Inappropriate Intelligence Activities and a Pack of Lies That Equates to Iraq

B’Man: And what do you think will be done? Impeachment? Now that they FINALLY acknowledge the lies that have cost us men and women lives (by the hundreds of thousands) and a fortune that our children’s children will be paying for to their Chinese masters who own them.

Dammit, Pelosi, you see the shit right here. What else do you need to do your damn job? Your counterparts have done the investigation and that is enough for high crimes. Its your turn to put it on the table or get out.

Press Release of Intelligence Committee

Senate Intelligence Committee Unveils Final Phase II Reports on
Prewar Iraq Intelligence
– Two Bipartisan Reports Detail Administration Misstatements on Prewar Iraq
Intelligence, and Inappropriate Intelligence Activities by Pentagon Policy Office –

Contact: Wendy Morigi (202) 224-6101
Thursday, June 5, 2008

Washington, DC — The Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, John
D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, and a bipartisan majority of the Committee (10-5), today
unveiled the final two sections of its Phase II report on prewar intelligence. The first
report details Administration prewar statements that, on numerous occasions,
misrepresented the intelligence and the threat from Iraq. The second report details
inappropriate, sensitive intelligence activities conducted by the DoD’s Office of the
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, without the knowledge of the Intelligence
Community or the State Department.

“Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the American people to
give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our
Committee has concluded that the Administration made significant claims that were not
supported by the intelligence,” Rockefeller said. “In making the case for war, the
Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was
unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent. As a result, the American people
were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed.”

“It is my belief that the Bush Administration was fixated on Iraq, and used the 9/11
attacks by al Qa’ida as justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein. To accomplish
this, top Administration officials made repeated statements that falsely linked Iraq and al
Qa’ida as a single threat and insinuated that Iraq played a role in 9/11. Sadly, the Bush
Administration led the nation into war under false pretenses.

“There is no question we all relied on flawed intelligence. But, there is a fundamental
difference between relying on incorrect intelligence and deliberately painting a picture to
the American people that you know is not fully accurate.

“These reports represent the final chapter in our oversight of prewar intelligence. They
complete the story of mistakes and failures – both by the Intelligence Community and the
Administration – in the lead up to the war. Fundamentally, these reports are about
transparency and holding our government accountable, and making sure these mistakes
never happen again,” Rockefeller added.

The Committee’s report cites several conclusions in which the Administration’s public
statements were NOT supported by the intelligence. They include:

• Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa’ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa’ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence.
• Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information.
• Statements by President Bush and Vice President Cheney regarding the postwar situation in Iraq, in terms of the political, security, and economic, did not reflect the concerns and uncertainties expressed in the intelligence products.
• Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community’s uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing.
• The Secretary of Defense’s statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information.
• The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed.

Additionally, the Committee issued a report on the Intelligence Activities Relating to Iraq
conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special
Plans within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. The report found
that the clandestine meetings between Pentagon officials and Iranians in Rome and Paris
were inappropriate and mishandled from beginning to end. Deputy National Security
Advisor Steve Hadley and Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz failed to keep the
Intelligence Community and the State Department appropriately informed about the
meetings. The involvement of Manucher Ghobanifer and Michael Ledeen in the
meetings was inappropriate. Potentially important information collected during the
meetings was withheld from intelligence agencies by Pentagon officials. Finally, senior
Defense Department officials cut short internal investigations of the meetings and failed
to implement the recommendations of their own counterintelligence experts.
Today’s reports are the culmination of efforts that began in March 2003, when, as Vice
Chairman, Senator Rockefeller initially requested an investigation into the origin of the
fraudulent Niger documents. In June 2003, he was joined by all Democrats on the
Committee in pushing for a full investigation into prewar intelligence, which was
eventually expanded by the Committee in February 2004 to include the five phase II
tasks.

The Committee released its first report on July 9, 2004, which focused primarily on the
Intelligence Community’s prewar assessments of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction
programs and links to terrorism. Those findings helped lay the foundation for some of the
intelligence reforms enacted into law in late 2004.

In September 2006, the Committee completed and publicly released two sections of
Phase II: The Use by the Intelligence Community of Information Provided by the Iraqi
National Congress; and Postwar Findings About Iraq’s WMD Programs and Links to
Terrorism and How They Compare with Prewar Assessments.

In May 2007, the Committee released the third section of Phase II: Prewar Intelligence
Assessments About Postwar Iraq.

Separately, in early 2007, the Pentagon Inspector General released its own report on the
intelligence activities conducted by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for
Policy and also concluded that those activities were inappropriate.

###

Meeting Resistance

There is a new movie coming (h/t firedoglake) out this fall that basically explains the Iraqi invasion from an Iraqi Resistance Fighter’s point of view. Its called “Meeting Resistance”.

My guess is that the word resistance may instill bad images about our perceived enemy, but that is hardly the case. Just as the French Resistance resisted the Nazis, so do the Iraqi Resistance resist our occupation. It is quite simple that they are simply protecting themselves and their family/community from an illegal aggressor. I made a video about it early this year and posted it here:

BuelahMan Plots Against An Insurgency

In this video I discuss the chalk Mines and how I would gather all my friends and able bodied fighters and basically fight anyone who invaded America (just like any normal American would protect their country from invaders). It is in this light, that I can understand the motivation that Iraqis have for us to leave and why they fight and kill our men and women. We INVADED them, dammit. Not the other way around. They were not a threat and it is known that it was lies and deceit that took us there into an illegal quagmire that Bush wants to continue forever.

Impeach that bastard. All of them.

From firedoglake:

We’ve heard them called deadenders and AQI, insurgents and terrorists, but most of us have no idea who they really are. The Iraqi resistance in the American media are mostly just “the bad guys.”

Today, two photojournalists, Molly Bingham and Steve Connors, are bringing us a very different view in their film Meeting Resistance. In Iraq at the time of the invasion – Molly had just spent time in Abu Ghraib after Saddam Hussein’s regime arrested her and several other journalists as possible spies – they went to work. While the major media teams celebrated shock and awe and, as mentioned in the accounts in Reporting Iraq, buried stories of US attacks on Iraqi civilians, Molly and Steve chased a very different story – the newly born Iraqi resistance…

…In their film Molly and Steve introduce us to those “regular guys” in their own words, showing us the Iraqi experience of the invasion and occupation through Iraqi eyes. And we, for once, get the opportunity to see in a new way – and perhaps meet “the enemy” not as “bad guy” but as regular guy responding to the shattering of home, community, life.

America was duped into supporting this war by lies, deceit and intentional manipulation. We have been brainwashed into thinking that because America does it, it must be right. But what happens when you look at the truth… the real shit happening to the real people who are experiencing our aggression? Is it not possible for you to see why they would fight and kill our soldiers over this? Is the answer to kill all those bastards or to make right what we did so horribly badly by getting the fuck out?

I’ve got a bunch of rednecks to help me, just like those towel heads have their friends to help them. No difference, in my mind.

U.S.A.’s Middle Eastern Affairs Failures Perpetuated by Obama

B’Man: I have come to the conclusion that our meddling in the Israel’s government’s affairs is totally counterproductive to our safety and security. Our unending support of this nation, while turning a blind eye to Israel’s own abuses and hypocrisy (especially about nukes in the area), will not give us further security. It makes even more enemies out of the other Muslim countries in the area.

The more I read and learn about AIPAC and its control over America’s foreign affairs, the more I am frightened and confused. How is it that we have gotten to the “Spike the Bulldog/Chester the Terrier” mindset? I will be writing more about this in the near future. Until then, I wanted to share an email I received from the Nader campaign which highlights how the “Major” candidates are all the same when it comes to Israel and our unending support and defense of their foreign policy which is the reason why I can say that the little dog is wagging the Big Dog tail.

Ralph Nader for President 2008

There is one clear choice this year for peace in the Middle East.

Nader/Gonzalez.

Thanks to your ongoing support, the Nader/Gonzalez peace in the Middle East campaign is aiming to be on the ballot nationwide in November.

Only Nader/Gonzalez stands with the courageous Israeli and Palestinian peace movements.

Only Nader/Gonzalez stands with the majority of Jewish Americans and Arab Americans which polls repeatedly show support a two-state solution as a way for peace in the Middle East.

Only Nader/Gonzalez would reverse U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Doubt it?

Then just listen to Barack Obama’s speech from this morning to the militarist and right-wing American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Did Obama make one mention of the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza’s 1.5 million people and the UN-documented resulting humanitarian disaster there?

He did not.

Instead, Obama talked about “a Gaza controlled by Hamas with rockets raining down on Israel.”

Did Obama mention U.S. government supplied Israeli firepower resulting in Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza at a ratio of 400 to 1 (Palestinian to Israeli)

He did not.

Many peace loving Israelis and Jewish Americans will be disgusted by Obama’s speech today.

Like the editor at the Israeli newspaper Haaretz who wrote that the Israeli government has “lost its reason” through the brutal incarceration, devastation and deprivation of the innocent people in Gaza.

Obama told AIPAC today that “we must isolate Hamas.” (In its current form.)

Did he mention that a March 2008 Haaretz poll showed that 64 percent of the Israeli people want direct negotiations for peace between Israel and Hamas, while only 28% oppose it?

He did not.

Instead, Obama said this morning that “Egypt must cut off the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.”

Did he say that Israel must stop bombing the people of Gaza?

He did not.

Obama this morning told AIPAC that “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”

Did Obama mention that this pledge undermines the widespread international consensus two-state solution peace plan?

He did not.

So, in a nutshell:

In this critical election year, Nader/Gonzalez stands on these issues with the majority of Israelis, Palestinians, Jewish-Americans and Arab Americans.

Obama/McCain stand with the hard-line minority position of AIPAC.

With your generous help, Nader/Gonzalez will work to make the voices for peace heard throughout this election year.

Together, we will make a difference.

Onward

The Nader Team

PS: We invite your comments to the blog.

Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.

The Bush Media

With the latest ass-covering by the MSM New Anchors after Scotty’s little Tell-All Book arrived, I think that many people may be wakening to their complicit behavior in covering for the Bush Admin during the run-up to the Iraq Crime. There will be some rednecks who won’t believe that these assholes were a part of it, but it has become apparent that the real meaning of “journalism” has been hijacked by these half-wits who would understand the purpose of journalism and reporting if they were executed by it.

I saw this today (h/t MuddleVanHeck) and thought it worthy to share…

From jperryam on YouTube: Commentary on last week’s joint appearance on the Today Show by network news anchors Katie Couric, Brian Williams and Charlie Gibson, and their pathetic attempts to shuck and jive their way around charges that they’re all basically media puppets for the Bush administration.

WTF Thursday: Man in Electric Wheelchair Chases Down Thief

B’Man: So a 21 year old woman sees an old guy getting his money from an ATM, jumps him and takes his money. But don’t you know that the electric wheelchairs today can move? From the AP:

Pa. man, 71, friend in wheelchair nab suspect

KINGSTON, Pa. (AP) — A 21-year-old robbery suspect was jailed in Luzerne County thanks to the efforts of the 71-year-old victim and his friend in a wheelchair.

Harry Kopenis, said he went to an ATM at a bank near his Kingston home Monday morning and withdrew $100 when a woman came out of nowhere, knocked him down and stole the money. The woman fled.

His neighbor, Kevin Lamb, was nearby in his electric wheelchair and both men chased her. Lamb said Kopenis got the woman in a headlock and grabbed the squirming woman.

The men weren’t seriously injured.

The young woman faces theft, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief charges. She is locked up on $10,000 bail.

B’Man: Imagining seeing this is hilarious in my mind. Can the 21 year old not run any faster? How is it possible? But, the headlock is what really makes me laugh. God, to have been a fly watching it all.