Posted on 03/27/2006 10:33:24 PM PST by neverdem
WASHINGTON, March 27 — American intelligence agencies and presidential commissions long ago concluded that Saddam Hussein had no unconventional weapons and no substantive ties to Al Qaeda before the 2003 invasion.
But now, an unusual experiment in public access is giving anyone with a computer a chance to play intelligence analyst and second-guess the government.
Under pressure from Congressional Republicans, the director of national intelligence has begun a yearlong process of posting on the Web 48,000 boxes of Arabic-language Iraqi documents captured by American troops.
Less than two weeks into the project, and with only 600 out of possibly a million documents and video and audio files posted, some conservative bloggers are already asserting that the material undermines the official view.
On his blog last week, Ray Robison, a former Army officer from Alabama, quoted a document reporting a supposed scheme to put anthrax into American leaflets dropped in Iraq and declared: "Saddam's W.M.D. and terrorist connections all proven in one document!!!"
--snip--
All the documents, which are available on fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products-docex.htm, have received at least a quick review by Arabic linguists and do not alter the government's official stance, officials say. On some tapes already released, in fact, Mr. Hussein expressed frustration that he did not have unconventional weapons.
--snip--
"I'm trying to pick up documents that shed light on the political debate," said Joseph G. Shahda, 34, a Lebanese-born engineer who lives in a Boston suburb and is spending hours every evening on translations for the conservative Free Republic site. "I think we prematurely concluded there was no W.M.D. and no ties to Al Qaeda."
Mr. Shahda said he was proud he could help make the documents public. "I live in this great country, and it's a time of war," he said. "This is the least I can do."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Well, I'm sure MSM at least lurkes here. Some may even have an account, or recently signed up for one. They could have FReepMailed him and asked for an interview.
After all, someone (Joe public) translating for public consumption, captured arabic language documents from a deposed dictator's government, might be considered newworthy.
I SECOND THAT
but, i wonder if our site isn't MORE than a conservative news site, as mentioned in the article....sumptin like this site stands for: "truth, justice and 'the American way'"-we've jus gotta get a consensus on 'the American way'....
Sorry to inform you Mr. Scheuer, but there are some people out there that are smarter, than some the boobs at the CIA.
I've been wondering too and your reply seems the most plausible. Hey jveritas! Would you tell us how they discovered your real name?
We are blessed.
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Sincerely
I seem to recall that the NYTimes spent a huge amount of money to recount the votes in Florida in 2000, so I was wondering why they choose not to spend money on translating some of these 48000 documents themselves.
Then I answered part of my own question. Their balance sheet has been in free fall since 2000, and they are probably squeezing every penny these days.
Just Desserts!
^^^^^
I hope they are not being malicious in revealing jveritas' name.
Are those the ones the MSM (intentionally?) translated wrong?
Aside from the monetary consideration with regard to the translations, the NYT doesn't dare look too closely into the translations because it would expose their lies all these years that there were no ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq.
Of course, before they decided to politicize this, they mentioned the connections/relationships frequently:
Here's what the New York Times said about the camp six weeks after 9/11:
"New information does suggest that Mr. Hussein was actively training terrorists to attack American interests throughout the 1990's.
"One example is the testimony of Sabah Khodada, a captain in the Iraqi army who emigrated to Texas in May after working for eight years at what he described as a terrorist training camp at a bend in the Tigris River just southeast of Baghdad."
According to the Times, Khodada described the camp as "a highly secret installation" where "non-Iraqi Arabs from Persian Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia" received training in "assassinations, kidnapping, hijacking of airplanes, hijacking of buses, hijacking of trains, and all other kinds of operations related to terrorism."
In comments unmentioned by the Times but covered by PBS, Khodada said that when he saw the twin towers fall he thought to himself, "This was done by graduates of Salman Pak."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/984758/posts
I can just see him shouting into the flowerpot, "Gosh, it sucks that I don't have any unconventional weapons. Here I am, sitting in my palace, which doesn't have any WMD in the basement, wondering what to do with myself because I DON'T HAVE ANY WMD ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY. (muffled giggles) Quiet, Abdul, this is for posterity And if only I weren't being so freaking honest with the oil for food program. I could be a wealthy man today."
bttt
Iraqi Documents Are Put on Web, and Search Is On [FR's jveritas makes the news]
Release/Translation of Classified PreWar Docs ping. If you want to be added or removed to the ping list, please Freepmail me.
Please add the keyword prewardocs to any articles pertaining to this subject.
hit the PREWARDOCS link at the top of your page or you can ask eyespysomething to be put on her ping list if you're interested in jveritas' translations and other translations of the documents.
I believe he gave an interview to a Boston newspaper and that's where his name was first published a week or two ago, but I am not certain.
This is another example of how the MSM doesn't get it. If the NYTimes took one of their existing translators and put the guy on these documents and each day had translations on the front page they'd see their circulation start to climb back up out of the sewer.
I understand the NYT is agenda driven, but someone there (even if not in the newsroom) ought to be at least a little worried about the bottom line and looking for a way to salvage circulation.
That is exactly what happened in both cases i.e. my interviews with the New York Times and the Boston Globe.
You should send those comments to the NYT. I'm serious. Excellent points.
Mega Dittoes!
"A smattering of Arabic", now that is funny.
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