President Bush exonerated of 'misleading statements' leading to Iraq war

American Thinker ^ | 7-6-08 | Vincent Gioia

[smoothsailing]

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July 06, 2008

President Bush exonerated of 'misleading statements' leading to Iraq war

Vincent Gioia

In 2003 newspaper columnist Robert Novak wrote his now infamous "Mission to Niger" (published on July 14, 2003) in which he mentioned an allegedly failed attempt by Saddam Hussein to purchase uranium reported by the husband of a (not so) secret CIA agent, Valerie Plame, and mentioned her by name.

Mrs. Wilson's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, stated in a number of interviews and in subsequent writings (as listed in his 2004 memoir The Politics of Truth) that members of President George W. Bush's administration revealed Mrs. Wilson's covert status as retribution for his op-ed entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa," published in The New York Times on July 6, 2003. In addition, after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, Wilson wrote a series of other op-eds questioning the war's factual basis (See "Bibliography" in The Politics of Truth). In one of these op-eds published in the New York Times on July 6, 2003, Wilson says that, in the State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush misrepresented intelligence leading up to the invasion and thus misleadingly suggested that the Iraqi regime sought uranium to manufacture nuclear weapons.

After the initial Novak column, fueled by Democrats, a sycophantic news media proceeded to make the matter a public spectacle for years. A special investigator, Patrick Fitzgerald, was appointed to lead an investigation (which eventually would cost $2.58 million) and he convened a grand jury.

Despite revelation to the special investigator that the actual leaker of the name of this secret CIA "operative" (Richard Armitage) in only a few days, Fitzgerald managed to keep the investigation going thereby extending his 15 minutes of fame for years. The CIA leak grand jury investigation did not result in the indictment or conviction of anyone for any crime in connection with the leak itself; however, I. Lewis Libby, Chief of Staff of Vice President Dick Cheney was indicted on five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury, and false statements to the grand jury and federal investigators on October 28, 2005( Libby resigned hours after the indictment).

The amazing thing about this incident, in addition to the obvious miscarriage of justice, is that at the root of the controversy was an erroneous report by Valerie Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, who parlayed his report into a public scandal with the help Democrats, the ever-investigative Fitzgerald and the Democrat Party house organs, has been proven to be totally wrong. Those who harped on the Bush administration and its members for both the "leak" and for going to war in Iraq despite a supposed lack of evidence of a nuclear program by Iraq's monstrous dictator and his sons should by all rights be made to suffer the same indignities visited upon President Bush, Vice President Cheney, their aides and especially, Lewis Libby.

Today we know that Iraq did possess 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" -- the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment. The effort to topple Hussein and cause regime change was indeed necessary to prevent the development of nuclear weapons. We know this because it has been revealed, albeit without the fanfare of the earlier "scandal", that this huge stockpile of concentrated uranium, a remnant of Hussein' nuclear program, was removed from Iraq and shipped to a buyer in Canada. It should be a great relief to the world to know that Hussein was not given enough time to further develop his nuclear program because President Bush defied his critics and took action to abort this threat.

To those unfamiliar with "yellowcake", it is a concentrated form of uranium resulting from early stages of uranium ore processing. Although yellowcake is not considered potent enough for a nuclear bomb or for a so-called "dirty bomb" - "a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material" - it is a very dangerous material in the wrong hands. Yellowcake can be enriched for use in nuclear reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons.

Of course, as was the case with Caesar, "The evil that men do (in the eyes of their critics) live after them but the good is ("oft") interred with their souls". Bush continues to be maligned by his liberal and appeasement minded critics and too many Americans as well, for taking preemptive action to cancel this threat. We can only wonder what critics and opponents would say if Saddam Hussein had been allowed to continue and developed a nuclear weapon of mass destruction and made it available to world terrorists; at least those of them who would still be alive following a nuclear terrorist attack in the United States?

Vincent Gioia is a retired patent attorney living in Palm Desert, California. His articles may be read at vincentgioia.com and he may be contacted at gioia@gte.net.

Posted at 04:19 PM | Email | Permalink
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/07/post_93.html at July 06, 2008 - 06:06:26 PM EDT

[Liberty Valance]

Happy 4th of July!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQuiLVMAmCY
The National Anthem

[Always Right]

Today we know that Iraq did possess 550 metric tons of "yellowcake"

Actually, nobody knows that because the media doesn't want to report that. But we do know Mr. and Mrs. Valerie Plame have a book out and we know what their side of the story is, even though the facts contradict everything they say.

[sirchtruth]

I’d like to take this report and shove it up Wilson’s and Plame’s Sun-Don’t-Shine’s!!!

[saganite]

I saw an earlier report on this yellowcake and wondered if it was there pre war as part of previously known elements of Saddam’s nuclear weapons program. I know the monitors had a lot of his WMD program under seal and subject to inspection (I know, useless). Anybody know the origin of this stuff? Was it known before the war or is this something new?

[txroadkill]

I demand that the following people be impeached and/or imprisoned for misleading us into the war in Iraq!

 

"Every nation has to either be with us, or against us.  Those who harbor terrorists, or who finance them, are going to pay a price."

    Senator Hillary Clinton (Democrat, New York)
    During an interview on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather
    September 13, 2001

 

"My position is very clear: The time has come for decisive action to eliminate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.  I'm a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Resolution that's presently under consideration in the Senate.  Saddam Hussein's regime is a grave threat to America and our allies.  We know that he has chemical and biological weapons today, that he's used them in the past, and that he's doing everything he can to build more.  Every day he gets closer to his long-term goal of nuclear capability.

Democracy will not spring up by itself overnight in a multi-ethnic, complicated society that's suffered under one repressive regime after another for generations.  The Iraqi people deserve and need our help to rebuild their lives and to create a prosperous, thriving, open society.  All Iraqis, including Sunnis, Shia and Kurds, deserve to be represented.  This is not just a moral imperative.  It's a security imperative.  It is in America's national interest to help build an Iraq at peace with itself and its neighbors, because a democratic, tolerant and accountable Iraq will be a peaceful regional partner, and such an Iraq could serve as a model for the entire Arab world."

    Senator John Edwards (Democrat, North Carolina)
    Speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
    October 7, 2002

 

"People can quarrel with whether we should have more troops in Afghanistan or internationalize Iraq or whatever, but it is incontestable that on the day I left office, there were unaccounted for stocks of biological and chemical weapons."

    Former President Clinton
    During an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live"
    July 22, 2003

 

"Iraq is a long way from Ohio, 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."

    Madeleine Albright, President Clinton's Secretary of State
    Town Hall Meeting on Iraq at Ohio State University
    February 18, 1998

 

"Imagine the consequences if Saddam fails to comply and we fail to act.  Saddam will be emboldened, believing the international community has lost its will.  He will rebuild his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.  And some day, some way, I am certain, he will use that arsenal again, as he has ten times since 1983."

    Sandy Berger, President Clinton's National Security Advisor
    Town Hall Meeting on Iraq at Ohio State University
    February 18, 1998

 

"It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime."

    Iraq Liberation Act of 1998
    105th Congress, 2nd Session
    September 29, 1998

 

"There is now no incentive for Hussein to comply with the inspectors or to refrain from using weapons of mass destruction to defend himself if the United States comes after him.  And he will use them; we should be under no illusion about that."

    Joseph Wilson, Advisor to John Kerry 2004 Presidential Campaign
    In a Los Angeles Times editorial: "A 'Big Cat' With Nothing to Lose"
    February 6, 2003

 

"Saddam Hussein certainly has chemical and biological weapons.  There's no question about that."

    Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California)
    During an interview on "Meet The Press"
    November 17, 2002

 

"I come to this debate, Mr. Speaker, as one at the end of 10 years in office on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was one of my top priorities.  I applaud the President on focusing on this issue and on taking the lead to disarm Saddam Hussein.  ...  Others have talked about this threat that is posed by Saddam Hussein.  Yes, he has chemical weapons, he has biological weapons, he is trying to get nuclear weapons."

    Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California)
    Addressing the US House of Representatives
    October 10, 2002

 

"There's no question that Saddam Hussein is a threat to the United States and to our allies.

If Saddam persists in thumbing his nose at the inspectors, then we're clearly going to have to do something about it."

    Howard Dean, Democratic Presidential Candidate
    During an interview on "Face The Nation"
    September 29, 2002

 

"We stopped the fighting [in 1991] on an agreement that Iraq would take steps to assure the world that it would not engage in further aggression and that it would destroy its weapons of mass destruction.  It has refused to take those steps.  That refusal constitutes a breach of the armistice which renders it void and justifies resumption of the armed conflict."

    Senator Harry Reid (Democrat, Nevada)
    Addressing the US Senate
    October 9, 2002

 

"It is the duty of any president, in the final analysis, to defend this nation and dispel the security threat.  Saddam Hussein has brought military action upon himself by refusing for 12 years to comply with the mandates of the United Nations.  The brave and capable men and women of our armed forces and those who are with us will quickly, I know, remove him once and for all as a threat to his neighbors, to the world, and to his own people, and I support their doing so."

    Senator John Kerry (Democrat, Massachusetts)
    Statement on eve of military strikes against Iraq
    March 17, 2003

 

WESLEY CLARK: He does have weapons of mass destruction.

MILES O'BRIEN: And you could say that categorically?

WESLEY CLARK: Absolutely.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right, well, where are, where is, they've been there a long time and thus far we've got 12 empty casings.  Where are all these weapons?

WESLEY CLARK: There's a lot of stuff hidden in a lot of different places, Miles, and I'm not sure that we know where it all is.  People in Iraq do.  The scientists know some of it.  Some of the military, the low ranking military; some of Saddam Hussein's security organizations.  There's a big organization in place to cover and deceive and prevent anyone from knowing about this.

    Wesley Clark, Democratic Presidential Candidate
    During an interview on CNN
    January 18, 2003

 

"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime is a serious danger, that he is a tyrant, and that his pursuit of lethal weapons of mass destruction cannot be tolerated.  He must be disarmed.

We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."

   Senator Edward Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts)
   Speech at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
   September 27, 2002

 

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power.

We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."

   Al Gore, Former Clinton Vice-President
   Speech to San Francisco Commonwealth Club
   September 23, 2002

 

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998.  We are confident that Saddam Hussein retained some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capability.  Intelligence reports also indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons, but has not yet achieved nuclear capability."

   Robert C. Byrd
   Former Ku Klux Klan recruiter, currently a US Senator (Democrat, West Virginia)
   Addressing the US Senate
   October 3, 2002

[gourmand]

I’d be willing to bet that all 550 metric tons of that yellowcake uranium, would also fit ‘in there’, of the Plames/Wilson TRAITORS butts!

[MileHi]

This has been breaking news all day on the MSM.

NOT!

[A_perfect_lady]

I don't know if I agree with the angle of this story. My understanding is that we always knew Hussein had that 550 tons of yellowcake, that he had them back in 1991 and they were put under UN control. (Of course, once he kicked the UN out, he probably had access to them.)

But the Niger-yellowcake scandal (so-called) was in reference to a second attempt to garner yellowcake.

What the real angle should be, IMHO, and should ALWAYS have been... was that Wilson's story actually corroborated Bush. IIRC, Wilson said that Saddam had indeed sought yellowcake. He just wasn't able to get it.

[saganite]

Then the question is, where did this yellowcake come from. That can be easily determined. If it’s from Niger then it would make sense for Hussein to seek further supplies from there since he was already a customer. That knowledge would help buttress Bush’s claim and since this stuff has been sitting around for almost 20 years I’m sure the answer to that question is already known.

[jazusamo]

Excellent piece by Gioia! Thanks for posting, Smooth.

Battle Hymn of the Republic

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

You are correct. All of the 550 tons were pre-1991 material that was known about. This was made clear in the original AP article that caused several threads to be pulled. Of course,,,,,AP,,,,,,,

[LuxMaker]

All I hear from my apartment manager is "Bush lied and people died!" when I mention that we supposedly can not drill our way out of this oil crisis, but certainly no mention of this article.

[TexasKate]

Is this not a Drudge Siren moment? And why isn’t this in “Breaking News”? They’ve found WMD in Iraq and its not a huge deal? Colored me confused.

[txrangerette]

Nuclear material in Saddam’s possession was already known to exist when we invaded...even the UN knew about it and had been to the site and had tagged some of the items.

We really didn’t know for sure the exact and full extent of the program, though.

As some have pointed out, this was known of even prior to the gulf war when Bush I was president. But back then as well, we lacked complete and precise knowledge of his plans and program.

It was scary and suspicious, however.

It isn’t a siren on drudge because this isn’t about a new find. It’s about securing what was there that was known.

But the story has not been well covered by the media, and the administration didn’t want to talk about it because they were trying to secure the stuff and keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

[smoothsailing]

Wilson was always trying to sell the tale that Saddam had nothing.

The facts have always been irrelevent to him and his smear operation, and the old media was always too happy to push his agenda. In truth, it matters not when Saddam got it or where he got it from, just that he actually had it and wanted more.

http://www.doe.gov/news/1388.htm

[smoothsailing]

You might want to find a different apartment building with a different manager! :-)

[y6162]

“...wonder what critics and opponents would say if Saddam Hussein had been allowed to continue and developed a nuclear weapon of mass destruction and made it available to world terrorists..”

Iran is a replay. If Israel can’t stop Iran from developing nukes, Obambi might have to answer for it...

[Big Horn]

I first learned of it today and 550 metric tons of yellow cake would make a WMD large enough to blow a hole in any rat story.

[mware]

Paging Mr. Plame...paging Mr. Plame

[smoothsailing]

I would prefer McCain getting that call; Obarfma wouldn't do squat.

[jazusamo]

That’s correct, Wilson tried to cover for Saddam to make Bush a liar. It is Wilson who is the weasel and liar and most people now know it.

I read the AP piece yesterday on the yellow cake and its transport out of Iraq. I was surprised, it was a good article for AP.

[McGruff]

Fantastic. This info needs to get out.

[A_perfect_lady]

What amazes me is that Wilson got away with constructing a straw man and setting it ablaze in FULL VIEW of everyone. Bush didn't say "Saddam got yellowcake from Niger." He said, "SOUGHT yellowcake... is ATTEMPTING to rebuild..."

The point was never "Saddam has a nuke!" It was "Saddam is trying to get one. TRYING." As Bush pointed out once, Saddam WAS the WMD.

[Lancey Howard]

BUMP!

[smoothsailing]

I was surprised myself. and then it dawned on me why they would report it. The new template will be that Iraq is safe now so we can leave. The NY Times will chime in soon and all the other usual suspects. Once again the media will aid and abet it's fellow travelers in the dim party and pull out all the stops to abandon the Iraqis just when the real chance for ultimate victory is in their grasp.

[JessieHelmsJr]

drive by media.....crickets

[smoothsailing]

I was really sorry to hear about your Dad. A Good man.

[jazusamo]

You may have a good point especially now that al Qaeda is reported to be defunct in Iraq, even al Qaeda is admitting it.

The Slimes and their leftist media cohorts will trumpet the cause supporting the RATS of getting our troops out of Iraq now that the danger is supposedly over but the Iraqis are still going to need help fot a time because of the nuts like Mookie.

[smoothsailing]

I think it's worse than that. We leave, we leave a vacumn that Iran fills. We stay, Iran is stalemated at a minimum.

[JessieHelmsJr]

Not my dad I just took that as my username because I’m from NC and he was the one of the best Senators ever! Plus my name is Jessie.:)

[kenavi]

IIRC, Wilson said that Saddam had indeed sought yellowcake. He just wasn't able to get it.

You are asking the right question. I believe you RC. Best.

[zip]

ping

[Jeeper]

Other information exonerating President Bush...

From the Iraq Survey Group Report...

Saddam wanted to recreate Iraq’s WMD capability—which was essentially destroyed in 1991—after sanctions were removed and Iraq’s economy stabilized, but probably with a different mix of capabilities to thatwhich previously existed. Saddam aspired to develop a nuclear capability—in an incremental fashion, irrespective of international pressure and the resulting economic risks—but he intended to focus on ballistic missile and tactical chemical warfare (CW0 capabilities.

The former Regime had no formal written strategy or plan for the revival of WMD after sanctions. Neither was there an identifi able group of WMD policy makers or planners separate from Saddam. Instead, his lieutenants understood WMD revival was his goal from their long association with Saddam and his infrequent, but firm, verbal comments and directions to them.

ISG uncovered Iraqi plans or designs for three long-range ballistic missiles with ranges from 400 to 1,000 km and for a 1,000-km-range cruise missile, although none of these systems progressed to production and only one reportedly passed the design phase. ISG assesses that these plans demonstrate Saddam’s continuing desire—up to the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)—for a long-range delivery capability.

ISG judges that Iraq’s actions between 1991 and 1996 demonstrate that the state intended to preserve its BW capability and return to a steady, methodical progress toward a mature BW program when and if the opportunity arose.

[TexasKate]

It seems the fact that the Associated Press is reporting it is worth a Drudge Siren - ha. I’m glad to see its in breaking news at least

[jazusamo]

Oh yes, the Iran nut jobs would love to see us out of there. Pelosi and Reid already want to negotiate with them and if we were out of Iraq I can’t see where we could negotiate anything with those crazies.

If BO gets elected the deed will be done and Lord help us.

[TribalPrincess2U]

I knew this post was going to be from you before I saw the name.

Thanks again. KEEP IT ALIVE!

[Jeeper]

Joe (Liar for Hire) Wilson was exposed years ago by the 2004 US Senate Pre-War intelligence report...

The former ambassador’s wife suggested her husband for the trip to Niger in February 2002. The former ambassador had traveled previously to Niger on behalf of the CIA, also at the suggestion of his wife, to look into another matter not related to Iraq. On February 12, 2002, the former ambassador’swife sent a memorandum to a Deputy Chief of a division in the CIA’SDirectorate of Operations which said, “[mJyhusband has good relations with both the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity.’’ This was just one day before the same Directorate of Operations division sent a cable to one of its overseas stations requesting concurrence with the division’s idea to send the former ambassador to Niger.
Conclusion: Rather than speaking publicly about his actual experiences during his inquiry of the Niger issue, the former ambassador seems to have included information he learned from press accounts and from his beliefs about how the Intelligence Community would have or should have handled the information he provided.
At the time the former ambassador traveled to Niger, the Intelligence Community did not have in its possession any actual documents on the alleged Niger-Iraq uranium deal, only second hand reporting of the deal. The former ambassador’s comments to reporters that the Niger-Iraq uranium documents “may have been forged because ‘the dates were wrong and the names were ~ong,”’
could not have been based on the forrner ambassador’s actual experiences because the Intelligence Community did not have the documents at the time of the ambassador’s trip. In addition, nothing in the report from the former ambassador’strip said anything about documents having been forged or the names or dates in the reports having been incorrect. The former ambassador told Committee staff that he, in fact, did not have access to any of the names and dates in the CIA’s reports and said he may have become confbsed about his own recollection after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in March 2003 that the names and dates on the documents were not correct. Of note, the names and dates in the documents that the IAEA found to be incorrect were not names or dates included in the CIA reports.
Following the Vice President’s review of an intelligence report regarding a possible uranium deal, he asked his briefer for the CIA’s analysis of the issue. It was this request which generated Mr. Wilson’s trip to Niger. The former ambassador’s public comments suggesting that the Vice President had been briefed on the information gathered during his trip is not correct, however. While the CIA responded to the Vice President’s request for the Agency’s analysis, they never provided the information gathered by the former Ambassador. The former ambassador, in an NBC Meet the Press interview on July 6,2003, said, “The office of the Vice President, I am absolutely convinced, received a very specific response to the question it asked and that response was based upon my trip out there.” The former ambassador was speaking on the basis of what he believed should have happened based on his former government experience, but he had no knowledge that this did happen.
These and other public comments from the former ambassador, such as comments that his report “debunked” the Niger-Iraq uranium story, were incorrect and have led to a distortion in the press and in the public’s understanding of the facts surrounding the Niger-Iraq uranium story. The Committee found that, for most analysts, the former ambassador’s report lent more credibility, not less, to the reported Niger-Iraq uranium deal.
During Mr. Wilson’s media blitz, he appeared on more than thirty television shows including entertainment venues. Time and again, Joe Wilson told anyone who would listen that the President had lied to the American people, that the Vice President had lied, and that he had “debunked” the claim that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa. As discussed in the Niger section of the report, not only did he NOT “debunk” the claim, he actually gave some intelligence analysts even more reason to believe that it may be true. I believed very strongly that it was important for the Committee to conclude publicly that many of the statements made by Ambassador Wilson were not only incorrect, but had no basis in fact.

[Salvation]

WMD bump

[smoothsailing]

If BO gets elected the deed will be done and Lord help us.

True. So the obvious comes to mind. The poser must be exposed. He's running a clever scam, but a charlatan can quickly fall once seen in the bright light of truth.

One clear voice that can rise above the leftist BO mantra is needed.

Reagan is gone, but I was fascinated by the news that Limbaugh is back for 8 more years with a very lucrative contract!

G'Night Jaz. :)

[SuziQ]

All I hear from my apartment manager is "Bush lied and people died!"

If "Bush lied", then so did all those Democrats whose comments are in post #6! I'd share a few of those from time to time with your apt. manager.

[Syncro]

Glad to see this posted here, Thanks.

I just ran across the link on Melanie Morgan's Website.

Some other good links from her also:

Yellowcake? What Yellowcake?!

Written by Melanie Morgan   

Sunday, 06 July 2008

My, my, my. How are Chuckie Schumer, Jack Murtha, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi going to explain this one?  -Saddam Hussein's nuclear program has been dismantled and secretly shipped out of Iraq.

Huh!?

There were no weapons of mass destruction - we know that because MoveOn.org told us so.

And Media Matters heaped scorn on anyone who challenged the notion.

Forgive me while I bust out laughing. Chris Matthews, you are SUCH a dope.

Or put another way, President George W. Bush has today been exonerated that he 'lied' us into war.