Former aide: Powell WMD speech 'lowest point in my life'

cnn ^ | 8-19-05

[rmgatto]

CNN--hah! Their tiny audience and exclusive appeal to the democrat base makes this struggling network completely irrelevant. Every time I see their logo I think of pausing to laugh at fat Lou the obsessive border guy, metrosexual Anderson Cooper whose show's name suggests him running up his own behind, the always embarrasing crazy Larry, and a host of other undertalented personalities in poorly produced shows.

All networks have bad shows but CNN is right up there with MSNBC producing almost all crap. Thank God for inept competition.

[TrebleRebel]

Are you sure they're going to re-run "Tailwind"? They had to retract most of it later.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/02/tailwind.johnson/

[the invisib1e hand]

some great contextual creativity in the editing room, I trust.

[epluribus_2]

A bluff can still get you shot in some saloons. Problem for Saddam, his was in Texas.

[PISANO]

One of the great mysteries of our time is WHY Saddam would not offer proof of his WMD dismantling as requested by the UN/US and avoid the invasion??

The idiot would still be holding court in IRAQ's rape rooms, 10 year old children would still be in jail and his sons would still be killing the Iraqi soccer team members for losing a game.

Definitely the MOTHER OF ALL BLUNDERS!!!

[lugsoul]

You do know, I'm sure, that the yellowcake you reference (1) was in Iraq's possession before Desert Storm and before sanctions, (2) was completely known to everyone and was included in the various 'disclosures' made by Iraq, and (3) was tagged and sealed by the IAEA, and that the tags and seals were still in place when our forces initially reached al-Tuwaitha.

You know that, right?

[epluribus_2]

So if he planned on using it later after sanctions were lifted and the monitoring forgotten, well See North Korea and Iran for examples...

(future without OIF)
(AP) Today Iraqi Nuclear Scientists broke seals at the Tuwaitha storage facility as EU and UN negociators pleaded with the Saddam Hussein regime to reconsider it's plans to restart nuclear enrichment following Israel's problematic West Bank withdrawl ... Baradei urged restraint on all parties and appealed to Iraq's claim of peaceful nuclear development for the nations energy needs...

[Paloma_55]

So, the audio tapes of guys saying "The inspectors are coming tommorrow, you must remove them tonight!" or something to that effect... were those fabricated?

[Shermy]

One question will not be asked: Despite the "trucks" did he think Saddam had WMDs? State Dept. Intel thought so.

These guys are let to rant on the worst intelligence and allowed the impression that they thought there were no WMDs.

[lugsoul]

You are missing the point, deliberately or not.

That yellowcake was used as an example of the MSM deliberately omitting an example of 'WMD' when they talk about 'mistaken intelligence.' There was absolutely no mistaken intel about this yellowcake - everyone knew it was there, there was no attempt to hide that it was there, it was listed in Iraq's disclosures, and - most importantly - Iraq was not prohibited by sanctions, the cease-fire agreement, or anything else from having it.

So it is a 'yellow herring' to throw that issue into the middle of a discussion about mistaken intel. It has nothing to do with mistaken intel.

[Shermy]

The Col. is clearly confused. He needs to get his mind right. How is it that your average Free Republic reader can be better informed on the subject than a top military aide to the Secretary of State ?

I agree with your comment about the "true believers" who still thought Saddam had WMDs. But the "Col." is deceptive, just like all these government insiders like Joe Wilson. They all thought Saddam had WMDs. They cherry pick the worst intelligence and allow the media to communicate the impression they had thought Saddam had no WMDs. The Col. does not state what he agreed with in Powell's speech. How about the anthrax?

[Undertow]

Wasn't Powell opposed to Desert Storm? If I recall, he urged Bush 41 to let sanctions do the fighting.

[Let's Roll]

I guess he wasn't offended enough to resign his commission though, was he?

[Political Junkie Too]

A former top aide to Colin Powell says his involvement in the former secretary of state's presentation to the United Nations on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was "the lowest point" in his life.

I'd have said that losing Turkey as a lauching point for the Iraqi norther front in the final weeks of buildup was a lower point.

-PJ

[hgro]

Unfortunately there are too many like this chicken coronel whose mission in life is to throw roadblocks up to every thing not approved by the left wing segment of the baby boomers.

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

"It's like a person pulling a toy gun on a police officer and getting shot. If you pretend to be a threat, don't be surprised if people believe you are a threat and act accordingly"

Especially when you have a history as a murderer, liar and all around tyrannical maniac.

[balch3]

There was no intelligence failure. Don't believe the MSM.

[defenderSD]

All good points in both of your posts. This whole Iraqi WMD debate in the media is a waste of time because it doesn't include the highy classified information that isn't available to the public, to leaking Senators, or to Col. Wilkerson. I believe the most highly classifed intelligence is information from high-level informants inside Saddam's regime, and only a handful of people had access to this information because of the critical need to protect these informants.

Condi Rice made an interesting statement several months ago that of course went unnoticed by the press. She was on Hannity's show and was discussing WMD when she said "Of course Saddam's regime had weapons of mass destruction." This happened earlier this year, after the Kaye report had been released. So my feeling is that a few very high level people in the Bush Administration know that Iraq had WMD, probably chemical weapons, and they know what happened to the these weapons. But the proof can't be released to the public because this evidence also is from senstive sources, possibly inside Syria. I am continuously surprised at how the pompous MSM assumes that they have all the intelligence about Iraq and that everything has been made public. Media people act like they know nothing about how the intelligence agencies operate.

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

"I look back on it, and I still say it was the lowest point in my life."

And that's saying something for someone who apparently is now making a bid to be a hero among those who pride themselves in being low lifes.