Saddam’s Files, They Show Terror Plots, But Raise New Questions About Some Media Claims

Flopping Aces ^ | 03-23-08 | Scott Malensek

[Starman417]

Every day there seems to be yet another example of lazy journalism or slanted reporting on this latest Pentagon report about ties between Saddam's regime and terrorists. This time, it's Newsweek.

I hate to make a long post, but...sometimes it's necessary.

“Saddam’s Files, They show terror plots, but raise new questions about some U.S. claims”

Let's go to the woodshed....

President Bush said lots of things about Saddam Hussein in the run-up to the Iraq War. But few of his charges grabbed more attention than an unscripted remark he made at a Texas political fund-raiser on Sept. 26, 2002. "After all, this is a guy who tried to kill my dad at one time," Bush said. The comment referred to a 1993 claim by the Kuwaiti government—accepted by the Clinton administration—that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) had plotted to assassinate President George H.W. Bush during a trip to Kuwait that spring. Ever since, armchair psychologists have suggested that personal revenge may have been one reason for the president's determination to overthrow Saddam's regime.

This is an amazing allegation. What this article is saying is that the husband of Senator Hillary Clinton (former President Bill Clinton) lied about a terrorist attack against the United States, and used the attack as an excuse to attack Saddam’s regime. Senator Clinton’s political quest for the Democratic Presidential nomination is based on the perception that she has more “experience” than Senator Obama, and on the idea that ‘if you liked the way the US was in the 90’s, you’ll like her.’ Yet Newsweek is suggesting that in the early 1990’s the US attacked Iraq under false pretenses.

No country can have normal relations with a regime that uses terror, aggression and even assassination as tools of foreign policy. Unfortunately, this is the kind of regime now ruling Iraq. The regime of Saddam Hussein has slaughtered its own people, invaded two neighbors, sponsored international terrorism and engaged in chemical and environmental warfare.

In April, the Kuwaiti government uncovered a plot to assassinate former President George Bush by means of a powerful car bomb while he was visiting Kuwait City. Working with Kuwaiti authorities, United States officials carefully investigated the plot. They reported to President Bill Clinton last week. As President Clinton said in a televised address on June 26, the investigators determined that the plot "was directed and pursued by the Iraqi Intelligence Service."

"It is clear," said President Clinton, "that this was no impulsive or random act. It was an elaborate plan devised by the Iraqi government and directed against the former president of the United States because of actions he took as president. As such, the Iraqi attack against President Bush was an attack against our country and against all Americans." Clinton stressed that the United States could not let such an action against the United States go unanswered.

LINK

One can’t even argue (though Newsweek writer Isikoff tries) that the decision to attack was based on limited or manipulated intelligence reporting. Newsweek in particular can’t make the claim because of an amazing article they wrote during the days before/after the missile strike. In those days, Newsweek reporters were granted unprecedented access and allowed to sit in meetings etc with President Clinton and his advisors. The subsequent piece, “SEVEN DAYS. A Week in the Life of the President“ was a milestone in Newsweek’s reporting of world affairs and the day to day-sometimes hour to hour-life of a President; President Clinton.

“What to do in the meantime? Clinton headed for the kitchen. The president had already scarfed down a snack of cocktail shrimp and pastries while contemplating the fate of Saddam Hussein.” Newsweek, July 12, 1993, “SEVEN DAYS. A Week in the Life of the President“, pg20

The decision to launch the retaliatory cruise missile attack on Iraq was made shortly after. Perhaps Mr. Isikoff is attempting to describe an act of war that was warranted, but not taken seriously?

“Saturday, June 26: In the morning, Clinton made phone calls to a dozen heads of state to inform them about the bombing in Iraq, scheduled to start at 4:21 that afternoon and to hit by 6. He was 45 minutes late for his 9a.m. golf game.” Newsweek, July 12, 1993, “SEVEN DAYS. A Week in the Life of the President“, pg23

Was it really just 'circumstantial' evidence-not REAL evidence that Saddam's regime was behind the act of war?

A. FORENSICS

1. A car bomb, hidden in a Toyota Landcruiser, was smuggled across the Iraq-Kuwait border by the suspects during the night of April 13, 1993. This bomb, and the other explosives that were seized, have been directly examined by FBI forensic experts. In the judgment of these experts, key components, including the remote-control firing device, the plastic explosives, the blasting cap, the integrated circuitry, and the wiring were built by the same person or persons who built bombs previously recovered from the Iraqis. Certain aspects of these devices have been found only in devices linked to Iraq and not in devices used by any other terrorist groups.

2. According to the forensic experts, other explosives seized in this plot, including "cube bombs," contained components built by the same person or persons who built similar devices recovered in the past from the Iraqis.

3. The car bomb itself possessed devastating power. It was a sophisticated device, involving a complicated manufacturing process, and was well-hidden in the vehicle. It contained approximately 80 kilograms of explosives. It was constructed to allow detonation by remote control, by a timer or manually. The forensic experts have concluded that this bomb had the power to kill people within a radius of 400 yards.

B. THE SUSPECTS

1. The FBI conducted extensive interviews of the 16 suspects now on trail in Kuwait. The two main suspects -- Ra'ad al-Asadi and Wali al-Ghazali -- are Iraqi nationals. They told the FBI that they had been recruited and received orders in Basra, Iraq, from individuals they believed to be associated with the Iraqi intelligence Service.

2. These suspects told the FBI that their Iraqi recruiters provided them with the car bomb and other explosives in Basra on April 10, 1993.

3. One of the suspects, al-Ghazali, told the FBI that he was recruited for the specific purpose of assassinating President Bush in Kuwait City.

4. The other main suspect, al-Asadi, told the FBI that his task was to guide al-Ghazali and the car bomb to Kuwait University (where President Bush and the Emir of Kuwait were scheduled to appear) and to plant smaller explosives elsewhere in Kuwait.

C. INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS

1. During and immediately after the Persian Gulf War, Saddam – through his controlled media -- indicated that President Bush would be held personally responsible for the war and would be hunted down and punished, even after he left office. Various classified intelligence sources support the conclusion that the Iraqi government ordered this attack against President Bush.

2. From all the evidence available to it, the CIA is highly confident that the Iraqi government, at the highest levels, directed its intelligence service to assassinate former President Bush during his visit to Kuwait on April 14-16, 1993.

LINK

But wait…this “article” by Mr. Isikoff gets even more misleading….

But curiously little has been heard about the allegedly foiled assassination plot in the five years since the U.S. military invaded Iraq. A just-released Pentagon study on the Iraqi regime's ties to terrorism only adds to the mystery. The review, conducted for the Pentagon's Joint Forces Command, combed through 600,000 pages of Iraqi intelligence documents seized after the fall of Baghdad, as well as thousands of hours of audio- and videotapes of Saddam's conversations with his ministers and top aides.

This is just false, and given that the truth is presented in the open pages of Volume 1 of the Pentagon’s report, it suggests that Isikoff (or whoever wrote the “article”) never actually read the report on ties between Saddam’s regime and terrorists. The recent Pentagon report did not “comb through 600,000 pages” of Iraqi Intelligence reports. It had 600,000 documents at its disposal, and on many occasions a single “document” consisted of hundreds or thousands of pages. As a result, the investigation’s report is based on only about 100,000 documents. The other 5/6th of the captured intelligence remains to be examined thoroughly. Since 5/6th of the intel hasn’t been examined, it hardly seems ‘curious’ or shocking that a single page here or there dating back 15years has yet to be reviewed (ignoring the fact that thousands of documents were deliberately destroyed by Saddam’s regime, and logic bears that the most condemning and guilt-ridden records would be the most important ones to destroy).

[Typical_Whitey]

Saddam emboldened by the success of UBL terror campaign on 911 would eventually have successfully attacked an American city potentially killing tens of thousands of U.S. citizens...

Thank You Mr. President for having the Forsight to defeat the threat before it materialized on our shores....

Liberals want thousands to die before they back any retaliation......

You know what is really ashame is that the liberals that complain about proactively defeating the Saddam threat would not be the only ones who’s kids would have died from the attacks that Saddam would have launched on America.

[MacDorcha]

The Left and the the Media (But I repeate myself) can’t even keep their own stories straight. Suprise!

[ClearCase_guy]

Really reminds me of Orwell's "1984". Oceania is allied with Eastasia and fighting Eurasia -- and always has been. Except, of course, halfway through the book the newsfeed reports that Oceania's brave allies in Eurasia continue their noble struggle against Eastasia: the pepetrual war goes on, just as it always has.

The Dems are always the good guys, and if the media needs to twist facts or rewrite history in order to portray the Dems as perpetual good guys, then that's what they will do.

[Calpernia]

I made a similar post like this on another board. I was told by the blue denizens that the Pentagon is a front group for Bush and we were all duped.

My head heart too much trying to wrap my mind around that to even respond to that.