FBI Probes Fake Evidence of Iraqi Nuclear Plans

The Washington Post ^ | March 13, 2003 | Dana Priest and Susan Schmidt

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

FBI Probes Fake Evidence of Iraqi Nuclear Plans

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By Dana Priest and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 13, 2003; Page A17

The FBI is looking into the forgery of a key piece of evidence linking Iraq to a nuclear weapons program, including the possibility that a foreign government is using a deception campaign to foster support for military action against Iraq.

"It's something we're just beginning to look at," a senior law enforcement official said yesterday. Officials are trying to determine whether the documents were forged to try to influence U.S. policy, or whether they may have been created as part of a disinformation campaign directed by a foreign intelligence service.

"We're looking at it from a preliminary stage as to what it's all about," he said.

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

Somehow this stuff doesn't seem to make see much news exposure.

[CPI News]

It was reported HERE too.

[epluribus_2]

I have a BAAAD feeling about this. I think Iraq (or allies Russia, etc.) faked this to throw off/reduce credibility of nuclear program inspectors.

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

That article did not report that the FBI was investigating or that 'a foreign power' was attempting to influence our foreign policy (going to war) with those fake docs.

[John H K]

Well, there's always my foil-hat theory that it was done to cast doubt on ALL evidence against Iraq.

Some fun facts from the CIA World Factbook on Niger:

"Not until 1993, 35 years after independence from France, did Niger hold its first free and open elections."

"Exports - partners:
France 43.4%, Nigeria 35.0%, Spain 4.5%, US 3.9% (2000)"

[MosesKnows]

The FBI is looking into the forgery of a key piece of evidence linking Iraq to a nuclear weapons

This creates an extremely scary scenario.

The government states that many documents exist that provide evidence. From the many documents, the government selects a single document to demonstrate to the skeptics that evidence indeed exists. This one document, the specific document selected, is then acknowledged to be false.

Doesn't that scare the bejesus out of you? The government furnishes a document to persuade skeptics to their way of thinking and that document is discovered to be false. The government is fooled by a forged document and share it with the citizens as examples of why they take the decisions they take.

Who then believe that all the other documented evidence that causes the government to take decisions is true and just by chance they happened to share the only one that was false.

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

Hmmm... maybe the government wasn't 'fooled' by that evidence.

Take the case of the UK government. They weren't fooled by some college guy into thinking that they were using MI5 research. They simply took his paper without even telling him and presented it as if it was the product of MI5 research on Iraq's WMD capabilities.

[MosesKnows]

maybe the government wasn't 'fooled' by that evidence.

Maybe they weren't fooled, but then why did they use that same evidence that didn't fool them to fool us?

[aristeides]

There's a difference between plagiarizing (and I'm not even sure the government's use of somebody else's work amounts to plagiarism, since I don't know the government makes any claim of originality) and falsifying evidence. Falsifying evidence is a much more serious matter. Do we know who provided this material to UK and U.S. intelligence?

[gulfcoast6]

Rockerfella called for this, tell you anything?

[aristeides]

My understanding from Kenneth Pollack's The Threatening Storm is that there is adequate domestic production of uranium in Iraq for a weapons program. Unless uranium gotten from abroad is enriched, would finding such a foreign source be of any help to an Iraqi weapons program?

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

It could be what the Clinton administration used to call 'a honest SNAFU'. It's more like a FUBAR situation IMHO.