The Forged Iraqi Letter: What Just Happened?
Henry Adams/Madeleline Lee/ Ron Suskind
| Friday, 08 August 2008 | |
Pulitzer Prize-winning nvestigative journalist and author Ron Suskind said Tuesday on the Huffington Post web site that the U.S. had access to reports from Iraqi Intelligence Chief Tahir Jalil Habbush before the March 2003 invasion and heard from him that Saddam Hussein had no WMDs, but the U.S. "deep-sixed the intelligence report in February, 'resettled' Habbush to a safe house in Jordan during the invasion and then paid him $5 million in what could only be considered hush money."[1] -- Later, the U.S. used Habbush to forge a letter allegedly written in July 2002 "saying that Atta trained in Iraq before the attacks and that Saddam was buying yellow cake for Niger with help from a 'small team from the al Qaeda organization,'" and the CIA then successfully used the letter in an illegal disinformation campaign. -- Raw Story gave more details, and posted video of Suskind's appearances on NBC and CBS on Tuesday, the day Suskind's new book making the charges, The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism, was published.[2] -- The New York Times is ignoring this story; the Washington Post reported the story on page 2, emphasizing denials and doubts about sources.[3] -- A reader commenting on the Washington Post wrote: "Very good interview of Suskind on NPR today. He says he has tapes of the CIA agents discussing the letter and the order the CIA received, which was carried to the CIA by Tenet himself from the White House, ordering the production of the forgery. The White House can call the allegations 'absurd,' but as Suskind points out, that's not the same as saying 'Absolutely NOT, we did NOT order anyone to forge a letter.' It may come down to Tenet having to fall on his well-used sword again, if this matter ever is properly investigated and the principals questioned under oath." -- Scarcely a single reader of the Washington Post disbelieves Suskind, if readers' responses are any guide. -- That Democrats in Congress are unwilling to consider impeachment in these circumstances beggars belief....
1. THE FORGED IRAQI LETTER: WHAT JUST HAPPENED? By Ron Suskind Huffington Post August 5, 2008 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-suskind/the-forged-iraqi-letter-w_b_117056.html What just happened? Evidence. A secret that has been judiciously kept for five years just spilled out. All of what follows is new, never reported in any way: The Iraq Intelligence Chief, Tahir Jalil Habbush -- a man still carrying a $1 million reward for capture, the Jack of Diamonds in Bush's famous deck of wanted men -- has been America's secret source on Iraq. Starting in January of 2003, with Blair and Bush watching, his secret reports began to flow to officials on both sides of the Atlantic, saying that there were no WMD and that Hussein was acting so odd because of fear that the Iranians would find out he was a toothless tiger. The U.S. deep-sixed the intelligence report in February, "resettled" Habbush to a safe house in Jordan during the invasion and then paid him $5 million in what could only be considered hush money. In the fall of 2003, after the world learned there were no WMD -- as Habbush had foretold -- the White House ordered the CIA to carry out a deception. The mission: create a handwritten letter, dated July 2001 from Habbush to Saddam saying that Atta trained in Iraq before the attacks and that Saddam was buying yellow cake for Niger with help from a "small team from the al Qaeda organization." The mission was carried out, the letter was created, popped up in Baghdad, and roiled the global newcycles in December 2003 (conning even venerable journalists like Tom Brokaw). The mission is a statutory violation of the charter of the CIA, and amendments added in 1991, prohibiting the CIA from conducting disinformation campaigns on U.S. soil. So, here we go again: the administration is in full attack mode, calling me names, George Tenet is claiming he doesn't remember any such thing -- just like he couldn't remember "slam dunk" -- and reporters are scratching their heads. Everything in my book is on the record, with many sources. And so, we watch and wait... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-suskind/the-forged-iraqi-letter-w_b_117056.html |
From: meso999@yahoo.com