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IRAQ: Powell Defends Information He Used to Justify Iraq War
The New York Times International ^ | May 31, 2003 | JAMES DAO and THOM SHANKER

Posted on 05/30/2003 11:45:58 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

The New York Times Sponsored by Starbucks

May 31, 2003

Powell Defends Information He Used to Justify Iraq War

By JAMES DAO and THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON, May 30 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell today fiercely defended the intelligence used by the Bush administration to justify war against Iraq, saying he spent several late nights poring over the Central Intelligence Agency's reports because he knew the credibility of the country and the president were at stake.

The C.I.A.'s prewar assessments have been sharply questioned by some intelligence officials and lawmakers in recent days, as American forces have uncovered only limited evidence of unconventional weapons programs and Iraqi ties to terrorists.

After complaints from intelligence officials that they felt Defense Department pressure to support the administration on Iraq, the C.I.A. has started a review to determine whether its prewar assessments of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs were accurate.

Another top official, George Tenet, the director of central intelligence, insisted today that his agency's work had not been compromised by politics.

"I'm enormously proud of the work of our analysts," he said in a statement. "The integrity of our process has been maintained throughout, and any suggestion to the contrary is simply wrong."

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has also asked the agency to report on its Iraq intelligence, and may hold closed-door hearings on the issue, House officials said.

Mr. Powell used those assessments — along with satellite photographs and intercepted conversations between Iraqi military officers — in a dramatic presentation to the United Nations on Feb. 5, when he argued that Iraq's weapons programs and links to Al Qaeda made it an imminent threat to the world.

Asked today if he thought those assessments had been politicized to bolster the administration's call to arms, Mr. Powell said no, calling it "solid information" based on multiple sources presented to him by unbiased analysts.

"I went out to the C.I.A., and I spent four days and four nights going over everything that they had," Mr. Powell told reporters traveling on Air Force One to Poland. For three consecutive nights, the chore kept him at the agency until midnight, he said. "I knew that it was the credibility of the United States that was going to be on the line on the fifth of February. The credibility of the president of the United States and my credibility."

At the time, Mr. Powell was widely viewed as the most cautious member of President Bush's national security team on Iraq, and his urgent presentation to the United Nations in February was intended to provide an extra layer of credibility to the administration's case for war.

Mr. Powell argued today that the accuracy of the prewar assessments was proven by the discovery of two Iraqi trailers that the C.I.A. and Pentagon have concluded were designed to produce deadly germs. Mr. Powell presented drawings of suspected mobile biological labs to the United Nations in February.

"You should have seen the smile on my face when one day the intelligence community came in and gave me a photo, and said, `Look,' " Mr. Powell said today. "And it was almost identical to the cartoon that I had put up in New York on the Fifth of February."

But doubts about the accuracy of the prewar intelligence have spread in Congress. In a letter sent last week to George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, the House Intelligence Committee said it intended "to re-evaluate" American intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs and links to terrorists.

"The committee wants to ensure that the intelligence analysis relayed to our policymakers from the intelligence community was accurate, unbiased and timely," said the letter, signed by the committee's Republican chairman, Representative Porter J. Goss of Florida, and ranking Democrat, Representative Jane Harman of California.

A senior military commander on the ground in Iraq also told reporters today that he was surprised that Iraq never fired chemical or biological weapons as American forces drove for Baghdad, and was equally surprised that none of these weapons had yet been found.

"It was a surprise to me then, it remains a surprise to me now, that we have not uncovered weapons, as you say, in some of the forward dispersal sites," said Lt. Gen. James Conway, commander of the First Marine Expeditionary Force. "Again, believe me, it's not for lack of trying."

Speaking to Pentagon reporters in a video teleconference from Iraq, General Conway said, "What the regime was intending to do in terms of its use of the weapons, we thought we understood."

He added, "We were simply wrong."



TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bushdoctrineunfold; cia; colinpowell; conway; iraq; jamesconway; labs; mediafraud; medialies; mobilelabs; newyorktimes; nyt; powell; thenewyorktimes; warlist; wmd
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1 posted on 05/30/2003 11:45:58 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Earlier article from the UK Guardian:

Straw, Powell had serious doubts over their Iraqi weapons claims ^

2 posted on 05/30/2003 11:48:39 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and his Weapons of Mass Destruction?)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
AWRIIIIIGHT!

The "Big Guy" is pissed!

Media watching is soon to become an "event".

3 posted on 05/30/2003 11:49:44 PM PDT by dixiechick2000 (Never have so many, been so wrong, about so much.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
I can't wait for all the silence coming from these leftist had wringers when the WMD's are found. That is iof they havn't been found already and this administration is just waiting for the right time to release a comprehensive report on the WMD's and all the details on where they came from.

But anyone who believes that Iraq didn't have these weapons and thia war was some kind of sinister plot by Bush & Blair, I have a bridge over a desert I want to sell you

4 posted on 05/30/2003 11:55:31 PM PDT by MJY1288 ("4" more in "04")
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To: All
Other articles:

TR>

 
Public was misled, claim ex-CIA men  ^

Wolfowitz says Saudi troop withdrawal was 'huge' reason for war with Iraq ^

US Intel 'Simply Wrong' on Chemical Attack-General ^

Sending a Serious Message to Syria ^

Iraq weapons questions dog allies - U.S. downplays issues; Blair faces criticism ^

The Case For War Is Blown Apart ^

2 trailers deemed biological arms labs  ^

CIA convinced truck-trailers held bioweapons labs ^

Blair Warns Iran, Syria Not to Back 'Terrorists' ^

Survey shows Iraqi people support US Presence ^

Bush case on defense plan cites N. Korea ^

Ledeen: The Moment of Truth? U.S. policy could determine Iran’s destiny. ^

Turkey's Military Chief Warns Pro-Islamic Government Of Possible Coup ^

Bremer: Coalition Has 'Established Control' ^


5 posted on 05/31/2003 12:07:13 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and his Weapons of Mass Destruction?)
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To: MJY1288
I try not to be a Bush-bot as I disagree with his stance on the assualt weapon ban bill and am pretty upset with the so-called "roadmap" for Middle East peace, but this is a true story.

One of my two best friends (they're twins) works for the United States State Department. He was assigned to Kuwait for the past five months and was there during the war. He e-mailed me in early May that he his boss (also in the State Department) told him that coalition forces found and captured Iraqi WMDs even before the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003. He said that the coalition would release this information and present the evidence at a proper time. When this time would be, his boss did not have any knowledge.

Also, my friend is a Bush-hater. College did that to him, so he's not a Bush-bot, but a Democrat supporter. Heck, he works for the United States State Department.

6 posted on 05/31/2003 12:07:20 AM PDT by LdSentinal
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To: *Bush Doctrine Unfold; *war_list; W.O.T.; seamole; Lion's Cub; Libertarianize the GOP; ...
I have included a fair number of links to other articles that mostly relate to this hot topic. If I have missed some please throw a link on here!

Bush Doctrine Unfolds :

To find all articles tagged or indexed using Bush Doctrine Unfold , click below:
  click here >>> Bush Doctrine Unfold <<< click here  
(To view all FR Bump Lists, click here)



7 posted on 05/31/2003 12:11:43 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and his Weapons of Mass Destruction?)
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To: LdSentinal
Had you posted that on another thread? If not you are the second one to say they had personal contacts with someone in the State Dept that had stated WMD's had been found!
8 posted on 05/31/2003 12:14:51 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and his Weapons of Mass Destruction?)
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: LdSentinal
My Brother works for the State Department and is in Iraq right now. Your friend is telling a simular story to what my brother has shared with me
10 posted on 05/31/2003 12:19:34 AM PDT by MJY1288 ("4" more in "04")
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Ummm, no, I did not post that story on another thread. Which thread would that be? Thanks in advance.
11 posted on 05/31/2003 12:20:30 AM PDT by LdSentinal
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
President Bush will be on Fox News live from Poland in 2 hours
12 posted on 05/31/2003 12:22:05 AM PDT by MJY1288 ("4" more in "04")
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To: MJY1288
My Brother works for the State Department and is in Iraq right now. Your friend is telling a simular story to what my brother has shared with me

That's very interesting. I should have known -- considering my friend called Bush a coke addict -- that he would even share this information with me. If this is true, I wonder why the coalition is holding back this information.

13 posted on 05/31/2003 12:24:16 AM PDT by LdSentinal
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
They really should just ignore the democrat talking points. They hate to be ignored, and they don't need to dignify the attacks with answers in my opinion. Just blow them off.
14 posted on 05/31/2003 12:26:06 AM PDT by ladyinred
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To: MJY1288
I don't think I will be up, I am about ready to shutdown.

Other links of interest:

Forget WMDs - they're not the real reason we went to war

Where Are the WMDs? Why we may not find them

Interview: Victor Davis Hanson

[Hanson] Postbellum Thoughts: Ideas from war's aftermath.

Michael Ledeen: The Unknown Hawk - Neoconservative Guru Sets Sights on Iran

The Restoration of American Awe

Bush's Bold Policy

Iraq War's Impact Spreads in Arab World

15 posted on 05/31/2003 12:36:21 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and his Weapons of Mass Destruction?)
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To: LdSentinal
I believe the reason is because of international politics. From what I can gather, we compromised their computer systems and established quite a few contacts with Iraqi Generals. Spec. Ops were sent in early to secure some of these weapons and due to our early strikes on their command and control, there was no central command or co-ordinated communications for the Iraqi forces in the battle field.

Back in September, Our spy satellites detected convoys of trucks moving into Syria with suspected WMD's and they have evidence that dozens of trucks had their payloads buried in Syria, just over the border from Iraq. There was mention of this in the news back then but as usual these kind of FACTS never seem to register on the radar screens of the leftist lemmings in the press.

16 posted on 05/31/2003 12:42:54 AM PDT by MJY1288 ("4" more in "04")
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To: All
One more Link:

What Wolfowitz Really Said: The truth behind the Vanity Fair "scoop."

17 posted on 05/31/2003 12:49:33 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and his Weapons of Mass Destruction?)
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To: All
And this just in:

Pentagon challenges Vanity Fair report (CNN reports Wolfowitz misquote)

18 posted on 05/31/2003 12:53:16 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and his Weapons of Mass Destruction?)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Forgot these:

IRAQ: So, Where Are Those Iraqi Weapons? (Helen Thomas Alert )

PROOF of Iraq's WMD (Flashback Clinton speech 1998)

19 posted on 05/31/2003 1:16:14 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and his Weapons of Mass Destruction?)
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To: martin_fierro; reformed_democrat; Loyalist; =Intervention=; PianoMan; GOPJ; Miss Marple; Tamsey; ...

Schadenfreude

This is the New York Times Schadenfreude Ping List. Freepmail me to be added or dropped.

Attention New York Times:
You f--- with the best, you get smacked down like the rest!


20 posted on 05/31/2003 1:29:39 AM PDT by Timesink
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