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 ...
No slant here
My thanks to Joseph G. Shahda
Ahem.
The deck chairs on the N Y Titanic are getting re-arranged again.
PING
Thank you Joe!
Good post. Too bad I can't read Arabic. It says someone on here is translating the material. Any one know the 'name' he's going under on this, so I can look through his posts?
Thanks for posting, neverdem!
"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."
A great BIG 'thank you' to Joseph!
jveritas
Could not read past this sentence. Jveritas is doing original translations. That is not second guessing the government.
Thanks, Joe.
What? Should read..."The monolithic fascist press hates GWB so it used anecdotal evidence to try to discredit him by insisting Saddam had no ties to terrorists or NBC weapons."
PING
Some Marines Declining Extra Body Armor
Our Borders Pose National Security Risk There were a number of good reasons to control immigration before Sep 11, 2001 which were not racist. Travis McGee has a bunch of pics of the border which give some understanding of the border's condition on that thread.
From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
The media loves to hide their sources... but they seem to love to expose ours.
I don't like the way this guy's name is being published.
At the same time, I also want you to be careful in exposing yourself so publically as you have. Screen names are fine, but having your identity as exposed as this article has done could leave you in more danger than you might have considered, from foreign or domestic, physically or politically/socially.
A government agency translating and releasing information damaging to the forces aligned against this great nation is different from an individual spearheading the same activity. Be careful and keep up the good work.
Pretty cool.....
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