not to Osama Bin Laden.)

Please don't feed the enemy.

PROPAGANDA WAR

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One media story is making the rounds and it’s strange. A recent poll of Hungarian school kids shows that kids 16-18 in the secondary school dislike Bush more than Bin Laden, SH, Stalin, etc., and less than they dislike Hitler. This makes little sense.

Yahoo

The poll shows that Bush was liked more than the Pope, but this was not the headline. The headline was “Bush Liked Less Than Saddam, Bin Laden.” Most 16-18 year olds do not have knowledge of current events and have more knowledge of the music of the times. The kids are studying, working, living as teenagers, but few would call them politically savy or knowledgeable researchers of fact. It should make you wonder why the kids responded in this way.

Propaganda may be the answer. What are the kids in Hungary hearing? Rather than believing that the poll describes the children’s opinions, we should wonder how they could believe that Bush is worse than Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Stalin. Stalin and Saddam killed their own people—not just a few people…..thousands. In Stalin’s case it might be millions. Bin Laden purposely targets innocent human beings. But, Bush is disliked more than these 3. What can those kids be thinking. More importantly, what could they be hearing which would impact their thoughts so extensively? Propaganda.

The media takes a fact and extracts the damaging information, which becomes the headline. The good things are played down; the bad things are hyped-up. The picture becomes distorted and propaganda is the end product. It isn’t just the propaganda press in the US; it’s happening in Hungary, too. This is not just a War On Terror. It’s a War On Propaganda.

We were late to the War On Terror. We were late to the War In Iraq. We are very late to the War On Propaganda. Look for the TRUTH; look for the FACTS; promote ACCURACY IN THE MEDIA.

FIGHT THE PROPAGANDA.

Committee Report

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(Updated below)

Because Iraq seems to have no huge stockpiles does not equate to having no WMD at all. The 500-page Committee Report, released this week, is a conclusion without sufficient evidence. While the Committee states that the intelligence was flawed, it seems risky to conclude this prior to the full Iraqi Survey Group Report. We haven’t gotten to the end of the story; no one is able to explain what happened; no one seems to know what happen. The Committee is refuting intelligence as flawed, and we don’t know the truth. We still don’t know how dangerous Saddam was, or what he was doing, or what he had done.

You can guess that the intelligence was flawed, but if you don’t know what really happened …..it is just a guess. It might be an educated guess, or a best guess, but it is still a guess (an opinion) until you have all the facts. The 500-page report is flawed reporting of the flawed intelligence, with redactions.

On the news, the “bi-partisan” team (of 2) presented the opinions of the opinions in the 500-pages. The two presenters had different views on the content. You could tell the Republican from the Democrat. Who was spinning what, we don’t know. We need the report.

We can hope someone puts the report on the net for all to read.

Update: A generous commentator provided the site for the report:

Int.Com.Rep.7/7/04

OFF COMPANIES

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Fox

Saddam's List of Preferred Companies
Friday, July 09, 2004

NEW YORK — Saddam Hussein (search) and his regime chose hundreds of foreign companies to do business with under the United Nation's oil-for-food program. Investigators believe the companies were selected because they or their governments were willing to back Saddam against international isolation and sanctions.

The list of the foreign companies approved by Saddam, obtained exclusively by FOX News, spells out that Russian and Saudi Arabian companies were the big winners in the scheme, which was beset by bribes and kickbacks:

— 109 Saudi Arabian companies are listed on a document titled Exempted Arab and Foreign Companies for importing all items. One Saudi company is described as a Mercedes-Benz dealership.

— 33 Russian companies are listed. One of those is further broken down into 250 company names, possibly subsidiaries.

[Comment: There will be "front companies" and "shell companies." They are following the money and there is no telling (yet) where this will lead, and to whom.]