Justified the Iraq Invasion <https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!topic/politicalforum/zPup-ntwLeE> --- a huge mistake that is still killing people. we know who promoted it and why.
On Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 7:50:21 AM UTC-5, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > > https://news.vice.com/article/the-cia-just-declassified-the-document-that-supposedly-justified-the-iraq-invasion?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term=%2AMideast%20Brief > The CIA Just Declassified the Document That Supposedly Justified the Iraq > Invasion > > Thirteen years ago, the intelligence community concluded in a > 93-page classified document used to justify the invasion of Iraq that it > lacked "specific information" on "many key aspects" of Iraqi > President Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. > > But that's not what top Bush administration officials said during > their campaign to sell the war to the American public. Those officials, > citing the same classified document, asserted with no uncertainty that Iraq > was actively pursuing nuclear weapons, concealing a vast chemical and > biological weapons arsenal, and posing an immediate and grave threat to US > national security. > > Congress eventually > <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/shoulders/senateiraqconclusions.pdf> > > concluded <http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/phaseiiaccuracy.pdf> that > the Bush administration had "overstated" its dire warnings about the Iraqi > threat, and that the administration's claims about Iraq's WMD program > were "not supported by the underlying intelligence reporting." But that > underlying intelligence reporting — contained in the so-called National > Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that was used to justify the invasion — has > remained shrouded in mystery until now. > > *Related:* 'Leading the Fight Against the Islamic State: The Battle For > Iraq, Dispatch 10' > <https://news.vice.com/video/leading-the-fight-against-the-islamic-state-the-battle-for-iraq-dispatch-10> > > The CIA released a copy of the NIE in 2004 in response to a Freedom of > Information Act (FOIA) request > <http://www2.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB129/>, but redacted > virtually all of it, citing a threat to national security. Then last > year, John Greenewald, who operates The Black Vault > <http://www.theblackvault.com/>, a clearinghouse for declassified > government documents, asked the CIA to take another look at the October > 2002 NIE to determine whether any additional portions of it could be > declassified. > > The agency responded to Greenewald this past January and provided him with > a new version of the NIE, which he shared exclusively with VICE News, that > restores the majority of the prewar Iraq intelligence that has eluded > historians, journalists, and war critics for more than a decade. (Some > previously redacted portions of the NIE had previously been disclosed in > congressional reports.) > > *'The fact that the NIE concluded that there was no operational tie > between Saddam and al Qaeda did not offset this alarming assessment.'* > > For the first time, the public can now read the hastily drafted CIA > document [pdf below] that led Congress to pass a joint resolution > authorizing the use of military force in Iraq, a costly war launched March > 20, 2003 that was predicated on "disarming" Iraq of its (non-existent) WMD, > overthrowing Saddam Hussein, and "freeing" the Iraqi people. > > A report > <http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR700/RR768/RAND_RR768.pdf> > > issued by the government funded think-tank RAND Corporation last December > titled "Blinders, Blunders and Wars" said the NIE "contained several > qualifiers that were dropped…. As the draft NIE went up the intelligence > chain of command, the conclusions were treated increasingly definitively." > > An example of that: According to the newly declassified NIE, the > intelligence community concluded that Iraq "probably has renovated a > [vaccine] production plant" to manufacture biological weapons "but we are > unable to determine whether [biological weapons] agent research has > resumed." The NIE also said Hussein did not have "sufficient material" to > manufacture any nuclear weapons and "the information we have on Iraqi > nuclear personnel does not appear consistent with a coherent effort to > reconstitute a nuclear weapons program." > > But in an October 7, 2002 speech > <http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html> > > in Cincinnati, Ohio, then-President George W. Bush simply said Iraq, > "possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons" and "the evidence > indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program." > > *Related: *White House Considers Declassifying 28 Pages on Alleged Saudi > Government Role in 9/11 > <https://news.vice.com/article/white-house-considers-declassifying-28-pages-on-alleged-saudi-government-role-in-911> > > One of the most significant parts of the NIE revealed for the first time > is the section pertaining to Iraq's alleged links to al Qaeda. In September > 2002, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld claimed the US had " > bulletproof > <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/28/international/middleeast/28QAED.html>" > evidence linking Hussein's regime to the terrorist group. > > "We do have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al Qaeda members, > including some that have been in Baghdad," Rumsfeld said. "We have what we > consider to be very reliable reporting of senior-level contacts going back > a decade, and of possible chemical- and biological-agent training." > > But the NIE said its information about a working relationship between al > Qaeda and Iraq was based on "sources of varying reliability" — like Iraqi > defectors — and it was not at all clear that Hussein had even been aware of > a relationship, if in fact there were one. > > "As with much of the information on the overall relationship, details on > training and support are second-hand," the NIE said. "The presence of > al-Qa'ida militants in Iraq poses many questions. We do not know to what > extent Baghdad may be actively complicit in this use of its territory for > safehaven and transit." > > The declassified NIE provides details about the sources of some of the > suspect intelligence concerning allegations Iraq trained al Qaeda > operatives on chemical and biological weapons deployment — sources like War > on Terror detainees who were rendered to secret CIA black site prisons, and > others who were turned over to foreign intelligence services and tortured. > Congress's later investigation into prewar Iraq intelligence concluded that > the intelligence community based its claims about Iraq's chemical and > biological training provided to al Qaeda on a single source. > > "Detainee Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi — who had significant responsibility for > training — has told us that Iraq provided unspecified chemical or > biological weapons training for two al-Qai'ida members beginning in > December 2000," the NIE says. "He has claimed, however, that Iraq never > sent any chemical, biological, or nuclear substances — or any trainers — to > al-Qa'ida in Afghanistan." > > Al-Libi was the emir of the Khaldan training camp in Afghanistan, which > the Taliban closed prior to 9/11 because al-Libi refused to turn over > control to Osama bin Laden. > > Last December, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a declassified > summary of its so-called Torture Report > <https://news.vice.com/article/senate-torture-report-finds-the-cia-was-less-effective-and-more-brutal-than-anyone-knew> > > on the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program. A footnote stated > that al-Libi, a Libyan national, "reported while in [redacted] custody that > Iraq was supporting al-Qa'ida and providing assistance with chemical and > biological weapons." > > *Related: *Senate torture report finds the CIA was less effective and > more brutal than anyone knew > <https://news.vice.com/article/senate-torture-report-finds-the-cia-was-less-effective-and-more-brutal-than-anyone-knew> > > "Some of this information was cited by Secretary [of State Colin] Powell > in his speech to the United Nations, and was used as a justification for > the 2003 invasion of Iraq," the Senate torture report said. "Ibn Shaykh > al-Libi recanted the claim after he was rendered to CIA custody on February > [redacted] 2003, claiming that he had been tortured by the [redacted], and > only told them what he assessed they wanted to hear." > > Al-Libi reportedly committed suicide > <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/11/AR2009051103412.html> > > in a Libyan prison in 2009, about a month after human rights investigators > met with him. > > The NIE goes on to say that "none of the [redacted] al-Qa'ida members > captured during [the Afghanistan war] report having been trained in Iraq or > by Iraqi trainers elsewhere, but given al-Qa'ida's interest over the years > in training and expertise from outside sources, we cannot discount reports > of such training entirely." > > All told, this is the most damning language in the NIE about Hussein's > links to al Qaeda: While the Iraqi president "has not endorsed al-Qa'ida's > overall agenda and has been suspicious of Islamist movements in general, > apparently he has not been averse to some contacts with the organization." > > The NIE suggests that the CIA had sources within the media to substantiate > details about meetings between al Qaeda and top Iraqi government officials > held during the 1990s and 2002 — but some were not very reliable. "Several > dozen additional direct or indirect meetings are attested to by less > reliable clandestine and press sources over the same period," the NIE says. > > The RAND report noted, "The fact that the NIE concluded that there was no > operational tie between Saddam and al Qaeda did not offset this alarming > assessment." > > The NIE also restores another previously unknown piece of "intelligence": > a suggestion that Iraq was possibly behind the letters laced with anthrax > sent to news organizations and senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy a > week after the 9/11 attacks. The attacks killed five people and sickened 17 > others. > > "We have no intelligence information linking Iraq to the fall 2001 attacks > in the United States, but Iraq has the capability to produce spores of > *Bacillus > anthracis* — the causative agent of anthrax — similar to the dry spores > used in the letters," the NIE said. "The spores found in the Daschle and > Leahy letters are highly purified, probably requiring a high level of skill > and expertise in working with bacterial spores. Iraqi scientists could have > such expertise," although samples of a biological agent Iraq was known to > have used as an anthrax simulant "were not as pure as the anthrax spores in > the letters." > > Paul Pillar, a former veteran CIA analyst for the Middle East who was in > charge of coordinating the intelligence community's assessments on > Iraq, told VICE news that "the NIE's bio weapons claims" was based on > unreliable sources such as Ahmad Chalabi, the former head of the Iraqi > National Congress, an opposition group supported by the US. > > "There was an insufficient critical skepticism about some of the source > material," he now says about the unredacted NIE. "I think there should > have been agnosticism expressed in the main judgments. It would have been > a better paper if it were more carefully drafted in that sort of direction." > > But Pillar, now a visiting professor at Georgetown University, added that > the Bush administration had already made the decision to go to war in Iraq, > so the NIE "didn't influence [their] decision." Pillar added that he was > told by congressional aides that only a half-dozen senators and a few House > members read past the NIE's five-page summary. > > David Kay, a former Iraq weapons inspector who also headed the Iraq Survey > Group, told *Frontline* > <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/themes/nie.html> that > the intelligence community did a "poor job" on the NIE, "probably the worst > of the modern NIE's, partly explained by the pressure, but more importantly > explained by the lack of information they had. And it was trying to drive > towards a policy conclusion where the information just simply didn't > support it." > > The most controversial part of the NIE, which has been picked apart > hundreds of times over the past decade and has been thoroughly debunked, > pertained to a section about Iraq's attempts to acquire aluminum tubes. The > Bush administration claimed that this was evidence that Iraq was pursuing a > nuclear weapon. > > National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice stated at the time on CNN that > the tubes "are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge > programs," and that "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." > > The version of the NIE released in 2004 redacted the aluminum tubes > section in its entirety. But the newly declassified assessment unredacts a > majority of it and shows that the intelligence community was unsure why > "Saddam is personally interested in the procurement of aluminum tubes." The > US Department of Energy concluded that the dimensions of the aluminum tubes > were "consistent with applications to rocket motors" and "this is the more > likely end use." The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research > also disagreed with the intelligence community's assertions that Iraq had > reconstituted its nuclear weapons program. > > The CIA's 25-page unclassified summary > <http://www2.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB129/nie_first%20release.pdf> > of the NIE released in 2002 did not contain the State or Energy > Departments' dissent. > > "Apart from being influenced by policymakers' desires, there were several > other reasons that the NIE was flawed," the RAND study concluded. "Evidence > on mobile biological labs, uranium ore purchases from Niger, and > unmanned-aerial-vehicle delivery systems for WMDs all proved to be false. > It was produced in a hurry. Human intelligence was scarce and unreliable. > While many pieces of evidence were questionable, the magnitude of the > questionable evidence had the effect of making the NIE more convincing and > ominous. The basic case that Saddam had WMDs seemed more plausible to > analysts than the alternative case that he had destroyed them. And analysts > knew that Saddam had a history of deception, so evidence against Saddam's > possession of WMDs was often seen as deception." > > *Related:* 'Primary Sources,' the VICE News FOIA blog > <https://news.vice.com/topic/primary-sources-the-vice-news-foia-blog> > > According to the latest figures compiled by Iraq Body Count, to date more > than 200,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed, although other sources say > the casualties are twice as high. More than 4,000 US soldiers have been > killed in Iraq, and tens of thousands more have been injured and maimed. > The war has cost <https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/war-in-iraq/> > US taxpayers more than $800 billion. > > In an interview with VICE founder Shane Smith > <https://news.vice.com/video/president-obama-speaks-with-vice-news>, > Obama said the rise of the Islamic State was a direct result of the > disastrous invasion. > > "ISIL is a direct outgrowth of al Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our > invasion," Obama said. "Which is an example of unintended consequences. > Which is why we should generally aim before we shoot." > > > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcnN0OXZpBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0NTg1ODgwNzc-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! Groups] > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlcnZmMXFuBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQ1ODU4ODA3Nw--> > > • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • > Unsubscribe <javascript:> • Terms of Use > <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> > > __,_._,___ > > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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