Journalist claims proof of WMD lies (Report Aired in UK)

AAP ^ | 9/23/03 | Paul Mulvey in London

[BigWaveBetty]

The real question is why was there sanctions to begin with?

Bad choice on our part and the American and Iraqi people suffered for it. I understand why GHWB thought he had to do it and his son has learned from his mistakes. It's true, our United States is not perfect but at least we try hard. Which is more than I can say for certain other countries.

and why should we tollerate that kind of defiance after 9/11?

We shouldn't have tolerated after it after 1997.

Don't laugh too loud when you read this and wake up everyone in the house. :-)

President Clinton responded to the Iraqi president’s decision by pledging to deal “in a very determined way” with Saddam’s expulsion of American weapons inspectors Thursday. But for the time being, the United States pursued a diplomatic solution rather than a military strike.

Here's some good stuff:

Rubner said that considerable evidence has been found over the last six years that Saddam violated every U.N. resolution passed in the wake of the Persian Gulf War.

But Harland Renshaw, a pre-vet sophomore, said he would support Clinton if he decided to use military force against Iraq because it’s important that the country can’t build weapons of mass destruction.

“Something should be done,” he said. “I wouldn’t want them to have nuclear weapons around. If they don’t want us there to do inspections, then they’ve obviously got something to hide.”

Richard Butler, the head of the U.N. team, admitted Thursday that pulling all inspectors out would severely hamper the U.N.’s ability to ensure that Iraq is not building weapons of mass destruction.

All kinds of great info in that piece, including the Kenneth Bacon quote, “I’m not talking military action. … You’re talking about military action.”

Iraq kicks out U.S. inspectors U.N. pulls entire team in response

[Frances_Marion]

Pilger is a fanatical anti-American and extreme leftist....he's also a frequent Chomsky collaborator. If he has some "damning" physical evidence, well then, let's see the tape. Just shut up, and show the tape. But you'll notice he doesn't do that...he just tells you beforehand who said what...so, where exactly is this "evidence", other than the evidence you forged from the ubiquitious "unnamed sources", Pilger?

[MEG33]

You can read Pilger's interview of Noam Chomsky online. It's like Couric interviewing Hillary!

[Imal]

"Google "Inevitable Ring to the Unimaginable" written 9/13/2001.It's a "chickens came home to roost" piece about 9/11."

I did, and it was very educational. Thanks for the tip. With a statement like this...

"Far from being the terrorists of the world, the Islamic peoples have been its victims - principally the victims of US fundamentalism, whose power, in all its forms, military, strategic and economic, is the greatest source of terrorism on earth."

...Pilger makes it eminently clear where he's coming from, and establishes his level of credibility. On September 13, 2001, I was somewhat preoccupied, like most Americans. Meanwhile, Pilger had the time to write and publish that article, 2 days after the towers fell.

The fact that I found this particular copy on a German Marxist website also speaks volumes about the man and his fellow travelers.

Now please pardon me while I go take a long shower after reading this hack's worthless garbage. But before I go wash the scum off me, let me leave you with the last two sentences from that article:

"It is only a few years ago that the Islamic fundamentalist groups, willing to blow themselves up in Israel and New York, were formed, and only after Israel and the US had rejected outright the hope of a Palestinian state, and justice for a people scarred by imperialism.

"Their distant voices of rage are now heard; the daily horrors in faraway brutalised places have at last come home."

[anglian]

Cairo Egypt,Feb 24,2001 Powell was on a Middle East mission to restore a broad front against Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.``I know there is some unhappiness,'' Powell told a news conference in Cairo, the first stop on a four-day
tour that includes Jerusalem, Ramallah in the West Bank, Amman, Kuwait, Damascus and Riyadh.

Egyptian commentators tried to rip the U.S. policy and U.N. sanctions to shreds. British air strikes on air defense installations near Baghdad had just occured and the victory of Ariel Sharon over Ehud Barak in Israeli premiership elections on Feb. 6 added to the
potent mix. Amr Moussa of Egypt disagreed openly with Powell's view that the Arab-Israeli conflict should be seen
as only one part of the whole picture of Middle East problems.Moussa was also openly critical of the sanctions still in place against Iraq.
"Sanctions should be reconsidered only as a weapon or as one of the procedures the Security Council resorts to,"
Moussa said.

Powell said the sanctions had largely succeeded in depriving Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction and
preventing it from threatening its neighbors.

But Powell has shied away from the original phrase for his objective -- to ``re-energize'' sanctions against
Iraq by rebuilding the Gulf War alliance of which he was a part as chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff
10 years ago.

A senior State Department official said on Saturday the United States was now looking at requests to ease up
on Iraq imports of items which can have both civilian and military uses.

``People are telling us that some of the dual-use stuff that is not getting through does contribute to an
impact on the civilian population and that's the area that he (Powell) said we would be looking at,'' the
official said.

``We're quite willing to look at the sanctions to try to eliminate any impact (on ordinary Iraqis), if there
is an impact like that,'' he added.
Powell said he was open to suggestions to modify the sanctions, but the Egyptians did not offer any, according
to the senior U.S. official.

Economic sanctions imposed following Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait cannot be lifted until U.N. inspectors
certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed.

Iraq's foreign minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, has said he will insist during the U.N. talks that the
embargo be lifted and that he will not accept the return of the weapons inspectors.

Powell's brief trip to the Middle East and Persian Gulf prompted protests Saturday
Palestinians demonstrated by burning his picture along with the American flag and chanting ``Powell go home.''
Protests also took place in Lebanon and Jordan.

[visualops]

bump

[Jorge]

In other words, in order to believe the author's conspiracy theory, you have to believe that all of the above, each and every Democrat, are all willing partners in W's vast right wing WMD conspiracy.

Exactly. I can't believe these people even have the guts to pretend Bush lied about WMD to start a war.

The people making this accusations are either mentally ill or they have lost their collective memories.

[OldFriend]

Now now weasley, don't take everything you read as gospel.

Why not take yourself over to DU where tin foil is all the rage.

[anglian]

JOHN PILGER'S BROADCAST ON ITV

Following a packed preview at the National Film Theatre in London, John Pilger's latest documentary..... http://pilger.carlton.com/

[cookcounty]

"If this is all the guy has, some video footage of Powell one month into his job and some quotes from Condi, and no real smoking gun, then this is more a wishful-thinking hit piece than a shocking expose."

At this point their seats weren't even warm yet and they were totally dependent on Clintonistas for their Intel. And, fact isat that time, they (and we, both Dems and Pubbies) wanted to stay out of Iraq etc. That was pre-9/11, the day our way of seeing the world changed.

[freeangel]

Interviews with "leading government leaders" like Daschle, Dean and the Kennedy clan no doubt.

[sauropod]

What is your opinion of this piece? Looks pretty damning.

[Howlin]

What is your opinion of this piece? Looks pretty damning.

Perhaps you'd better read the rest of the thread before you draw your conclusions.

[dirtboy]

Pilger uncovered video footage of Powell in Cairo on February 24, 2001 saying, "He (Saddam Hussein) has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbours."

Hmmm ... a Google Search has Powell saying THIS when he was in Cairo on February 24, 2001:

SECRETARY POWELL: The message I plan to give all the leaders I speak to and to the Arab public is that the cause of this problem that we have is in Baghdad. It is Saddam Hussein who refuses to abandon his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations has an obligation and, as part of the United Nations, the United States has an obligation to do everything we can to cause him to come into compliance with the agreements he made at the end of the Gulf War. He threatens not the United States. He threatens this region. He threatens Arab people. He threatens the children of Egypt, the children of Saudi Arabia, the children of Kuwait with these weapons. He has used them before, so I think we all have a solemn obligation to keep him in check.

Seems rather strange that Powell would contradict himself in such a manner. Unless, of course, Pilger is lying through his teeth.

[dirtboy]

See my post #74. 'pod, I love ya, but you gotta look at the source for this charge - there ain't many liberals who are willing to be forthright, and Pilger ain't on that short list...

[dirtboy]

The questions are: How much traction will this get in the US? and How much damage will it do?

It'll further rile up the folks who already hate Bush, but it won't go any further as it is based on a rather third-rate attempt to lift comments out of context.

[Robert DeLong]

One would have to see exactly in what context these statements were uttered.

[sauropod]

Ok I will. I just skimmed it ;-).

[sauropod]

I'm properly spanked ;-).

[Howlin]

Heh, I do that all the time!