CLARKE IN 92: BUSH WAS LAX ON IRAQ

The Washington Post (BRIEF EXCERPT ONLY, IN COMPLIANCE WITH COPYRIGHT LAW AND LAT/WP VS FR] | JUNE 5, 1992 | R. Jeffrey Smith

[Wallaby]

Memo Says U.S. Was Lax on Iraq; 'No One Was Paying Attention' to Arms [EXCERPT] The Washington Post R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post Staff Writer FIRST SECTION; PAGE A1 June 5, 1992, Friday, Final Edition A senior State Department official concluded in a secret memorandum after Iraq invaded Kuwait that "no one was paying attention" to blocking Iraq's purchase of Western equipment for weapons of mass destruction during the previous decade, according to a copy obtained by The Washington Post. [According to Clarke's memo,] "no one was paying attention" to blocking Iraq's purchase of Western equipment for weapons of mass destruction during the previous decade. . ." The official, Assistant Secretary of State Richard A. Clarke, made the claim in a memo declassified yesterday and provided to Congress along with 53 other State Department documents concerning U.S.-Iraqi relations that were requested by a congressional committee investigating U.S. policy toward Iraq before the Persian Gulf War. The documents, which were made available to The Post by a U.S. official, provide fresh details about the administration's monitoring of Iraq's nuclear and chemical weapons programs and the controversial U.S. pre-war push to ease controls on high-technology exports as part of an attempt to cultivate better relations with Iraq before it invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

(snip) President Bush last night defended the effort toward better relations with Iraq against this congressional criticism, saying that the United States tried to work with Saddam "on grain credits and things of this nature to avoid aggressive action. And it failed. . . . " "That approach, holding out a hand, trying to get him to renounce terrorism and join the family of nations, didn't work," Bush told a White House news conference. "And the minute he moved aggressively, we moved aggressively and set back aggression." One undated memo summarizing U.S. nonproliferation activity aimed at Iraq indicates that the Bush administration moved slowly to constrain Iraq's mass-destruction weapons programs after a Iraqi long-range missile launch in 1989 caught officials by surprise. The memo states that Clarke sought in an interagency meeting that December "to get at why U.S. intelligence didn't know Iraq had such capabilities beforehand and to galvanize the interagency community into more effective [action] against the Iraqi missile program." (snip) Clarke's memo referring to Washington's record of failure on the issue was written after the invasion. . . (snip)

[Tempest]

"How do we get this out to the media?"

I don't think most of them would run with the story anyways. Too many leftist in the newsroom waiting to bury the truth.

[lysie]

LOL

[prairiebreeze]

Heard it on Fox. Clarke was the only Clintoon rep who gave any advice to Bush team and it was a 30 slide Power Point presentation in which supposedly one slide dealt with AQ. I think it was Rice that Clarke gave the presentation to.

Prairie

[William McKinley]

And that one slide wasn't until about the thirteenth slide. Not front and center.

[McGavin999]

Brit Hume kept reporting that Clarke will be given lots more time to testify to the 9-11 committee than Tenet, or other Bush admin members. FWIW RAT shenanigans, I suppose.

I'll tell you what Prairie, that 9-11 commission better keep it honest, the American public is watching them and we have access to almost as much information as they do, and probably more because we check backgrounds. They're not honest, we'll catch it and we won't be quiet about it.

[Howlin]

Yeah.

I think Jim Robinson should use some of that money he's "snookering" out of us and get us a TV show!

[Howlin]

Forgot you i #66!

[Carolinamom]

ONE slide out of 30 dealt w/AQ. And Clintonistas w/8 years to deal w/it, are raking the Bush adm. over firey coals for NOT solving this "problem" in 8 months.

[prairiebreeze]

That is correct. It was not an early slide or even emphasized in importance.

Prairie

[PogySailor]

And because Bush didn't start bombing Afghanistan on 1/22/01 he's weak on terrorism. I'm sure the Democrats would have backed that 100%. </sarcasm>

[Jorge]

Madeleine Albright told Bill O'Reilly last week that SHE thought Saddam Hussein had WMDs. I heard her say it.

Yes, I heard it too.. she said something like *I believed it, WE ALL believed Saddam had WMDs.*

[Dog]

You might want to explore this some more..

[prairiebreeze]

Yes, I think the Clinturd crowd is running scared about this inquiry, hence the pre-attack to discredit Rice and Bush. I hope and pray Clinturd & Co are exposed for the traitors they are.

Prairie

[SJackson]

Excellent article which, you're right, any newsroom could pull up but didn't

[Carolinamom]

What time will this hearing be on C-Spam? I don't get CSpam 3.

[Right_in_Virginia]

TERRIFIC find!...Thanks for posting, Wallaby.

And, thanks for the "ping", Howlin.

(I'd "ping" Rush if I knew his sign on)

[eddie willers]

Yes, and what a plan it was! ABout 5 suggestions on one piece of paper!

A preemptive war....yep...all the UN types and the libs would be singing our hosannas.

[prairiebreeze]

Not sure, perhaps somebody else knows??

[Indy Pendance]

A Brief Compilation of DemocRAT Hypocrisy

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998.

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999.

[Miss Marple]

Read this article carefully. History has repeated itself. I thought you might forward this to someone who would be interested.