Posted on 03/14/2006 2:59:01 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
US intelligence analysts misunderstood intercepted Iraqi communications, believing the orders were meant to deceive UN weapons inspectors searching for chemical or biological agents, a new report says.
Instead, the conversation between two Iraqi Republican Guard Corps commanders that included the order to remove reference to "nerve agents" from "wireless" communications was intended to ensure the regime was in compliance with international demands to disarm, the Foreign Affairs magazine reported in its online edition this week.
That conversation was intercepted by the United States in 2002.
The article was based on a recently declassified US Joint Forces Command report assessing Iraqi internal developments prior to the war. The report said that US analysts had no way of knowing Saddam Hussein was trying to comply, since Iraq had spent a decade trying to hide evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
According to this report, Saddam was insisting that full access be given to weapons inspectors "in order not to give President Bush any excuses to start a war".
Allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was Mr Bush's chief reason for launching the March 2003 invasion. In the months leading up to the war, Iraq did give access to UN weapons inspectors.
The comments about "nerve agents" featured prominently in then US secretary of state Colin Powell's February 5 presentation at the UN security council that aimed to win support for a military conflict with Iraq.
After the invasion, the US military searched for unconventional weapons but were unable to find any, adding fuel for war critics who insisted the Bush administration purposely deceived the US public about the reasons for going to war.
THE LATEST LIBERAL CLAP TRAP.
Is this to keep the huge number of documents about to be released off the front pages...or at least diminished?
This is so bogus.
Yup. It is an MSM preemptive BS strike.
They have no shame, do they?
"Instead, the conversation between two Iraqi Republican Guard Corps commanders that included the order to remove reference to "nerve agents" from "wireless" communications was intended to ensure the regime was in compliance with international demands to disarm, the Foreign Affairs magazine reported in its online edition this week."
Sure. Who wrote this? Baghdad Bob? Besides, I thought they didn't have any WMD before the war. If they're talking about removing nerve agents to comply with UN sanctions, then doesn't that imply they had them or were these imaginery WMD? Anyway, maybe I'm missing something here. This article is vague on what it's trying to say. One has to wonder how intentional that is.
I remember this being posted on FR before, but can't remember when. Probably after the 9/11 Commission Report came out.
I wonder, what's the use of repeating the story?
They read all 48,000 boxes of documents & tapes already?
"According to this report, Saddam was insisting that full access be given to weapons inspectors "in order not to give President Bush any excuses to start a war"."
No Way. THAT is made up, pure manure. Not even good quality manure. Saddam talked too tough to have said such a thing. He thought he could make us blink, and we surprised the hell out of him when we didn't. He thought when we did roll in, we'd stop in Basra, but we kept going to Bagdad.
The quote above is inconsistent with his words and actions at the time.
The MSM is trying to wildly block the information in the Bagdad Boxes.
Yes, this does explain why Saddam hid himself in a pit.
By the way, on what basis does this article claim to know the intercepted conversation was misinterpreted? According to whom? That to me sounds like someone's pro-Saddam spin on that conversation to paint it in the best possible light. "It's not proof Saddam is trying to hide anything! It's proof he was doing his utmost to cooperate!" Spare me. And what about this...
NY Times: Saddam's Generals Believed They Had WMD to Repel US
by Jim Kouri
Mar 14, 2006
The New York Times reports that just prior to the United States lead invasion, Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein informed his top generals that he had destroyed his stockpiles of chemical weapons three months before their war plans meeting.
According to the Times report, the generals all believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and were counting on the WMD to repel the oncoming coalition invaders.
While reporting on this story, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said he is not surprised that the CIA and other nations believed Saddam had WMD since Hussein's own generals believed they had them. He said that this proves President Bush did not lie and that he believed what Saddam's own generals believed -- that Iraq possessed stockpiles of WMD.
Continue reading this article below
O'Reilly also rhetorically asked when the Democrat Senators Reid, Kennedy, Durbin and others would apologize for calling President Bush a liar about WMD He also asked when liberals such as Barbara Streisand, Jessica Lange and other would apologize to Bush for calling him a liar.
According to the Times story, Saddam Hussein wanted the world to believe he possessed WMD in order to create fear and thwart any war plans by the US. The revelation that Saddam's generals believed they would use WMD against American, British and other invading forces explains why the US military found protective gear had been issued to Iraqi soldiers. The top commanders wanted their troops protected from the WMD they intended to use.
"The Iraqi dictator was so secretive and kept information so compartmentalized that his top military leaders were stunned when he told them three months before the war that he had no weapons of mass destruction, and they were demoralized because they had counted on hidden stocks of poison gas or germ weapons for the nation's defense, " stated the New York Times on March 12.
The Times story supports the testimony of two former Iraqi generals who said that prior to the war, Saddam was in possession of WMD.
Oh come on! They expect people to swallow this!!!
Finally, after how many years? I finally understand.
To the Left, "is" means not necessarily "was," if that's what best promotes their agenda.
Interpret however you want, libs. The truth is obvious to anyone who hasn't blinded themselves with their ideology.
BS
(Not you of course, the liberal trash...)
Re#12 Yep. W is fighting two wars on terror, one of them here at home against the 'rats and MSM. Here's hoping that we win both, in a big way (and I think we will)....
I thought so :)
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