DOES CNSNEWS.COM HAVE THE STORY OF THE YEAR?

National review ^ | October 4, 2004 | Jim Geraghty

[CT CONSERVATIVE]

CNS News is a nice little right-of-center web-based wire service operating in Alexandria, Virginia. They seem like pretty solid reporters, and not likely to bite on, say, memos that are supposed to be from an Air National Guard office from 1972 that were created on Microsoft Word.

So it's kind of surprising to see this report:

Iraqi intelligence documents, confiscated by U.S. forces and obtained by CNSNews.com, show numerous efforts by Saddam Hussein's regime to work with some of the world's most notorious terror organizations, including al Qaeda, to target Americans. They demonstrate that Saddam's government possessed mustard gas and anthrax, both considered weapons of mass destruction, in the summer of 2000, during the period in which United Nations weapons inspectors were not present in Iraq. And the papers show that Iraq trained dozens of terrorists inside its borders. One of the Iraqi memos contains an order from Saddam for his intelligence service to support terrorist attacks against Americans in Somalia. The memo was written nine months before U.S. Army Rangers were ambushed in Mogadishu by forces loyal to a warlord with alleged ties to al Qaeda.

[dasboot]

momentum.....building.

indications of major seismic event...

[bobd400]

If this is true:

1- It needs to be checked out 110%
2- It needs to be ran through as much "main stream" media as possible
3- Bush needs to do everything short of saying "see, I told you so" to get the point across that Saddam wasn't the defanged snake the left made him out to be.

[mrplind]

THIS HAS GOT TO BE IT!

[facedown]

BTTT

[ProudFossil]

Is this the October surprise?

[Judith Anne]

Solid. Excellent.

[tort_feasor]

Watch, they'll blame Bush for not discolssing this sooner hoping for an October suprise. The CIA hates Bush, they let this out so that Kerry isn't killed by offical release.

[dasboot]

tip of iceberg?

[Izzy Dunne]

Interesting that that same page says that Michael Moore his own bad self turned down the "Killian" memos - they weren't considered reliable.

[dasboot]

I'd think a leak meant to innoculate JK would have gone to NYT..

[Semper Paratus]

I hope this is what Karl Rove was talking about "a few suprises".

Allow me to surmise that this was deliberatly leaked to a 'friendly' news source to ensure release rather than have the MSM poison the story first.

Now this story will bubble under the surface picking up momentum like the magna under Mount St. Hellens until it finally "Blows".

[mhking]

Can you say "smoking gun" and "October surprise," boys & girls?

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Artemis Webb]

If you go on to read the article it appears to be cynical of the "documents". I'm not saying it isn't worth looking into...but caution is important here.

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

Poor paper will probably burn to the ground soon after this report.

WE all know there is NO WMD anywhere in the world but America, and those poor terrorists are just defending themselves from us EVIL Bush supporters!

sarcasm/off

[donnab]

But we knew that all along...hehe

[dasboot]

popcorn...no doze...pj's: check.

[tort_feasor]

But this way, we aren't supposed to suspect the alterior motive.

[diamond6]

CT, I would email this to Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, Hewitt and Fox News. They probably have it already, but just to make sure.

[Starhopper]

This news and Kerry's disire to give Iran nuclear fuel could be his undoing :)

[Izzy Dunne]

What's the font face?

I wouldn't discount this as McAwful's revenge...

[Novel]

First: I just got back from CT. I thought the only conservative there was my mother-in-law. She'll be glad to know she's not alone.

Second: I think we need to be cautiously optimistic on this report. The MSM is likely to ignore it, or worse, suppress it. Much like they did with the Swift boat Vets. They're going to do everything in their power to discredit the story, particularly because it comes from an unnamed source. In fact, they are likely to use the Dan Rather fiasco to give themselves cover. "In the interest of solid journalism, we are not about to use an unnamed source on such a major source that could impact the presidential election." It's up to the Internet and talk radio to push this story into the public eye.

[truthandlife]

Excellent point. I do believe Rove and company know that the internet has been very friendly to Bush and has helped him fight a lot of his battles. CNS News is a very conservative but reputable internet news site and remember CNS News is displayed on Free Republic sometimes in the upper right corner over "BROWSE BY FORUM."

I think Bush wants this one to come from the internet first and then MSM will have to report it and be second to the story again. They will also have to report it correctly or there will be a another "RATHERGATE."

[null and void]

popcorn...no doze...pj's: check.

check.

[King Prout]

I'll cheerfully say "smoking gun" when the round gets fired and the target (Kerry and the LSM) drops.

oh... you mean the Saddam smoking gun?
oh. ok. yeah. it'll do.

[CT CONSERVATIVE]

let 'er rip to them ..if u can. Im unable right now

[oolatec]

CNS needs to show these documents...

[MamaLucci]

They seem like pretty solid reporters, and not likely to bite on, say, memos that are supposed to be from an Air National Guard office from 1972 that were created on Microsoft Word.

Love the gratuitous swipe at See,BS. Geraghty rocks!

[PigRigger]

Don't get your hopes up. Even if there is a shred of evidence supporting this report; the MSM will line up to discredit or ignore it.

They are in full Bush Bashing, Kerry supporting, mode; they will not let facts get in the way this late in the game.

Hope I'm wrong, but I won't hold my breath. IMHO

[newgeezer]

Ping.

Now, if these documents were produced with a typewriter instead of MS Word, they're probably fakes.

[EdReform]

Ping

[ampat]

See the intelligence everyone was getting was right, in this respect. And that's what they acted on. They did it right. The right war, at the right time, in the right place.

[RedWing9]

First: I just got back from CT. I thought the only conservative there was my mother-in-law. She'll be glad to know she's not alone.

Nope, the poster is your M-I-L... LOL

[tort_feasor]

From the CNS article:

The government official also explained that the motivation for leaking the documents, "is strictly national security and helping with the war on terrorism by focusing this country's attention on facts and away from political posturing.

"This is too important to let it get caught up in the political process," the source told CNSNews.com.

[outlawcam]

I hope this is what Karl Rove was talking about "a few suprises".

I hope the Bush campaign is NOT abusing the office of the president to increase Bush's chances for reelection. IOW, I hope Karl Rove has nothing at all to do with this.

I don't think he did.

OTOH, this information must be thoroughly validated. CNS got burned some time ago for reporting forgeries as authentic (sound familiar?). Whatever the documents eventually show, it does not change the fact that Saddam supported terrorists and that he could not account for his WMDs. Jumping on the bandwagon of false claims (if it turns out to be false) only harms our credibility.

We ought to treat the matter delicately until the documents have undergone rigorous scrutiny.

[dasboot]

end of the orig art (posted 3X today) says the docs will be produced on the website in entire asap....ducks in rows, here.

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

You wrote:

WE all know there is NO WMD anywhere in the world but America, and those poor terrorists are just defending themselves from us EVIL Bush supporters!

sarcasm/off

The E-Ville little shrub warmonger, tax cutter for the weathiest Americans at it again. OBL will come out during early voting!! Just you see!!! John F'n Kerry has a plan for Amerika!!Yeah, right! My buddy went out to Crawford a couple of weeks back for lunch. Asked the very young waitress if GWB had ever been in. Girl never said a word. Just pointed to the photo on the wall of GW with his arm around her and smiled.:-) Rural Texas culture, and the president of these United States is a vital part of it. Divider, my a$$!!!

[Freepdonia]

I hope this is one of a few October Surprises for Kerry. :-)

[shield]

This has got to be WHAT!!!??? The O/S that's incoming. Me think that this news organization has an in with certain Republicans in the know. ;o)

[thackney]

"Iraq" ping

[karnage]

I'm Rather skeptical.

[Petronski]

If CNS is serious about this, they will convert the documents to pdf and post them online (just like CBS did) so everyone can vet them simultaneously.

[kellynla]

BTTT

[Billthedrill]

Let me be the first to say it - I question the timing of this.

[Rutles4Ever]

I'm not seeing the cynicism. The source explained that these were not in the hands of the White House long ago because they're trying to get all these documents translated. It looks like they've gone to several sources to get a bead on the authenticity. If you read closer, you'll see that these aren't all the documents, that CNS has more that they haven't published.

Everyone's going to be extra careful, sure, and CNS can probably take a little more of a risk since they are not high-profile, but this is the crux of the entire War in Iraq. You can bet the White House is eager to find out if these are the real deal. If they are, then Bush is vindicated.

One thing is for certain, the MSM will have all the opportunities they want to look at the documents.

[Bob J]

CNSNews.com...
Webcasting every Wed. at 3pm est on
RIGHTALK.com

[freestyle]

Today's thread on the actual article.

[gortklattu]

See you one ping and raise another.

[ArmedNReady]

We need to keep this at the top of the heap and make sure that any semi-conservative-friendly news organization reports this.

Kerry has probably soiled his Depends already over this.

[stevestras]

This has nothing to do with the relection effort. To suggest it might is irresponsible on your part.