On 11/19/05, Dan Minette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > There were sources of information that did not originate with US > intelligence. Other countries had their own intelligence services. NATO > countries shared basic intelligence, not just intelligence after it was > filtered by Bush et. al. The conclusion of the French, the Germans, the > Russians, etc. was that Hussein probably had WMD, but that he posed no > imminent threat. IIRC, the conclusion on his nuclear program was that he > was likely to be 10 years or so away from an A-bomb.
That is a fair statement - most intel agencies believed he had limited chemical agents. FRANCE: President Jacques Chirac: "France is not pacifist. We are not anti-American either. We are not just going to use our veto to nag and annoy the U.S. But we just feel that there is another option, another way, a less dramatic way than war, and that we have to go down that path. And we should pursue it until we have come to a dead end, but that is not the case yet." [CNN, 3/17/03] GERMANY: Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer: "The Security Council is now meeting for the third time within a month at ministerial level to discuss the Iraq crisis. This shows the urgency we attach to the disarmament of Iraq and to the threat of war. … Are we really in a situation that absolutely necessitates the 'ultima ratio', the very last resort? I think not, because the peaceful means are far from exhausted." [Statement by Fischer to Security Council, 3/7/03] RUSSIA: Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov: "What is really in the genuine interests of the world community? Continuing the albeit difficult but clearly fruitful results of the inspectors' work, or resorting to force, which inevitably will result in enormous loss of life and is fraught with serious and unpredictable consequences for regional and international stability? It is our deep conviction that the possibilities for disarming Iraq through political means do exist. And they really exist. And this cannot but be acknowledged." [Statement by Ivanov, 3/7/03] CHINA: Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan: "We believe that as long as we stick to the road of political settlement, the goal of destroying Iraq's WMD could still be obtained. Resolution 1441 did not come by easily. Given the current situation, we need resolve and determination, and more importantly, patience and wisdom." [Statement by Jiaxuan, 3/7/03] 64% - Percentage of Americans who believe the Bush administration "generally misleads the American public on current issues to achieve its own ends." -- Gary Denton http://www.apollocon.org June 23-25, 2006 "The budget should be balanced; the treasury should be refilled; public debt should be reduced; and the arrogance of public officials should be controlled." -Cicero. 106-43 B.C. Easter Lemming Liberal News Digest - http://elemming2.blogspot.com
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