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Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake
The Washington Post ^ | March 8, 2003 | Joby Warrick

Posted on 03/08/2003 6:54:24 AM PST by AzJohn

Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake
U.N. Nuclear Inspector Says Documents on Purchases Were Forged

By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 8, 2003; Page A01

A key piece of evidence linking Iraq to a nuclear weapons program appears to have been fabricated, the United Nations' chief nuclear inspector said yesterday in a report that called into question U.S. and British claims about Iraq's secret nuclear ambitions.

.....

Knowledgeable sources familiar with the forgery investigation described the faked evidence as a series of letters between Iraqi agents and officials in the central African nation of Niger. The documents had been given to the U.N. inspectors by Britain and reviewed extensively by U.S. intelligence. The forgers had made relatively crude errors that eventually gave them away -- including names and titles that did not match up with the individuals who held office at the time the letters were purportedly written, the officials said.

"We fell for it," said one U.S. official who reviewed the documents.

A spokesman for the IAEA said the agency did not blame either Britain or the United States for the forgery. The documents "were shared with us in good faith," he said.

For the full article go here: U.N. Nuclear Inspector Says Documents on Purchases Were Forged

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aluminumtubes; iraq; niger; nuclear; uninspectors; warlist; washingtonpost
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Unfortunately it looks like the U.N. inspectors are correct this time. Also some discussion in the full article about those aluminum tubes.
1 posted on 03/08/2003 6:54:24 AM PST by AzJohn
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To: AzJohn
Yet the article concludes:

"Powell's spokesman said the secretary of state had consulted numerous experts and stood by his U.N. statement."

Right now, I think I'll believe Powell over an unnamed U.S. source that claims we fell for it.

2 posted on 03/08/2003 7:02:51 AM PST by Quilla
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To: AzJohn
I can picture the next statement by El Baradei:

"The nuclear device fired from Baghdad to Tel Aviv was a forgery. It did not truly exist. Move along. Nothing to see here."

3 posted on 03/08/2003 7:05:05 AM PST by Thane_Banquo
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To: AzJohn
I'm having a LOT of trouble believing that US and UK intelligence could possibly be so stupid as to make such basic mistakes in a forgery that a bunch of uneducated UN bureaucrats could spot it. Who do they think we use as forgers, the staff of The Guardian?

If anything, such claims by the UN (which is a known anti-US organization, except when it comes time for the membership checks to be sent in) make the US/UK claims MORE RELIABLE.

4 posted on 03/08/2003 7:08:43 AM PST by Dont Mention the War ("Quinnipiac" - Native American for "Big Smelly Compost Heap of RAT Dung")
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To: AzJohn
I wonder if this will give the anti-war/pro-Saddamers fodder.

5 posted on 03/08/2003 7:08:46 AM PST by Martus
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To: AzJohn
This was plastered all over my local "paper" this morning, they insinuated that we also did the forging. There was nary a word about the drone and other negative things in the Blix report, just a lot harping on how Bush was dragging us into a Vietman quagmire. All this and more before I even got to the editorial page.
6 posted on 03/08/2003 7:10:59 AM PST by this_ol_patriot
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To: Dont Mention the War
If the UN said the Pope was Catholic, I'd still get a second opinion. And a third. And a fourth. And a . . .
7 posted on 03/08/2003 7:13:16 AM PST by geedee
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To: Quilla
It would sure be nice if some of our so-called "news" organizations would reproduce the letters and the comparison documents, so that we could make up our own minds.
8 posted on 03/08/2003 7:15:21 AM PST by Iconoclast2
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To: Dont Mention the War
Who do they think we use as forgers, the staff of The Guardian?

They're not accusing the United States or Great Britain of forging the documents. They acknowledge that the documents were provided in good faith.

9 posted on 03/08/2003 7:15:21 AM PST by AzJohn
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To: AzJohn
More here U.N. Inspectors: U.S. Used Forged Reports
10 posted on 03/08/2003 7:16:24 AM PST by ET(end tyranny) (Heavenly Father, please embrace, and protect, our Pres., our troops and those of our true allies.)
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To: Quilla
Right now, I think I'll believe Powell over an unnamed U.S. source that claims we fell for it.

Powell is standing by his comments with respect to the aluminum tubes. According to the article he acknowledge ElBaradei's findings with respect to the documents, which is what I was referring to. I don't doubt that Iraq is trying to acquire nuclear weapons; but unfortunately that particular piece of evidence doesn't appear to hold up.

11 posted on 03/08/2003 7:17:41 AM PST by AzJohn
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To: Dont Mention the War
Keep in mind that Britain acknowledged cribbing stuff from a doctoral student's thesis. With the stakes this high everyone is suspect.
12 posted on 03/08/2003 7:24:25 AM PST by liberallarry
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To: Martus
Doesn't the truth or falsehood of the charge concern you? Blind obedience is hardly our American heritage.
13 posted on 03/08/2003 7:25:04 AM PST by gabby hayes
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To: Thane_Banquo
"The nuclear device fired from Baghdad to Tel Aviv was a forgery. It did not truly exist. Move along. Nothing to see here."

Exactly.

Who's to say the Saddam even keeps a nuke inside the borders of Iraq? His son, Uday (sp?), has been seen in N. Korea talking with officials there about something. N. Korea could be brokering one of those new miniature nukes that we taught the chinese to how to make.

14 posted on 03/08/2003 7:30:34 AM PST by nightdriver
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To: Quilla
"Right now, I think I'll believe Powell over an unnamed U.S. source that claims we fell for it."

I'm keeping an open mind, but for the moment, I agree with you. Who is the "unnamed" source? It could be anybody--up to and including the child molesting Scott Ritter.

15 posted on 03/08/2003 7:31:30 AM PST by MizSterious ("The truth takes only seconds to tell."--Jack Straw)
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To: AzJohn
will WP or IEAE retract this story if we go in Iraq and find all the hidden chambers???

Personally, I don't trust the El baradei guy and his grp...did IAEA certifies Iraq was YEARS away from nukes in 1991...and guess what - they were MONTHS away...

Saddam said, his biggest mistake was he invaded Kuwait TOO EARLY..had he waited, he would have nukes...and yes, the world will be a lot safer then, just because IAEA say so...

both blix and el baradei has all the incentives to claim the US/UK evidence is false, ho wmany body blows these agencies can take before the world finally see the truth..these guys can never verify anything unless the host country decides to do so...these agencies give a false sense of security and a protection blanket for tyrants until it is too late...

could we trial incompetence in the world court..lol..

ignorance is blix
16 posted on 03/08/2003 7:32:42 AM PST by FRgal4u
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To: AzJohn
Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake ....

The inspectors...Hans "Ignorance is Bliss" Blix?

17 posted on 03/08/2003 7:40:48 AM PST by paws_and_whiskers
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To: gabby hayes
Doesn't the truth or falsehood of the charge concern you? Blind obedience is hardly our American heritage.

There isn't enough information to draw any conclusions based on the truth or falsehood of the claim. Who forged them? How serioues are their allegations? Did we believe they were genuine or realize they were fake but hope no one would find out? Did this just slip through the cracks or was it intentional or was it incompetance?

Unless, of course, you're operating under the assumption that the Bush Administration is corrupt, evil, and stupid, then you don't need to know such pesky details to make up your mind.
18 posted on 03/08/2003 7:44:22 AM PST by ConservativeNewsNetwork
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To: AzJohn
You should have excerpted the part of the article (at least at MSNBC, I think its the same one) that noted the OTHER evidence against Saddam was still there.
19 posted on 03/08/2003 7:55:41 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines (Ithaca is the City of Evil)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
You should have excerpted the part of the article (at least at MSNBC, I think its the same one) that noted the OTHER evidence against Saddam was still there.

That's the problem with this darn excerpting--sometimes a lot of the article is newsworthy. I took the paragraphs concerning the documents because I hadn't seen that in any other story.

20 posted on 03/08/2003 8:01:01 AM PST by AzJohn
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