Activists 'MoveOn' Into Clinton's Office (LitterBox)

As thousands across the country visited their congressional representatives yesterday, a group paid a visit to Senator Hillary Clinton's New York office, asking Congress to "censure" President Bush for "misleading the country about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction."

MoveOn.org, an Internet-based activist organization, and Win Without War, a coalition of 42 national organizations, co-sponsored the event. MoveOn.org was founded to help the country "move on" from the Clinton impeachment to "real issues." Recently, they sponsored a controversial anti-Bush commercial contest. CBS then refused to air the commercial during the Super Bowl.

The campaign, organized primarily through the Internet, follows a series of high-level allegations that the Bush administration misused intelligence on Iraq as a justification for a preconceived agenda. MoveOn.org and WWW claim that the independent inquiry established by the Bush administration, focusing primarily on the CIA, is an insufficient solution; its findings will not be publicized until after the upcoming presidential election--too late for Bush to be held accountable.

Each volunteer was assigned an office as well as a specific time to ensure that all elected officials received a steady stream of constituents throughout the day. Each volunteer arrived with a unique part of a petition that consists of 500,000 names nationally. The petition is a moving document, filled with personal comments and stars next to names of people with immediate family serving in the armed forces.

According to MoveOn.org, at least 168 volunteers were scheduled to visit each of the congressional offices in New York state. Those who were assigned to Senator Clinton's New York office at 780 Third Avenue were disappointed that they could not get past the ground-floor security desk without a previously scheduled appointment. The Clinton staff had instructed building security to have volunteers leave their petitions in a basket by the front door.

Reactions to the policy were mixed. Iris Sawyer likened the basket to a "litter box" and refused to leave until she was allowed to visit the senator's office. Heather Watts said she was concerned that Clinton's box eliminated the human element of the effort. "We all have different faces and bodies," she said, "but we are coming together with the same message. That makes our message so much stronger."

Most volunteers were disappointed but not overly upset by the senator's policy. Steven Sherman, a long-time political activist, suggested that there were other ways that the senator could have handled the situation. But he pointed out that he had been an activist too long to get side-tracked. Ultimately, he said, "anger and disappointment must be directed at the proper place."

For many volunteers, yesterday's trip was a first display of political activism. Many attributed their participation, in part, to MoveOn.org's use of the Internet as a political organizing tool. Susan Reynolds, one of the volunteers, remarked that she sees MoveOn.org as a "modern day Thomas Paine, a grassroots newspaper."

NOVEMBER 6, 1997 : (ARTFIX.COM IS REGISTERED BY "MARC ASH") - source: whois search on artfix.com conducted on July 9, 2003

JUNE 26, 1998 : (FATHER BENJAMIN'S DOCUMENTARY "IRAQ SOLIDARITY ACTION" IS SCREENED; IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO THE VATICAN AL ZAHAWIE ATTENDS THE SCREENING) VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- A new 20-minute documentary film, produced in Iraq by Father Jean-Marie Benjamin, describes the damages brought upon that country's people by the 7-year-old embargo. The film will be screened for the press in Rome tomorrow. Father Benjamin and his film crew traveled extensively across Iraq-- visiting Mosul, Basra, Samra, Baghdad, and Babylon-- to gather footage for their documentary, which is entitled "Iraq solidarity action." The film denounces the "atrocity of these inhuman sanctions which, each month, cause the death of more than 6,000 children," according to a press release from the producers. Father Benjamin, a French-born priest now serving in the Rome diocese, has previously overseen the production of films on Padre Pio and St. Francis of Assisi. He also accompanied the late Cardinal Agostino Casaroli on many of his diplomatic missions Send reply to: ADC Iraq Task Force adc-itf@leb.net - "DOCUMENTARY FILM RIPS EMBARGO ON IRAQ," 25 June 1998, http://www.iacenter.org/film625.htm

FEBRUARY 1999 : (IRAQI OFFICIAL ZAHAWIE aka ZAHAWI TRAVELS TO NIGER; IAEA WOULD LATER IN 2003 SAY THAT HE WAS ON A "TRADE MISSION" TO AFRICA ) In this column last week [2003] , I reported that IAEA Senior Information Officer Melissa Fleming, in response to written questions from me, did state that Zahawie was the Iraqi official who went to Niger in 1999. He went, she said , as "a part of a trade mission and also he was accredited to Niger as Ambassador." IAEA, she said, had interviewed him in Baghdad in the presence of Iraqi monitors.- "Iraqi Nuke Hawk Went to Niger," by Terence P. Jeffrey, Human Events , 8/1/03

FEBRUARY 1999 : (NIGER : IRAQ'S FORMER AMBASSADOR TO THE VATICAN AL-ZAHAWIE VISITS NIAMEY, NIGER'S CAPITOL, WHILE ON A TOUR OF WEST AFRICAN NATIONS, TO INVITE PRESIDENT MAINASSARA TO BAGHDAD) a February 1999 visit to Niamey, Niger's capital, by Wissam al-Zahawie, Iraq's former ambassador to the Vatican. [He later claimed that his] trip had nothing to do with uranium. He was touring four West African nations, he said, and came here to invite Niger's then-President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara to Baghdad. Mainassara was assassinated two months later, and al-Zahawie could not be reached for comment about their talks. - "A look at the U.S.-British claims that Iraq tried to acquire uranium in Africa," AP, SEPT 21, 2003

1999 early : (VALERIE AND JOE WILSON ATTEND AFRICAN STATE DINNER) Ha! Wilson and his wife showed up at a big African State dinner in 1999, as shown on this guest list published in "Africa Today." Click here and scroll down...guest list is alphabetical, and wife is listed as "Valerie Wilson" Wilson is listed as the President of Wilson International Ventures, and this dinner took place in early 1999. 40 posted on 08/04/2003 5:43 AM PDT by Miss Marple

MARCH ? 1999 : (FORMER AMBASSADOR WILSON & PLAME DONATE TO AL GORE CAMPAIGN AND TO SENATOR TED KENNEDY) in 1999 he and his wife gave $2,000 to Al Gore and he gave $1,000 to Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA).- (Center For Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org , Accessed 9/29/03; Political Money Line, www.tray.com, Accessed 9/30/03; FOX’s “Fox And Friends,” 9/30/03) via - "SAY IT AIN’T SO JOES? Joe Lieberman & Joe Wilson Make Bold Assertions That Facts Don’t Support, "RNC Research, Republican National Committee, October 5, 2003

APRIL 1999 (NIGER : AFTER ALLEGEDLY RECIEVING INVITATION FROM IRAQ TO VISIT BAGDHAD FROM IRAQI DIPLOMAT AL ZAHAWIE MAINASSARA IS ASSASSINATED) Mainassara was assassinated two months later, [in April after feb 1999 visit to Niger by Wissam al-Zahawie]- "A look at the U.S.-British claims that Iraq tried to acquire uranium in Africa," AP, SEPT 21, 2003

APRIL 9, 1999 : (NIGER : ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT MAINASSARA) The president of Niger, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, has been shot dead in an apparent coup attempt. However, his death has been described as a "tragic accident" by the prime minister [Ibraim Assane Mayaki] of the west African state. But diplomats from Niger, based in the neighbouring country of Burkina Faso, said Mr Mainassara was ambushed and shot by mutinying troops as he tried to flee the country. The diplomats said they had been told by colleagues in Niger that the uprising began shortly after sunrise when soldiers swarmed on to the streets of the capital, Niamey. Troops with tanks are said to have blocked access to the presidential palace and other key locations. In a radio broadcast Niger's Prime Minister, Ibraim Assane Mayaki , announced the country's parliament had been dissolved and that all political activity had been suspended. A government of national unity would be formed in a few days, Mr Mayaki added. It is still unclear whether forces loyal to the Mr Mayaki, were involved in the president's death. There has been no explanation for Mr Mainassara's assassination but it follows opposition calls for him to resign after the annulment of regional elections held earlier this week. Mr Mainassara, a former army colonel, seized power in January 1996, ousting the country's first democratically elected president, Mahamane Ousmane. Mr Mainassara said he had staged the coup because Mr Ousmane had failed to address Niger's economic and political problems. Last year his government quashed several army uprisings and mutinies. The United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, has reacted "with dismay" to the killing and called on Niger's leaders to work for "an early return to peace, stability and constitutional order". - "On this Day 9 April 1999: President of Niger 'killed in ambush,' BBC News

APRIL 22, 1999 : (WILSON RETURNS $1,000 OF $2,000 HE CONTRIBUTED TO AL GORE BECAUSE IT EXCEEDED LEGAL LIMIT; THE SAME DAY WILSON'S WIFE CONTRIBUTES $1,000 TO AL GORE USING A FICTICIOUS NAME FOR HERSELF, AND NAMES HER EMPLOYER, BREWSTER-JENNINGS & ASSOCIATES, A CIA FRONT COMPANY AS WELL AS LISTS HERSELF AS AN ANALYST) WASHINGTON -- On the same day in 1999 that retired diplomat Joseph Wilson was returned $1,000 of $2,000 he contributed to Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore a month earlier because it exceeded the federal limit, his CIA-employee wife gave $1,000 to Gore using a fictitious identification for herself.In making her April 22, 1999, contribution, Valerie E. Wilson identified herself as an "analyst" with "Brewster-Jennings & Associates." No such firm is listed anywhere, but the late Brewster Jennings was president of Socony-Vacuum oil company a half-century ago. Any CIA employee working under "non-official cover" always is listed with a real firm, but never an imaginary one. - "Novak: The Wilsons for Gore ," by Robert Novak, Townhall.com, 10/05/03

2000 : (SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY- FORMER AMBASSADOR WILSON WOULD LATER CLAIM THIS TURNED HIM AGAINST GEORGE W. BUSH - BUT WASN'T HE ALREADY DONATING TO GORE BEFORE THE PRIMARY?) Wilson [would write] a New York Times op-ed [in 2003] faulting the White House for suspecting that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger. (An ambassador in both the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations and a long-time friend of and former aide to Al Gore, Wilson admits he became anti-George W. Bush after the 2000 South Carolina primary. He is now [as of Oct 2003] a big supporter of John Kerry’s Presidential campaign.) - "Plenty of irony in Plame affair," by Bernadette Malone, Manchester Union Leader, October 5, 2003*
*OK...remember that in South Carolina those calls were discovered because of a 14-year old Boy Scout who received one? We thought at the time that was fishy. I am not certain that very many calls were ever made, to tell you the truth. Bush released scripts of the calls that were being made, and the calls identified themselves as from the Bush campaign.
HOWEVER, in Michigan, a large number of calls were made attacking Bush under the guise of "Catholic Voter Alert." These came from the McCain campaign, and in Michigan the democrats were actively working for McCain so as to de-rail Bush.
I still can't find any firm tied to these calls. I will keep looking.
112 posted on 12/04/2003 1:12 AM PST by Miss Marple

FEBRUARY 2000 : (CHIEF STAFFER OF THE HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE , FORMER CIA OPERATIONS OFFICER JOHN MILLIS PUBLICLY CRITICIZES CIA DIRECTOR DEUTCH & PRESIDENT CLINTON - IN A FEW MONTHS' TIME HE WOULD END UP DEAD IN A FAIRFAX HOTEL) In February 2000 , Chief Staffer of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, former CIA operations officer John Millis, proclaimed Deutch as the worst CIA director ever. Asked at a public lecture at the Smithsonian , .. Millis said Deutch now takes "first, second and third prize," adding that he did "major damage" to the CIA's Directorate of Operations. On the up side, Millis said Tenet stands a chance of being judged the best DCI, at least in terms of popularity at Langley, where he has done "an unbelievably good job," at boosting morale. Where Tenet hasn't done as well, Millis said, is coordinating with the overall affairs of the 13-agency intelligence community. But Millis blamed that shortcoming on a lack of support by President Clinton, whom Millis ranked as one of the worst Presidents when it comes to support of, and regard for, the intelligence community. - "Back Channels: the Intelligence Community; in a House of Mirrors, a bad Reflection," by Vernon Loeb, Washington Post staff Writer, The Washington Post A Section, pg. A21, The Federal Page, February 18, 2000, Friday, final edition

MAY 2000 : (SCOTT RITTER MEETS IRAQI) In May 2000, appearing at a Congressional briefing, he said Saddam was incapable of ''world or regional domination'' and admitted that ''a lot of the blame for the perceptions'' to the contrary could ''be laid at my doorstep.'' That briefing proved significant, not for what Ritter said but for whom he met. Shakir al-Khafaji, a wealthy Iraqi-American businessman, was in the audience. The two men struck up a conversation. Within weeks, Ritter was telling al-Khafaji about a documentary he hoped to make, a film about Unscom that might find the audience that ''Endgame'' had missed. The two agreed to become partners in Ritter's production company, with al-Khafaji's real-estate development firm, the Falcon Management Group of Southfield, Mich., investing $400,000. While the businessman did not have any control over the editorial content, both men say, al-Khafaji would be supplying his connections as well as his money, easing Ritter's way back into Iraq. As a veteran intelligence officer, Ritter knew he ought to be wary of this deal. The F.B.I. probe had not resulted in any charges, but here he was, about to receive cash from a wealthy Iraqi with important friends in Baghdad. Ritter said he went to great lengths to check things out, though on this score he is less than convincing. Where did he get his information? ''I called a reporter who has sources in the C.I.A.'' Does he know where the $400,000 came from? ''They showed me the stocks and bonds that were being liquidated.'' Was al-Khafaji getting any quid pro quo from the Iraqi government? ''Shakir said he didn't,'' Ritter told me on one occasion. On another he said, ''That was always in the back of my mind, that the Iraqis have an interest in funding the movie.'' Before going to Baghdad, Ritter informed the F.B.I., he said. This candor was a supposed safety net. ''I raised our profile so high that the F.B.I.'s got us dead to rights. If he is getting a quid pro quo, you'd think the F.B.I. would know about it.''- "Scott Ritter's Iraq Complex: One man's continuing war with Saddam, Washington -- and himself ," by Barry Bearak, New York Times Magazine, November 24, 2002

JUNE 6, 2000 Sunday : (USA : STAFF DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE & CLINTON/DEUTCH CRITIC JOHN MILLIS FOUND DEAD) John I. Millis, staff director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a former CIA operations officer, was found dead Sunday night of an apparent gunshot wound in a Fairfax City motel. City police found Millis, 47, in aroom at theBreezeway Motel, 10829 Lee highway, after receiving a report that a guest there was threatening suicide. Officers tried and failed to contact the room's occupant by telephone before entering and finding his body in the bathroom. - "Intelligence Staffer Dies; Former CIA Officer 's Body Found in Motel," The Washington Post A Section; pg. A10, June 6, Tuesday, final edition * In February 2000 , Chief Staffer of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, former CIA operations officer John Millis, proclaimed Deutch as the worst CIA director ever. Asked at a public lecture at the Smithsonian , .. Millis said Deutch now takes "first, second and third prize," adding that he did "major damage" to the CIA's Directorate of Operations. On the up side, Millis said Tenet stands a chance of being judged the best DCI, at least in terms of popularity at Langley, where he has done "an unbelievably good job," at boosting morale. Where Tenet hasn't done as well, Millis said, is coordinating with the overall affairs of the 13-agency intelligence community. But Millis blamed that shortcoming on a lack of support by President Clinton, whom Millis ranked as one of the worst Presidents when it comes to support of, and regard for, the intelligence community. - "Back Channels: the Intelligence Community; in a House of Mirrors, a bad Reflection," by Vernon Loeb, Washington Post staff Writer, The Washington Post A Section, pg. A21, The Federal Page, February 18, 2000, Friday, final edition

2000 summer : (AGREEMENT WHERE NIGER WAS TO PROVIDE IRAQ WITH 500 METRIC TONS OF CONCENTRATED URANIUM ORE WAS ALLEGEDLY CONCLUDED) U-S officials have acknowledged seeing documentation purporting the existence of a secret agreement concluded in the summer of 2000 under which Niger was to provide Iraq with 500 metric tons of concentrated uranium ore. - VOA News Report, V-O-A Correspondent ALEX BELIDA, 03/07/03, via http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2003/iraq-030307-2d189eab.htm

2000 : (NIGER, IRAQ STRIKE URANIUM DEAL) U-S officials said that Niger signed an agreement in 2000 to sell Iraq 500 metric tons of a concentrated form of uranium known as yellowcake.
However, Niger's former minister of Mining and Energy [Yhaya Barre (yah-HIGH-yah BAR-eh)] later responded by telling V-O-A the charges were "lies." The official said in an interview that it is the Niger government's practice to check any potential buyers of uranium against the so-called "red list" of the International Atomic Energy Agency -- adding if any nation is on the list, there would be no deal. In addition, he said any such deal could not be made without the knowledge of the French-owned company Cogema, which operates uranium mining in Niger..- VOA News Report, 3/4/03 , via http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/03/mil-030304-2a189293.htm.

JULY 18 - SEPTEMBER 14, 2000 : ( SCOTT RITTER PROJECT : ACCORDING TO IRAQI DOCUMENTS FOUND IN IRAQ IN 2003, IRAQ PLANNED TO BRIBE RITTER AT THIS TIME) - "Iraqis tried to bribe Scott Ritter with gold," Inigo Gilmore and Charles Laurence , The Sunday Telegraph , May 4, 2003

SEPTEMBER 2000 : (FRENCH PRIEST BENJAMIN LEADS SANCTION-BUSTING TRIP TO IRAQ) A diplomatic row has blown up at the United Nations over a direct flight between Paris and Baghdad. [The flight is to] to fight against an intolerable situation which condemns an innocent population to a slow agony. Flight organiser Father Jean-Marie Benjamin About 80 French doctors, artists and sports personalities are planning to leave for Baghdad at 0800 (0600 GMT) on Friday to provide medical assistance and take part in a cultural festival. Britain and the United States say that the French are violating UN sanctions against Iraq by not giving enough notice of the flight. However, France maintains that it is not trying to erode sanctions, but merely interpreting UN resolutions in a more liberal way than Washington and London. The flight has been arranged by a private French group opposed to the international sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. A second French group has announced plans for another flight on 29 September. Its organiser, Father Jean-Marie Benjamin, said it was "to fight against an intolerable situation which condemns an innocent population to a slow agony". Last week Russia flew a passenger flight to Iraq carrying humanitarian aid and a number of oil executives. But it gave the UN sanctions committee a few day's notice, enabling other countries to decide whether they wanted to raise any objections. Objections However, this time, France gave the committee only a few hours' notice, arguing that it did not need the UN's approval as the flight is not commercial. Britain has formally objected to the flight, saying that it breaks the sanctions. "We objected. We don't think it is humanitarian," a British diplomat said. US officials said they were still reviewing the situation, although they had raised similar concerns earlier in the day. The Netherlands, which chairs the committee on the Iraqi sanctions, has asked France to delay the flight's departure. Both France and Russia, close trading partners of Iraq before the invasion of Kuwait, want the sanctions eased and lifted. The BBC's United Nations correspondent says the row over flights raises questions about the future of the sanctions now that such prominent countries appear increasingly willing to test the embargo's limits. Iraq re-opened its international airport last month to enable it to receive international flights against, despite the sanctions.
In a separate development, Russia, France and Tunisia have proposed a reduction of the amount of compensation Iraq pays to Gulf war victims from 30% to 20% in order to allow more funds for humanitarian goods. The proposal comes as the UN Security Council discusses the latest UN report on the oil-for-food programme that allows Iraq to buy humanitarian goods to counter the effect of sanctions. - " French defiant on flight to Iraq," BBC, Friday, 22 September, 2000, 02:12 GMT 03:12 UK

OCTOBER 18, 2000 : (REPORT THAT INSPECTORS HAD DESTROYED A DEVICE WHICH WAS FOUND IN MAY IN JORDAN; IT WAS DESTINED FOR IRAQ'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM ) “… International inspectors have found and destroyed a system ordered by Iraq for its secret nuclear weapons program. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report that despite the eviction of United Nations weapons inspectors in December 1998 the agency has managed to foil Iraqi plans to build nuclear weapons. The IAEA said that in May the agency found a filament-winding machine ordered by Iraq that had arrived in Jordan. The agency said the system was part of Baghdad's clandestine uranium enrichment program. The machine and its spare parts were destroyed, the agency said..” - Source : Middle East Newsline 10/18/00

OCTOBER 19, 2000 : (WAS THE PLOT TO BOMB THE USS COLE A JOINT OPERATION BETWEEN IRAQ'S SADDAM HUSSEIN & AL QAEDA?) “…..Investigators in Yemen yesterday uncovered evidence suggesting the bomb attack on the warship USS Cole had been a meticulously organised conspiracy, which a leading US terrorism expert said may have been the first joint operation between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein…” - The Guardian 10/19/00 Julian Borger in Washington

NOVEMBER 1, 2000 : (CLINTON WHITE HOUSE WEB MASTER DAVID LYTEL REGISTERS BUSHCOUP.COM, SIX DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION) One of the interesting little tidbits is the entry for www.bushcoup.com. Bushcoup was set up to protest "the theft of the presidency" by Bush. Now, here is the interesting part; www.bushcoup.com was registered to David Lytel (Clinton White House Web master, and writer for Al Gore) on 11-01-00, six days before the election. Six days before anyone knew how close it would be. Six days before anybody could have known that there would be any doubt about the election. http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:UT8tQCRJ7mAC:www.cliverowe.com/Thoughts/+%22david+lytel%22&hl=en Additional infor available here: http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b83b8446927.htm

NOVEMBER 7, 2000 : (US ELECTIONS : GORE/LEIBERMAN VS BUSH/CHENEY- BEGINNING OF 'GORE WAR')

2000 late or JANUARY 2001 : (CHIEF OF STAFF PODESTA REMARKS ABOUT BUSH AT THE END OF CLINTON'S PRESIDENCY) One morning at the nub end of Bill Clinton's presidency, Clinton chief of staff John Podesta walked into a senior staff meeting in the Roosevelt Room waving a copy of USA Today. Holding the paper aloft, Podesta read the headline out loud, "Clinton actions annoy Bush." The article detailed the new rules and Executive Orders the outgoing President was issuing in his final days, actions aimed in equal measure at locking in Clinton's legacy (in areas like environmental protection) and bedeviling his successor. "What's Bush so annoyed about?" Podesta asked with a devilish smile. "He's got four years to try to undo all the stuff we've done." - "Rolling Back Clinton : As Bush takes action to reverse chunks of his predecessor's legacy, the nation waits to see just how conservative this new President really is," by James Carney and John F. Dickerson, With reporting by Ann Blackman, Sally B. Donnelly and Douglas Waller/Washington , CNN.com, January 22, 2001 Web posted at: 1:12 p.m. EST (1812 GMT)

2001 early : (ARRANGED DATE THAT NIGER WAS TO SEND SEVERAL TONS OF 'PURE URANIUM' - PROBABLY YELLOWCAKE- TO IRAQ, ACCORDING TO REPORT INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE- THE NIE) the NIE says that "A foreign government service reported that as of early 2001 Niger planned to send several tons of 'pure uranium' (probably yellowcake) to Iraq. As of early 2001, Niger and Iraq reportedly were still working out arrangements for this deal, which could be for up to 500 tons of yellowcake. We do not know the status of this arrangement."
That foreign government service is of course the British, who still stand by their intelligence. In the next paragraph, the NIE goes on to say that "Reports indicate Iraq also has sought uranium ore from Somalia and possibly the Democratic Republic of the Congo." It then adds that "We cannot confirm whether Iraq has succeeded in acquiring uranium ore and/or yellowcake from these sources." This information, by the way, does not come from the White House [it reportedly comes from NIE, which is meant to be the best summary judgment of the intelligence community] - "CIA Intelligence Report Believed Niger Story was Accurate in Oct," The Wall Street Journal , July 17, 2003

JANUARY 2001 : (CLINTON PARDONS FORMER CIA DIRECTOR DEUTCH) John M. Deutch lost his security clearances and was the subject of a Justice Department investigation for mishandling classified material after he placed classified documents on unclassified computers in his home. Mr. Deutch was pardoned by President Clinton in January. - "F.B.I. Is Investigating a Senior Counterterrorism Agent ," by DAVID JOHNSTON and JAMES RISEN, The New York Times, August 19, 2001

MARCH 2001 : (ALAN FOLEY IS APPOINTED HEAD OF THE CIA'S WEAPONS INTELLIGENCE, NONPROLIFERATION AND ARMS CONTROL aka WINPAC CENTER - HE WOULDLATER RESIGN AFTER THE WILSON/PLAME/NIGER FLAP) Alan Foley is best known today for being the "senior CIA analyst" who had the infamous conversation with Robert G. Joseph about the notorious 16 words in the President's State of the Union address from last January.[2003]
In March 2001, Foley was appointed head of the CIA's Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control (WINPAC) Center, overseeing about 500 employees. Foley is thus the boss of Valerie Plame Wilson, who is the wife of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. - Seamole and Dog via William McKinley's blog

MAY 20, 2001 : (DATE MEMO FROM THE IRAQI INTELLIGENCE STATION CHIEF IN AN AFRICAN COUNTRY WAS WRITTEN CONCERNING AN OFFER BY A JIHADI TO SELL URANIUM & OTHER MATERIAL) [In early 2003] American soldiers from MET Alpha, the '''mobile exploitation team''' that has been searching for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in Iraq for the past three months, found maps featuring terrorist strikes against Israel dating to 1991. Team members found a perfect mock-up of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, as well as mock-ups of downtown Jerusalem and official Israeli buildings in very fine detail. They also collected a satellite picture of Dimona, Israel's nuclear complex, and a female mannequin dressed in an Israeli Air Force uniform, standing in front of a list of Israeli officers' ranks and insignia. Of even greater interest to MET Alpha was a ''top secret'' intelligence memo found in a room on another floor. Written in Arabic and dated May 20, 2001, the memo from the Iraqi intelligence station chief in an African country described an offer by a ''holy warrior'' to sell uranium and other nuclear material. The bid was rejected, the memo states, because of the United Nations ''sanctions situation.'' But the station chief wrote that the source was eager to provide similar help at a more convenient time. - "Report From the War on Terrorism," Posted by Cinnamon Stillwell, Sunday, May 11, 2003

JULY 2001 : (PARIS, FRANCE : THREE SUSPECTS ARRESTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO SELL HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM) Abstract: Three suspects arrested in Paris in July 2001 for attempting to sell highly enriched uranium (HEU) appeared before a French court on 25 March 2003, AFP reported. The suspects had been caught with 5 g of HEU and had offered to sell "several kilos" more for 130,000 euros ($111,000 on 15 July 2001) per gram. (For more details about the initial arrest, see abstracts 20010310 and 20010550.) According to AFP, both the investigation and the hearing failed to provide any evidence that the three men were part of an organized network illegally selling enriched uranium from Eastern Europe. The article notes that the suspects "came across as mere con men." At the time of the arrest, the uranium was reported to be enriched to 80%.[1]- ( [1] "Police nab three suspects in France's first U-235 smuggling," Nucleonics Week, Vol. 42, No.30, 26 July 2003, p. 13; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.)
AFP quotes unnamed sources as saying that it is most likely from a Russian reprocessing facility. The article identified the three suspects as Frenchman Serge Salfati, 36, and Yves Ekwella, 34, and Raymond Love, 52, both citizens of Cameroon. Lobe admitted to having brought the HEU to France from Romania. However, he offered contradictory testimony both during the investigation and the hearing, leading the presiding judge to conclude that it is "impossible to establish the origin of the material and the route it followed, which gives cause for concern." A verdict in the case is scheduled to be handed down on 6 May 2003. [An additional suspect in the case was arrested in Portugal in July 2001 and will be tried separately in that country. See abstract 20020360 for details.]- Source for all above : - "France tries trio who offered enriched uranium for sale,"AFP, 25 March 2003, FBIS Document EUP20030325000506

AUGUST 2001 : (BIN LADEN DISCUSSES NUKES WITH PAKSITANI SCIENTISTS?)A month before the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Osama bin Laden held long discussions with Pakistani nuclear scientists about making weapons of mass destruction, it is reported. http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,616642,00.html

SEPTEMBER 1, 2001 : (SOUTH AFRICA : US ENCOUNTERS RACISM CONFERENCE WHICH DEGENERATED INTO A HOSTILE MESS AGAINST THE US AND ISRAEL) Mideast dominates racism summit

SEPTEMBER 3, 2001 : (SOUTH AFRICA : US PULLS OUT OF UN RACISM CONFERENCE) Israel and the U.S. have pulled out of the U.N. Conference Against Racism after compromise over condemning Israel had failed U.S. pulls out of racism conference

SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 : (TRUTHOUT.ORG,.COM, AND .NET IS REGISTERED BY "MARC ASH" THE DAY BEFORE THE 911 ATTACKS; WOULD PLAY ROLE IN NIGER/IRAQ URANIUM FLAP)

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: (WTC & PENTAGON ARE ATTACKED WITH HIJACKED AIRLINERS, ANOTHER AIRLINER IS BROUGHT DOWN BEFORE REACHING ITS TARGET WHEN PASSENGERS FIGHT BACK)

SEPTEMBER 14, 2001 Friday (UK : LABOUR MP GALLOWAY MAKES "10,000 BIN LADENS" PLEA AGAINST ASSAULT ON AFGHANISTAN) : During an emergency debate in the House of Commons, Labour MP George Galloway issues an impassioned warning against an all-out assault on Afghanistan, warning that such action could create "10,000 Osama bin Ladens". http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,554018,00.html
(* My note: Galloway would later be found to have accepted bribes from Iraq)

SEPTEMBER 2001 late : (TORICELLI WANTS AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CIA) New Jersey Senator Robert Torricelli, who is calling for an investigation of the CIA to pinpoint the responsibility for the agency's failure to predict the Sept. 11 disasters, was one of those directly responsible for that failure. In an arrogant display of unmitigated gall, Torricelli told CNN that he wants to set up a special committee to learn just what went wrong with the CIA, when it was his own actions that helped emasculate the agency and thus guarantee future intelligence failures. "It's not clear to me that unless we take a look at what went wrong and how our systems failed, we're going to succeed in preventing any future attacks," he told CNN. What went wrong was the gutting of the CIA's ability to recruit reliable undercover agents in the field, and that inability was partly the result of Torricelli's meddling in the CIA's affairs.
As Newsmax.com's Washington correspondent Wes Vernon has reported, Torricelli led congressional efforts in the mid-1990s that handcuffed the CIA's abilities to recruit spies - a key policy that helped allow the attacks of Sept. 11 to take place with no intelligence warnings. Vernon wrote that current and former CIA operatives say Clinton administration policies which forbade the CIA from recruiting known terrorists and other criminals left the U.S. government bereft of all intelligence about such terrorist groups. If the senator, now [Sept 2001] under investigation for alleged bribery schemes, wants to know what caused the intelligence lapses he has only to look in the mirror to find one of the prime culprits. - "Senator Who Helped Tie CIA’s Hands Now Castigating Agency for Intelligence Failures," by Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff, NewsMax.com, 9/30/01

OCTOBER 18, 2001 : (LEFTWING NUTS : CHOMSKY IN PAKISTAN) 11 days after U.S.forces responded to the monstrous Sept 11 attacks on the WTC, Noam Chomsky explained the unfolding events to an audience of 2,000 people who were gathered for a prestigious MIT lecture series. His speech was called "The New War Against Terror" and has been posted on the Internet, broadcast on C-Span and published as a new Chomsky broadside. Weeks later, as the fighting in Afghanistan reached its highest pitch, Chomsky appeared in Islamabad to share his views with the Muslim population of Pakistan, that nuclear and none-too-stable state. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/696540/posts

DECEMBER 5, 2001 : (SOUTH AFRICA : FORMER FIRST LADY MARIKE DE KLERKE, WIFE OF SOUTH AFRICAN LEADER WHO HAD ONCE ANNOUNCED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE COUNTRY'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT CAPABILITYIS, IS MURDERED) CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The former first lady of South Africa, Marike de Klerk, has been murdered at her home in Cape Town. Police say an autopsy revealed that the 64-year-old former wife of F.W. de Klerk had been stabbed and strangled. Marike de Klerk's body was discovered on Tuesday afternoon, about 30 hours after coroners estimated she had died.The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was strangulation. Police spokesman Wicus Holtzhausen said she had also been stabbed in the back. "The stab wound ... was not the cause of death," he added. De Klerk also had cuts on her arms, which police believe could have been sustained trying to fend off a knife attack. There were no immediate arrests and police did not admit to having any suspects. South Africa has one of the world's highest per-capita murder rates. More than 9,800 homicides were committed in the first half of this year, according to police statistics. De Klerk's body was found about 4p.m. on Tuesday after her hairdresser, arriving for an appointment, became concerned when she did not answer the door. The hairdresser summoned neighbourhood security guards who found the body at the entrance to her bedroom. Nothing was missing from de Klerk's house and the motive for her killing was unknown, Holtzhauzen said. F.W. de Klerk said in a statement released on Wednesday he was devastated and deeply shocked at the circumstances under which his ex-wife had died. "I have learned with great shock and sorrow of the circumstances of the tragic death of my former wife, Marike," he said. "I have been informed that the South African Police Service is conducting a murder inquiry and hope that they bring the person or persons involved to justice as soon as possible." The former president cancelled plans to attend a ceremony to commemorate the centenary of the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway and was heading back to South Africa, his spokesman Dave Steward said. President Thabo Mbeki expressed his condolences Tuesday in a statement and described de Klerk as a "strong, charming and dignified woman." - "Ex-S.African first lady murdered," CNN.com, December 5, 2001 Ex-first lady murdered

DECEMBER 12, 2001 Wednesday (GUARDIAN REPORTS THAT BIN LADEN DISCUSSED NUKES WITH PAKSITANI SCIENTISTS?) : · A month before the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Osama bin Laden held long discussions with Pakistani nuclear scientists about making weapons of mass destruction, it is reported. http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,616642,00.html

2001 : (AFRICA : NIGER PRODUCED 3,096 tonnes OF URANIUM) - Source: Uranium Information Centre via "Iraq 'sought African uranium' Britain says Iraq wanted African uranium, "BBC News World Edition, Tuesday, 24 September, 2002, 10:59 GMT 11:59 UK

FEBRUARY 2002 : (WILSON CAMPAIGN DONATION TO HILLARY CLINTON) Wilson donated $1,000 to Senator Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) PAC just before leaving for Niger in February 2002- (Center For Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org , Accessed 9/29/03; Political Money Line, www.tray.com, Accessed 9/30/03; FOX’s “Fox And Friends,” 9/30/03) via - "SAY IT AIN’T SO JOES? Joe Lieberman & Joe Wilson Make Bold Assertions That Facts Don’t Support, "RNC Research, Republican National Committee, October 5, 2003

FEBRUARY 2002 : (CIA ALLEGEDLY SENDS OPERATIVE TO NIGER - IS THIS FORMER AMBASSADOR WILSON?)

FEBRUARY 2002 : (WILSON ARRIVES IN NIGER, BUT NO NIGERIEN OFFICIALS SAY THEY ATTENDED MEETINGS WILSON SAID HE HELD) He [Joseph C. Wilson] arrived back in the Niger's capital of Niamey in February 2002 on a CIA-sponsored mission to investigate a report that Iraq had bought uranium from Niger in 1999. This trip took place a year before President Bush uttered the so-called "16 words" in his State of the Union address ("The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa"). Note that the president accused Iraq of seeking uranium, not actually obtaining it, which is what Wilson was sent to look into. He spent most of his time at the hotel — a fourth-floor suite at the Gawaeye, one report said. He was very open about his mission and its object, and began to take meetings near the pool. "I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people," Wilson wrote in the New York Times last July [2003], "current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place." It is unclear with whom Wilson met. No Nigerien officials have admitted to attending those meetings. El Hadj Habibou Allele, who runs COMINAK, the major uranium-mining concern, stated he was never contacted. For their part, the staff at the Gawaeye thought Wilson was a nice guy, and they nicknamed him "Bill Clinton" after his former employer.
Let's concede that the public face of Wilson's mission may not be the whole story. There may have been a secret side to it — a side he may have been oblivious to — that has not yet been reported. It hardly seems credible that Wilson could have single-handedly investigated every aspect of the Niger-Iraq connection spending "eight days drinking sweet mint tea" and talking to people. If Niamey were nurturing such a relationship with Baghdad it surely would have been highly secretive. Uranium trade with Iraq was illegal after all; you could not expect to get a straight answer from anyone involved in it. Moreover, the wounds of 9/11 were still fresh, and this was only a few months after Coalition forces had swiftly overthrown the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. What country was going to freely admit to selling illegal WMD material to the only ruler in the world who openly praised the attacks on the Twin Towers? As noted, Wilson came away with no evidence that the 1999 uranium sale had taken place. But over the last few months, particularly since Wilson's New York Times piece, this very narrow finding has been taken as proof that Iraq never even tried to obtain uranium. That was not the question Wilson was sent to Niger to answer, and his investigation certainly never came close to being that thorough. Yet the press reflexively cites this brief visit as the basis for the definitive answer on the entire Niger uranium controversy. Wilson's purported influence has been inflated to the point where otherwise sensible people (and some not-so) are alleging that the inner circles of the White House had to resort to felonious leaking to discredit him. - "The Honorable Mr. Wilson. Frog-marching into the history books.," National Review Online, NRO, October 01, 2003, 8:38 a.m. by James Robbins *
* "...After eight days in the Niger capital of Niamey (where he once served), Wilson made an oral report in Langley that an Iraqi uranium purchase was "highly unlikely," though he also mentioned in passing that a 1988 [I believe this should be 1998] Iraqi delegation tried to establish commercial contacts. CIA officials did not regard Wilson's intelligence as definitive, being based primarily on what the Niger officials told him and probably would have claimed under any circumstances. The CIA report of Wilson's briefing remains classified. - From "Mission to Niger by Robert Novak, excerpt posted on FreeRepublic on 10/03/2003 9:58 PM PDT by Shermy

JUNE 6, 2002 : (EDUCATION FOR PEACE IN IRAQ CENTER aka EPIC CONFIRMS SPEAKERS FOR IRAQ FORUM)
TOP SPEAKERS CONFIRMED FOR EPIC IRAQ FORUM
Scott Ritter, former UNSCOM Chief Weapons Inspector, Kathy Kelly, Nobel Peace Nominee, Co-Founder of Voices in the Wilderness, Jack DuVall, Producer of the documentary, "A Force More Powerful," and David Cortright, President of the Fourth Freedom Forum, are among the latest confirmations for the EPIC Iraq Forum & Lobby Days, June 15-18 in Washington, DC.
While the Forum schedule (June 15-16) has filled with a wide array of top speakers from across the US and Iraq (see below), registrations have also continued to pour into the Education for Peace in Iraq Center--both for the Forum and Lobby Days. In addition, a special public "state of the movement" address is planned for Saturday, June 15 at 8 PM featuring both Kelly and Ritter. (See schedule for details.)

... The Iraq Forum and Lobby Days are organized by the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) and co-sponsored by: Arab American Institute, American Friends Service Committee, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Focus on American and Arab Interests and Relations (FAAIR), Friends Committee for National Legislation, American-Arab Anti-Descrimination Committee, American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice, Church of the Brethren Washington Office, Mennonite Central Committee USA-Washington Office, NETWORK, Pax Christi, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace and Women's Action for New Directions. - "Ritter, Kelly, DuVall, Cortright and Others Confirmed for Iraq Forum," by Iraq Speakers Bureau, 06 June 2002 01:05 UTC via http://csf.colorado.edu/forums/peace/jun02/msg00002.html.

SEPTEMBER 2002 : (BAGHDAD TRIO CONGRESSMEN VISIT IRAQ : MCDERMOTT, BONIOR & THOMPSON) In September of 2002, Jim McDermott (D-WA), David Bonior (D-MI) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) traveled to Baghdad to meet with Saddam Hussein. Before they left for Baghdad, Jim McDermott made the following public statement: "the President of the United States will lie to the American people in order to get us into this war." After McDermott returned, he continued to make similar statements. While the 3 Democrats were in Baghdad, did they make representations to Saddam Hussein that their fellow Democrats and the Democrats' friends in the mainstream liberal media were willing to commit seditious acts to buttress Hussein's increasingly tenuous hold on his country? Did they advise Hussein that his WMDs should be secreted, in order to facilitate allegations that the Bush administration "lied" about Iraq? Did the Democrats promise Hussein the political head of Bush and the gutting of his administration in exchange for a resumption of Democrat control of the U.S. government through a Watergate-style political coup? It certainly appears so. Currently, the Democrat political commissars are openly discussing "impeachment" and "Watergate". The Democrat media is presently engaged in a full-scale assault on the Bush administration over the issue of Iraq. As we speak, the Democrat media is insinuating with gossamer-thin "evidence" that the commander-in-chief "lied" to the country, is "lying" to the troops, and they are encouraging the troops to openly criticize their commanders. It appears that Saddam Hussein, a past master of media manipulation, has weathered the taking of his former fiefdom, and is lying low, waiting for the promised Democrat sedition to muddy the situation in Iraq and possibly deliver Iraq back into his hands. To further weaken the United States, its position in Iraq and its military forces, it is being suggested by the Democrats that we need to take military action in Liberia, which has scant strategic interest to the United States in its current war with terrorism. The strategic interest of the United States in Iraq is plain for any thinking mind to see. In a time of war, the Democrats are deliberately undermining the bold U.S. strategic stroke in the Middle East in order to regain their lost political power.- "McDermott, Bonior And Thompson: Did The Democrats and Their Media Allies Make A Deal with Hussein?," WND,FR, other media sources ^, July 16, 2003 , my squash by kiryandil

2002 fall : (NIGER FLAP RUNUP : SADDAM'S BOMBMAKER, KHIDIR HAMZA, SAYS AN IRAQI INTELLIGENCE TEAM IN AFRICA "RECENTLY" TOOK DELIVERY OF SPENT FUEL RODS FROM A RUSSIAN REACTOR) Dr. Khidir Hamza, known as "Saddam's Bombmaker" to U.S. and British intelligence officials, said ... that an Iraqi intelligence team "recently took delivery in Africa" of what he said were spent fuel rods from a Russian nuclear reactor. - "Saddam's Bombmaker Backs Bush on Iraqi Nuclear Threat ," NewsMax.com , 8/06/03, Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

2002 Fall : (STATE DEPT RECEIVES NIGER DOCS) The State Department got the forged documents last fall [2002] - "CIA UNVEILS MORE NUKE-PLAN PROOF," by DEBORAH ORIN, New York Post, 7/19/03

2002 late : (NIGER FLAP RUNUP : CIA DECLINES TO RESPOND TO HAMZA INTERVIEW IN DALLAS MORNING NEWS WHERE SADDAM'S BOMBMAKER, KHIDIR HAMZA, REFERRED TO IRAQ'S 'RECENT' ACQUISITION OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL IN AFRICA) The Dallas Morning News covered [Saddam's bombmaker] Dr. [Khidir] Hamza's account [that an Iraqi intelligence team "recently took delivery in Africa" of what he said were spent fuel rods from a Russian nuclear reactor] more than a month before Bush told the nation [in his SOTU on Jan 2003], "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." The CIA, which later challenged the uranium information in Bush's speech, declined to respond to Dr. Hamza's claims when contacted by the Morning News at the time. - "Saddam's Bombmaker Backs Bush on Iraqi Nuclear Threat ," NewsMax.com , 8/06/03, Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

SEPTEMBER 2002 - JULY 2003 : (CHB'S DOUG THOMPSON USES "TERRANCE J. WILKERSON" AS A SOURCE IN SIX STORIES AS AN UNNAMED SOURCE, AS A NAMED SOURCE IN ONE OTHER) - Source : Doug Thompson

OCTOBER 2002 : (2004 REPORT SAYS ABDUL QADEER KHAN HAS PAKISTANI AIRCRAFT STOP IN SYRIA TO PICK UP IRAQI "WMD MATERIAL" FOR SAFEKEEPING IN PAKISTAN) Pakistani sources claim that there has been another bombshell in the admissions of guilt made by Khan's colleagues and juniors, who are still under custody and questioning. They are reported to have stated that during his over 40 visits to Dubai in the last three years, he had met Iraqi intelligence officials who sought his help in having some of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) material of Iraq airlifted from Syria to Pakistan for being kept in safe custody there to prevent their falling into the hands of the UN inspectors. Khan allegedly agreed to their request. According to them, in October,2002, Khan had a Pakistani aircraft, which had gone to Iran to deliver some equipment, stop in a Syrian airport on its way back . It picked up the Iraqi WMD "material" and brought it to Pakistan for safe custody on behalf of Iraq. It is not clear what did they mean by material---only documents or something more? http://saag.org/papers10/paper916.html

OCTOBER 8, 2002 : (IRAQI DEFECTORS ACCUSE SOUTH AFRICA OF BEING INVOLVED IN IRAQ'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM; IRAQI AGENT NADHIM JABOURI HAD BEEN SENT TO SOUTH AFRICA TO ARRANGE PURCHASES OF SPECIALIZED ALUMINUM TUBES) Renewed suspicion has been cast over SA's possible involvement in the Iraqi nuclear weapons programme, with allegations by a former Baghdad intelligence officer surfacing in a US magazine. The Democratic Alliance has written to three government ministers to ask about the claim that SA had been supplying Iraq with special aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium to a weapons grade in centrifuges. The allegations came in a recent article published in Insight magazine an insert in the Washington Times and were repeated by Mark Steyn, a columnist writing in last week's Spectator a weekly magazine based in London. Sales of such tubes to Iraq would violate United Nations security council resolution 687 of 1991, which prohibits the transfer of technology that has a civilian as well as military use. Following a recent statement in a British government report on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, that Baghdad had attempted to acquire "significant quantities of uranium in Africa", the SA government denied that it had tried to do so in SA. Comment on the latest allegations was not available from government last night.
The article in Insight by journalist Kenneth Timmerman quotes a former Iraqi intelligence officer as saying that Baghdad had bought specialised magnets from Germany and aluminum tubes from SA. According to Insight, the Iraqi intelligence officer is associated with a broad-based group opposed to Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi National Congress (INC).
Insight quoted the INC as saying that Iraq "is turning increasingly to SA to procure nuclear materials and forbidden equipment needed for its weapons programmes". The article saida top Iraqi intelligence official, Nadhim Jabouri, had been sent to the Iraqi embassy in SA, which Insight said mistakenly was in Johannesburg. According to the Iraqi embassy in Pretoria, no one by that names works there.
Insight said that to arrange travel documents, Iraqi agents in Amman, Jordan, went through a senior diplomat based at the SA embassy.
Most nuclear weapons programmes, including the one dismantled by SA in the early 1990s, would use aluminum tubes in the process of uranium enrichment. Manufactured to high tolerances, the tubes are used because of the highly reactive and toxic nature of uranium hexafluoride gas, which is separated into lighter and heavier isotopes by a centrifuge. - "IRAQ ALLEGEDLY SOUGHT SA NUCLEAR MATERIAL," Business Day (South Africa), 8th October , http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1194892-6094-0,00.html

OCTOBER 2002 : (CONGRESSIONAL JOINT RESOLUTION) Congress gives the President authority to wage war in Iraq. - FreeRepublic Freeper okie01 , reply 1,305 posted on 07/23/2003 7:08 PM PDT by okie01

NOVEMBER 2002 : (WILSON SAYS IRAQ WOULD USE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS IN BATTLE WITH US) Like Mr. Bush, he [Former Ambassador Wilson] said Saddam Hussein's forces possessed weapons of mass destruction. "They would use a biological weapon in a battle that we might have," he told ABC in November about Saddam's counterattack. He now [Oct 2003] criticizes Mr. Bush for relying on the same intelligence. No such weapons have been found, but the search goes on. - "Wilson, wife have tight ties to Democrats. " By Rowan Scarborough, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 2 Oct 03

JANUARY 2003 : (NIGERFLAP : WILSON SPEAKS AT ANTIWAR EVENT SPONSORED BY "WIN WITHOUT WAR") Wilson Spoke At Win Without War Press Conference In January 2003. “Why risk increased terror attacks on American soil when we can contain and disarm Saddam Hussein without an invasion?” said Ambassador Joe Wilson...” (Win Without War, “Organized Antiwar Effort Grows - National Campaign Intensifies,” Press Release, 1/31/03) via - "SAY IT AIN’T SO JOES? Joe Lieberman & Joe Wilson Make Bold Assertions That Facts Don’t Support, "RNC Research, Republican National Committee, October 5, 2003

JANUARY 2003 : (MARC ASH CRIES "IT'S ALL ABOUT OIL") Ash has been a prime spokesman for those defending Saddam Hussein’s regime. While Ash never objected to Saddam Hussein's blatant and admitted goal of controlling the world’s major oil supplies by seizing the oil wells of Iran and Kuwait, and planning to seize Saudi Arabian oil wells, he claims that President George W. Bush is merely after Iraqi oil. He wrote in January, “Oil, money, power beyond comprehension. Plans for an Iraqi ‘Regime Change’ are not at all -- as the administration would have us believe -- a result of the attacks of September 11th. In fact, plans for an Iraqi regime change, at the behest of Mr. Bush were scripted into the GOP's published platform statement for 2000. “Why? There are heavy connections between the Bush Administration and US oil corporations. The interests of those oil giants are the cornerstone of this Administration's policy. Control of Iraqi oil fields would be worth incalculable profits the very corporations whose former executives permeate the ranks of the Bush Administration. Oil is the Bush family business -- politics is the shield that protects it.” - "The Iraqis Will Eventually Judge America by Its Deeds, Not Media Misinformation," By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty, (www.bannerofliberty.com) , April 4, 2003 , http://www.bannerofliberty.com/BOL-03MQC/4-4-2003.1.html

JANUARY 2003 mid : (IRAQ, UN, ONE SCIENTIST SEARCHED HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PAPERS, ANOTHER WAS CAUGHT BY IRAQ TRYING TO ESCAPE, WAS PROBABLY EXECUTED) UNITED NATIONS weapons inspectors in Iraq revealed last night that they had discovered 3,000 documents linked to nuclear arms technology while searching a scientist's house. The documents were recovered from the home of Faleh Hassan, an Iraqi physicist and director of a military installation west of Baghdad. Mohamed El Baradei, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Hassan's papers related to a laser technique for enriching uranium, a component of nuclear weapons. ...* This weekend American intelligence officers were investigating a report that a senior official in Iraq's ministry of industry and military industrialisation, which oversees weapons production, had been killed. He had been trying to flee the country for Jordan with his wife and two children a week ago, but had been stopped. "He was trying to leave with information, but the Mukhabarat [intelligence service] are watching him and all people like him," said an Iraqi source opposed to the regime. "They brought him back to Baghdad. We think he [was] executed." There has been no confirmation of the claim.

JANUARY 18, 2003 : (WASHINGTON DC : AFTER 'CAIRO CONFERENCE AGAINST AMERICAN AGGRESSION IN IRAQ,' LEFTWING GROUPS JOIN IN PROTESTERS) Bringing home their venom (from the Cairo Congress Against American Aggression on Iraq) , the comrades from WWP and IAC joined with scores of other left-wing groups to get out a crowd in Washington. On the stage were such rabble-rousing veterans as Larry Holmes and Brian Becker, both members of the WWP secretariat. The pro-Cuba contingent in the Iraq antiwar campaign was led by Medea Benjamin, the "pretty-in-pink" co-founder of Global Exchange, who used to live in Fidel Castro's island paradise before becoming an organizer of the anti-globalist riots in Seattle and Washington. The left-wing networks of the East and West coasts were fully visible.
Besides the politically idealistic college students, graying veterans of dozens of protests had dusted off their backpacks and hit the streets. There, left-wing pacifists were a tad uncomfortable joining Workers World's ANSWER, so they appeared in the march with their own banners as the United for Peace and Justice Coalition. Charlatans abounded. One was the presidentially ambitious race-baiter, the Rev. Al Sharpton, head of the National Action Network, keeping a safe distance from Rainbow Coalition leader Jesse Jackson, whose moral failings derailed his presidential aspirations. Nonetheless, when the line of march eventually was blocked by police, Jackson talked himself through, claiming that he had a plane to catch and urgently needed a comfort station. As usual, Jesse passed, leaving his parade behind him.
There were a sprinkling of trade union organizers, each claiming his or her union was solidly against any war for oil — as if their jobs could possibly continue if industry and trade ground to a halt. As one of the march organizers said, "The unions help us mainstream the movement. Blue-collar people are seen as having a lot of salt-of-the-earth wisdom and legitimacy. They're not the usual suspects when it comes to peace and justice issues."
Only one Member of Congress heard the call to march. He was the veteran John Conyers of Michigan, who's never found a communist cause he couldn't embrace. Conyers gave a speech that was important but unintelligible to most in the crowd. He bewailed the absence of Marcus Raskin and Richard Barnet, who some 40 years ago formed and funded the radical Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) think tank. The two virtually invented the "teach-in," taught the organizers who trained the leadership of the AFL-CIO and showed academics how to pervert the learning process. Few in the crowd of Jan.18 knew that it was the radical academic-activists of IPS who had made it possible for the communists in ANSWER and NION to organize so successfully on behalf of Saddam Hussein.
Thanks to a former U.S. attorney general and these two old radicals from IPS, thousands in Washington, under a large Iraqi flag, shouted "Long Live Iraq." - "Communism lives, " Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , 1/26/03 , Dateline D.C. Dateline D.C. is written by a Washington-based British journalist and political observer.

More timeline stuff including interesting leftwing groups on 'spin cycle'...

FEBRUARY 13, 2003 : (WILSON PUBLISHES "REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE?" IN THE MARCH 3, 2003 ISSUE OF "THE NATION"- IT WAS POSTED TO THE WEB EARLIER - BUT WAS IT DAVID CORN WHO BEGAN THE DRUMBEAT ON THE 'OUTING' OF PLAME AS A 'CIA UNDERCOVER AGENT'?) Excellent work. I would add this anti-war column written by one Joseph Wilson in The Nation: Republic or Empire? Issue date of The Nation is March 3, but note, web posted on February 13, 2003. This dovetails with your post-SOTU/pre-NY Times no mention of any concern regarding the representations made by President Bush in his speech in reference to uranium and Africa. Also, I'm sure you see that Wilson writing in The Nation means it is no surprise that it is David Corn that starts the drumbeat about the "outing" of Plame. 114 posted on 10/02/2003 2:34 PM PDT by cyncooper

FEBRUARY 14, 2003 Friday : (SOUTH AFRICA WILL SEND ITS EXPERTS TO IRAQ; IRAQ ACCEPTS) South Africa will send experts in dismantling weapons of mass destruction to Iraq as part of Pretoria's bid to avert war, President Thabo Mbeki said in his state of the nation address today. The intervention follows a visit to Baghdad by Aziz Pahad, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, and comes ahead of today's crucial report-back by United Nations weapons inspectors to the Security Council in New York. Addressing a special joint sitting of Parliament, Mbeki said it was hoped the UN report-back "will not serve as a signal to some that the time has come to unleash the fury of war".
"As we speak, a number of our citizens are preparing to travel to Iraq. These are the experts who led our country's programme to destroy our nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, as well as the missiles for the delivery of these weapons in conditions of combat." The work they had done had resulted in South Africa becoming an international example of best practice in disarmament, he said. South Africa voluntarily disarmed its weapons of mass destruction in the 1990s. Pretoria had proposed to Iraq and to Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General that these experts share South Africa's experience with Baghdad, Mbeki said. "I am pleased to inform the Honourable Members that Iraq has accepted our offer, which we have already discussed with the leadership of the weapons inspectors. "We trust that this intervention will help to ensure the necessary proper co-operation between the United Nations' inspectors and Iraq, so that the issue of weapons of mass destruction is addressed satisfactorily, without resort to war." Mbeki thanked the Iraqi government for its positive response, as well as its recent decisions to allow U2 and other aerial surveillance flights, to encourage its citizens to co-operate with inspectors without the presence of officials, and to adopt legislation prohibiting the production of weapons of mass destruction. - "SA to send its nuclear experts to Iraq: Mbeki," http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/government/0,1009,52970,00.html., February 14, 2003, 11:15

FEBRUARY 14, 2003 : (BIN LADEN ADVOCATES WORKING WITH IRAQ AGAINST THE US) America is on orange alert, Osama bin Laden is issuing new threats, and already the opponents of military action against Iraq are preparing to blame the next terror attack on U.S. policy. By threatening Iraq, which has nothing to do with al Qaeda, the U.S. is said to be inviting Saddam Hussein to become another bin Laden. This argument manages to ignore the detail that we were attacked the first time without any provocation. But more importantly it ignores the shared anti-American purpose that has long united both Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Certainly bin Laden's latest taped threat shows he understands this mutual purpose. Bin Laden refers to "our mujahideen brothers" inside Iraq and stresses "the importance of martyrdom operations against the enemy, these attacks that have scared Americans and Israelis like never before." Iraq may be run by Baath Party "infidels," he adds, but "it does no harm in these circumstances that the interests of Muslims and socialists crisscross in the fighting against the Crusaders."
What our readers should understand is that the rulers in Iraq have also long admired the methods of bin Laden and other anti-American terrorists, going back before September 11, 2001. This is clear simply from reading the Iraqi press, which is of course government controlled. We sort through some of that evidence below, and nearby we reprint Iraqi magazine covers that give the most graphic indication of how much Saddam admires bin Laden's 9/11 handiwork. - "Saddam and the Next 9/11 : The Iraqi dictator and his son talk about the uses of biological weapons," REVIEW & OUTLOOK, OpinionJournal, WSJ.com, Friday, February 14, 2003 12:01 a.m. EST

FEBRUARY 19, 2003 : (INTERVIEW OF FATHER JEAN-MARIE BENJAMIN INCLUDES BENJAMIN'S PROTEST SONG "MR. PRESIDENT") Well that protest song, “Mr President”, is getting lots of airplay on Italian radio at the moment. It was written by a very busy French priest living in Italy, Father Jean-Marie Benjamin. And it includes lines like “Hey Mr President, we’ve understood it all, that we’re all slaves of Wall Street”.

(* My note: This is pretty amusing since Benjamin was the one taking oil bribes from Hussein)

FEBRUARY 24, 2003 : (MEDIA BIAS, NEWSWEEK WRONG ON CLAIM THAT IRAQI LEADER'S SON IN LAW KAMEL TOLD THE CIA IRAQ HAD DESTROYED ALL OF ITS CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS) The CIA on Monday denied a Newsweek magazine report that Saddam Hussein's son-in-law told the U.S. intelligence agency in 1995 that Iraq after the Gulf War destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons and missiles to deliver them. "It is incorrect, bogus, wrong, untrue," CIA spokesman Bill Harlow said of the Newsweek report's allegations that Hussein Kamel told the CIA that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had destroyed all of his weapons of mass destruction. Newsweek said Kamel, who headed Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs for 10 years, told CIA and British intelligence officers and U.N. inspectors in the summer of 1995 that Iraq had destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons stockpiles after the 1991 Gulf War. "We've checked back and he didn't say this," a British government source told Reuters. "He said just the opposite, that the WMD program was alive and kicking." Harlow of the CIA said: "Newsweek failed to ask us this question." Newsweek said Kamel had hoped his revelations would trigger Saddam's overthrow, but when he realized the United States would not support his dream of becoming Iraq's ruler, he chose to return to Iraq where he was promptly killed. The issue of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is extremely sensitive at the moment because the United States is building troops in the Gulf poised to invade Iraq on the premise that Saddam has not been forthcoming about his alleged biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs. ((Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria - "U.S., U.K. deny Newsweek defector report," by Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters, 2/24/03

FEBRUARY 25, 2003 : (NIGERIA : REPORTS OF MISSING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL) "We have ... informed the International Atomic Energy Agency in case somebody stole it and wants to take it outside Nigeria," Shams Elegba, head of Nigeria's nuclear regulatory body, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Elegba gave no further details of the missing material or the circumstances behind its loss. But he said his agency was working hard to recover it, and had asked the global energy agency for assistance. Nigeria alerted the public in a broadcast statement last week that an unidentified oil company had reported the loss of the radioactive material used in its operations in the southern Niger Delta oil region. - "Nigeria reports unexplained loss of nuclear material," AP via The Jerusalem Post, Feb. 25, 2003

FEBRUARY 27, 2003 : (US DIPLOMAT JOHN BRADY KIESLING RESIGNS) - "U.S. Diplomat's Letter of Resignation (Over Iraq) ," John Brady Kiesling, NY Times, 02-27-03 (* My note: Good riddance.)

FEBRUARY 28, 2003 : (NIGERIA : IAEA REPORTS MISSING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL) The International Atomic Energy Agency has declared a "nuclear emergency" over the radioactive material reported missing from Nigeria this week. The agency says that they are viewing it as a "stretegic theft," which is to say that the material was taken with nefarious purposes in mind. Baer reports that this very likely means dirty bombs.- "IAEA declares "nuclear emergency" in Nigeria," (Bret Baer), Fox News Channel, 02/28/03- Posted on 02/28/2003 12:07 PM PST by dep

MARCH 2003, first week : (CANADA : CASTRO VISITS VANCOUVER) This past week, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro -- who runs one of the most repressive regimes in the world -- visited Vancouver, where everyone conveniently forgot that in 1962, Castro tried to install Soviet nuclear weapons on his island aimed at the U.S. and Canada. Talking of outrage, one would have thought there might have been some of that when this bellicose dictator was a honourary pallbearer at Pierre Trudeau's funeral. But no, while a lot of Canadians have been brainwashed into hating Bush, we are quite forgiving of a man who once planned to blow us up. - by Paul Jackson, "No time to capitulate," Calgary Sun, March 9, 2003

MARCH 2003 first week : (CUBA : CASTRO TELLS IRAQ TO DESTROY ITS WMD; ALSO HE COMMENTS ON IRAN ) President Fidel Castro has urged Baghdad to destroy "the last cubic centimetre of chemical or biological weapons" to remove any pretext Washington might have to attack it. At the close of the new Cuban parliamentary legislature, in which Castro's re-election as head of the government and the state came as no surprise, the Cuban leader praised Iraq's decision to destroy its Al-Samoud 2 missiles. "The American Government will no longer have the least legal or moral pretext to attack Iraq," Castro said. He slammed Washington for closing its eyes to atomic weapons held by Israel having provided the means for their transportation. "Only the complete truth ... would give the Iraqi people enough moral strength and international support to defend their homeland and integrity right up to the last drop of blood," he said. Castro acknowledged that Iraq had "committed two grave and unjustifiable actions" in invading Iran and occupying Kuwait, but had also had to endure "very hard action" itself. Iraq "is not in a position, militarily speaking, to constitute the least risk to US security or of their allies in the region", Castro said.- "Castro tells Iraq: destroy weapons," Agence France-Presse , March 7, 2003

MARCH 5, 2003 : (AXIS OF WEASELS RELEASE JOINT DECLARATION TO RESIST US & UK AT UN) The foreign ministers of France, Russia and Germany release a joint declaration stating that they will 'not allow' a resolution authorising military action to pass the UN security council. The hardening stance from the anti-war bloc increases the pressure on the US and Britain to compromise on their draft UN resolution.France, Russia and Germany harden stance - http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/page/0,12438,793802,00.html.(incredibly liberal website)

MARCH 5, 2003 : (AUSTRALIA : USEFUL IDIOTS - HUMAN SHIELDS) SYDNEY- Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Wednesday urged Australians who went to Iraq to serve as "human shields" against a possible US-led attack to leave the country immediately. Earlier Wednesday, one of the Australian "human shields" appealed publicly to Prime Minister John Howard not to back the war. "I'd like to say. Mr Howard, please, please, please do all that you can to stop American attacks on Iraq, these people do not deserve to be attacked," Donna Mulhearn told a Sydney radio station from Baghdad. But Howard, who earlier Wednesday said a decision on going to war to disarm Iraq could come as early as the end of next week, dismissed her appeal as misguided. "I wonder if she thought about the million-and-a-half ordinary people who'd been killed by this regime over probably a 20-year period," Howard said. "When you put human suffering into the balance on this issue, quite apart from the challenge of disarming Iraq, there's a very powerful case that human suffering would be greater if Saddam Hussein is left in power," he said. - "Australia warns "human shields" to leave Iraq immediately," Agence France-Presse, March 5, 2003

MARCH 16, 2003 : (MARC ASH & TRUTHOUT.ORG) One of the daily unsolicited e-mails I get is from a propaganda group that calls itself “Truthout” and which is, believe it or not, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. On March 16th, as the war was about to start, its chief propagandist, Marc Ash, wrote: ”What George W. Bush and Tony Blair are planning is the greatest act of human slaughter since Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge orchestrated the Cambodian genocide in the mid 1970s. That act killing some 1.5 to 2 million largely defenseless and quite peaceful Cambodians. ...”Civilian Iraq is utterly defenseless and totally unprepared for the carnage that is about to be visited upon them. It is murder plain and simple, murder on an unimaginable scale.” Marc Ash didn’t bother to mention the Iraqis and Iranians killed in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war started by Saddam’s invasion and seizure of Iranian oil fields in 1980. According to The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) estimated casualties of the 8 year war between these two Muslim nations at "more than one and a half million war and war-related casualties." The casualties between these two Muslim nations would be the equivalent to losing 5.6 million for a population the size of the United States. - "The Iraqis Will Eventually Judge America by Its Deeds, Not Media Misinformation," By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty, (www.bannerofliberty.com) , April 4, 2003 , http://www.bannerofliberty.com/BOL-03MQC/4-4-2003.1.html.

MARCH 20, 2003 : (CUBAN CRACKDOWN ON DISSIDENTS ; CUBA USES OF COALITION WAR ON IRAQ AS COVER) Locals watch police drive away with Cuban dissident and independent journalist Raul Rivero, after his arrest in his neighborhood of Central Havana on Thursday, March 20, 2003. Fidel Castro's government rounded up more of its critics on Thursday, part of a mushrooming crackdown spurred by allegations of dissidents conspiring with U.S. diplomats.- from caption on AP Photo/Cristobal Herrera

MARCH 21, 2003 : (VENEZUELAN AIR FORCE PLANES ENTER COLUMBIAN AIRSPACE TO AID FARC TERRORISTS IN THEIR WAR AGAINST COLUMBIA) - "Report: Venezuela aids Colombian FARC rebels," by Martin Arostegui, UPI , 9/10/2003

MARCH 24, 2003 : (INDIANA : ATTEMPTED HIJACKING OF GASOLINE TANKER) Clermont, March 24 - The FBI has released a sketch of a man wanted for questioning in conection with what may have been a hijack attempt of a gasoline tanker trucker hauling 10,000 gallons of fuel. "We find it very unusual that somebody would be trying to pull over a gasoline tanker," says Indiana State Police Trooper Jackie Taylor. It happened Monday morning not far from Martinsville on State Road 37. According to federal law enforcement officials, the truck belongs to a Clermont transportation company. Its driver was hauling the gasoline to Bloomington when the driver of a white Yukon SUV started tailgating the tanker and flashing police lights located in the grill of the SUV Thomas Fuenes is the FBI Special Agent in Charge. "He became suspicious, called his dispatcher who told him not to pull over. The SUV then pulled along side the truck. The passenger rolled down the window and pointed a gun in his face." Sources say the incident is being reviewed by the Justice Department which recently received intelligence from Al-Qaeda members suggesting that terrorists are targeting fuel tankers and gas stations that could be used in attacks against the US. Officials say, "Since 9-11 we're looking at particular industries and threats and the fact that it's a fuel tanker completely loaded with gas adds to the interest in this case." The FBI is questioning the truck driver, said to be shaken by the incident, while mounting a search for the suspect who has helped heighten the tensions over when and how terrorists will strike the US next.- "Man Attempts to Hijack Fuel Tanker in Indiana," by Chris Proffitt/Eyewitness News , WTHR , 03/25/03

APRIL 2003 early : (EPIC aka "EDUCATION FOR PEACE IN IRAQ CENTER: LAUNCHES PETITION DRIVE TO TRY TO KEEP FUNDING FOR IRAQ HUMANITARIAN AID AND RECONSTRUCTION OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE US MILITARY - AND INTO THE HANDS OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT ) Another group, the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) this week launched the latest of numerous online petition drives, calling on their supporters to flood Congress with e-mails calling on legislators keep funding for Iraq humanitarian and reconstruction out of the hands the US military. "The State Department, in partnership with the UN and our allies, is the appropriate authority for US funds related to post-war Iraq," EPIC said in an action email sent to supporters. - AFP

APRIL 10, 2003 : (THE LEFTWING GROUP 'AMERICA COMING TOGETHER' HAS ITS WEB DOMAIN, AMERICACOMINGTOGETHER.COM REGISTERED; THE REGISTRANT IS 'NETPOLITICSGROUP'- ONE OF THE GROUP'S FINANCIAL BACKERS IS SOROS) - whois.crsnic.net

APRIL 2003 mid, Tuesday : (CLINTON VISITS HAITI ON BEHALF OF HIS "CLINTON FOUNDATION," RECEPTION IS COOL) "Bill Clinton's trip to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday was supposed to be all about his Clinton Foundation's fight against AIDS," Mary Anastasia O'Grady writes in the Wall Street Journal. "Haiti is indeed engaged in a brutal battle against the disease. Yet even so, locals didn't seem too happy to have the former president calling on Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide. Thoughtful policy types, Haitian and otherwise, who are interested in righting the capsized nation largely ignored the visit," the columnist said. "In fact, what is fascinating about the Clinton voyage is the stark contrast between the glory Mr. Clinton insists on for his Haitian protege and the disdain that so many Haitians — once strong supporters of Mr. Aristide — now have for their president. This is especially evident among intellectuals and elites, who increasingly write and speak about Mr. Aristide as a man that cultivates a culture of fear and has destroyed a nascent democracy...." "At least part of the resentment about the Clinton appearance in the Haitian capital centered on allegations of corruption. There are unflattering but unavoidable suspicions of the relationship between the Haitian president and Clinton Democrats who went into the long distance telephone business with him after his return to power in 1994." - "Inside Politics," Greg Pierce, The Washingtn Times, April 14, 2003

APRIL 22, 2003 : (DOCUMENTS FOUND IN IRAQ INDICATE UK LABOUR MP GALLOWAY WAS BRIBED) - "Galloway was in Saddam's pay, say secret Iraqi documents"

APRIL 27, 2003 : (UK LABOUR MP GALLOWAY IN HOT WATER OVER COMMENT THAT UK TROOPS SHOULD DISOBEY ORDERS) George Galloway, the anti-war Labour MP who is suing over allegations he secretly took money from Saddam Hussein, faces the prospect of a criminal prosecution for treachery. The Observer can reveal that the Director of Public Prosecutions is considering pursuing the Glasgow politician for comments during the Iraq war when he called on British troops not to fight. In an interview with Abu Dhabi TV during the Iraq conflict, Galloway said: 'The best thing British troops can do is to refuse to obey illegal orders.' Lawyers for service personnel claim his call for soldiers to disobey what he called 'illegal orders' amount to a breach of the Incitement to Disaffection Act 1934. The maximum penalty is two years in jail. Galloway's calls for British troops to disobey orders came during the TV interview in which he described Tony Blair and George Bush as 'wolves' for embarking on military action. After Galloway made the comments on Abu Dhabi TV, Hugheston-Roberts wrote to the DPP asking him to prosecute or allow a private prosecution to be brought. - "MP may be tried as traitor (Galloway))," by Antony Barnett and Martin Bright, The Observer (U.K.) , 04/27/03

APRIL 2003 late : (LONDON TELEGRAPH UNEARTHS DOCUMENTS LINKING AL QAEDA & IRAQI INTELLIGENCE; CONCERNS THAT CLINTON ADMIN HAD POLITICIZED INTELLIGENCE DATA - MENTION OF SUSAN RICE) The unearthing of documents directly linking Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization to Saddam Hussein this weekend may have hermetically sealed the Bush administration's case that dismantling Iraq's Baathist enterprise was in part necessary to undo terrorism's dynamic duo. But closing that case may reopen a Pandora's box for ex-Clinton administration officials who still believe their policy prescriptions protected U.S. national interests against the growing threat of terrorism during the past decade.
The London Telegraph's weekend revelations raise deeply disturbing questions about the extent and magnitude to which President Clinton, his national-security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, and senior terrorism and State Department officials — including Assistant Secretary of State for East Africa, Susan Rice — politicized intelligence data, relied on and even circulated fabricated evidence in making critical national-security decisions, and presided over a string of intelligence failures during the months leading up to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Analysis of documents found in the rubble of Iraq's intelligence headquarters show that contrary to conventional wisdom, Iraqi military and intelligence officials sought out al Qaeda leaders, not the other way around, and ultimately met with bin Laden on at least two occasions. They also show that channels of communication between al Qaeda and Iraq were created much earlier and were wider ranging in scope than previously thought. The timing of the meetings sheds important new light on how grave the Clinton administration's intelligence failures may have been. On February 19, 1998, about six months prior to the attacks in Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi, Iraqi intelligence officials set in motion a plan to bring a senior and trusted bin Laden aide to Baghdad from Khartoum. One of the key Mukhabarat intelligence documents shows that a recommendation was made for "…the deputy director general to bring the [bin Laden] envoy to Iraq because we may find in this envoy a way to maintain contacts with bin Laden." The meetings took place in March 1998. "The Clinton Intel Record Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003

MAY 2003 : (WILSON DONATES TO KERRY CAMPAIGN) He gave $2,000 to Senator John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign in May. - (Center For Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org , Accessed 9/29/03; Political Money Line, www.tray.com, Accessed 9/30/03; FOX’s “Fox And Friends,” 9/30/03) via - "SAY IT AIN’T SO JOES? Joe Lieberman & Joe Wilson Make Bold Assertions That Facts Don’t Support, "RNC Research, Republican National Committee, October 5, 2003

MAY 2003 : ( SCOTT RITTER PROJECT DOCUMENTS FOUND IN IRAQ : IRAQ WAS TRYING TO BRIBE RITTER THROUGH AL-KHAFAGI BETWEEN JULY - SEPTEMBER 2000; MENTION OF FRENCH OIL COMPANY) Iraq's intelligence services bought gold jewellery that they planned to give to the wife and daughter of Scott Ritter, the controversial former weapons inspector, as part of a clandestine project to encourage him to work closely with Saddam Hussein's regime, according to documents discovered by The Telegraph in Baghdad. According to the documents, which were found in the bombed headquarters of Iraq's intelligence services, the cost of the presents was approved at the highest level in an attempt to develop "strong relations with them [Mr Ritter's family] that affect positively on our relations with him". The documents say that the gifts should be offered via an intermediary, who was named as Shakir al-Khafaji, an Iraqi-American businessman and close associate of Mr Ritter.
... Last night Mr Ritter said that the Iraqis had tried more than once to compromise Shifting Sands. He confirmed that officials had offered a gold bracelet for his wife and had volunteered to finance the film, either directly or via a French oil company. - "Iraqis tried to bribe Scott Ritter with gold," Inigo Gilmore and Charles Laurence , The Sunday Telegraph , May 4, 2003

MAY 8, 2003 : (IRAQI DOCUMENTS DISCOVERED REGARDING SALES OFFERS OF URANIUM) The New York Times reported yesterday that what began on Tuesday "as a hunt for an ancient Jewish text at secret police headquarters [in Baghdad,] wound up unearthing a trove of Iraqi intelligence documents and maps relating to Israel as well as offers of sales of uranium and other nuclear material to Iraq." Among the finds by the U.S. MET Alpha soldiers - the "mobile exploitation team" that has been searching for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in Iraq for the past three months - were maps featuring terrorist strikes against Israel dating to 1991, another map of Israel highlighting what the Iraqis thought were the hit-points of their Scuds in 1991, a perfect mock-up of the Knesset, detailed mock-ups of downtown Jerusalem and official Israeli buildings, and a satellite picture of Dimona, Israel's nuclear complex. - "The Search For A Talmud In Baghdad ," May 8, 2003, Arutz Sheva, Israel National News, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=43071

MAY 2003 : (CUBAN DIPLOMATS ORDERED TO LEAVE THE US) The US has ordered seven Cuban diplomats at the country’s U.N. Mission in Manhattan to leave the country for engaging in “activities deemed harmful to the United States” — the usual diplomatic language for spying, an American official said Tuesday. A number of Cuban diplomats at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington also were being expelled, U.N. diplomats said on condition of anonymity. A letter ordering the seven U.N.-based diplomats to leave was delivered to the Cuban Mission in Midtown on Monday evening, the official said. It did not give them any time frame to depart. The U.S. official said the Cubans were being expelled “for engaging in activities deemed harmful to the United States outside their official capacity as members of the permanent mission of Cuba to the United Nations.” “These activities constitute an abuse of their privileges of residence,” the official said on condition of anonymity. - "Get outta town, U.S. tells Cuban 'diplomats' in New York!!!," NY Daily News , 5/13/03

MAY 13-14, 2003 : (FRANCE : FORMER AMBASSADOR WILSON AT SEMINAR ORGANIZED BY SAHEL CLUBOF PARIS) To: Shermy BTW, that [- "Bush dans les affres de l'affaire Wilson," LIBERATION, Oct 1(01-10-03) http://www.izaronews.org/noticias/(28_09_03)/extranjera2.htm ] puts Wilson at a seminar organized by the Sahel Club of Paris in May 13-14, 2003. The list of attendees is a virtual who's who of the Axis of Weasels' diplomatic corps. 42 posted on 01/02/2004 10:06:49 PM PST by seamole

MAY 23, 2003 : (WILSON DONATES TO DEMOCRAT JOHN KERRY'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN) Wilson, Joseph C 5/23/2003 $1,000.00 Washington, DC 20007 JC Wilson International Ventures/Bu -[Contribution] JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC.- From Drudgereport - 404 posted on 09/29/2003 4:42 PM PDT by NYC Republican

MAY 25, 2003 : (UK'S THE SUNDAY TIMES FINDS DOCUMENTS IN IRAQ WHICH INDICATE IT WAS DEVELOPING BALLISTIC MISSILES IN VIOLATION OF UN COMPLIANT RANGES) documents discovered by The Telegraph ... indicated Saddam was attempting to develop a ballistic missile [May 25, 2003] with a range of 600 miles.

MAY 25, 2003 : (SUNDAY TIMES REPORTS THAT WEAPONS COMPONENTS WERE SHIPPED INTO IRAQ VIA JORDAN UNDER CHINESE DIPLOMATIC COVER AS "MEDICINE" BACK IN MAY 1995) Components for Saddam Husayn's biological weapons programme were slipped into Iraq under Chinese diplomatic cover, according to documents seen by The Sunday Times in Baghdad. The documents refer to 137 kilograms of laboratory chemicals being channelled to Iraq from China in the guise of medical supplies. The cargo, flown to Jordan on May 31, 1995, was listed as "medicine" in a Jordanian customs report and the recipient was described as "Chinese embassy", Amman. Correspondence found in Baghdad shows that the 16 boxes contained chemicals - including some described by the supplier as "hazardous products" that should be stowed with extreme caution. A former Iraqi intelligence agent familiar with the deal said that from Amman the cargo was collected by Chinese diplomats based at the embassy in Baghdad. They escorted it in embassy vehicles across the border from Jordan to the Iraqi capital. From the Chinese embassy in Baghdad the goods were delivered in several batches to the car boot of an Iraqi intelligence operative who hid them in his home to prevent their discovery by United Nations weapons inspectors. From time to time he delivered small quantities to a research commission overseeing the biological weapons programme. The Iraqi source said that Baghdad went to great lengths to try to influence the Chinese whose power of veto on the UN security council made them one of the leading players in Iraq's conflict with America. To this end, Iraqi intelligence never missed an opportunity to gather potential blackmail material. The transfer of chemicals from the Chinese embassy vehicle to the Iraqi's car was secretly filmed by Iraqi agents from a department charged with monitoring the foreign diplomatic community.- "China Linked To Iraq Bio-Weapons, " Report by Matthew Campbell in Baghdad, London The Sunday Times 25 May 03

MAY 31, 2003 : (THE TIMES -UK- REPORTS THAT A GROUP CALLED "VETERAN INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONALS FOR SANITY" LED BY RAY MCGOVERN HAS WRITTEN A LETTER TO BUSH - IS THIS A KIND OF A REPLAY OF OLD JOHN KERRY JANE-FONDA/VVAW ACTIVIST GROUP IDEA? - THE GROUP HAS A DISLIKE OF CHALABI'S IRAQI NATIONAL CONGRESS) A GROUP of former US intelligence officials has written to President Bush claiming that the US Congress and the American public were misled about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction before the war. The group’s members, most of them former CIA analysts, say that they have close contacts with senior officials working inside the US intelligence agencies, who have told them that intelligence was “cooked” to persuade Congress to authorise the war. - "Public was misled, claim ex-CIA men ," Tim Reid, The Times (U.K.) , 05/31/03 *

MAY 2003 : (FREEPER FINDS RAY MCGOVERN'S GROUP "VETERAN INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONALS FOR SANITY" CAN BE REACHED THROUGH THE LEFTIST SITE "COUNTERPUNCH.ORG") *Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity" Here's an article from them.
http://www.counterpunch.org/vips03152003.html
Members listed:
Richard Beske, San Diego
Kathleen McGrath Christison, Santa Fe
William Christison, Santa Fe Patrick Eddington, Alexandria, VA
Raymond McGovern, Arlington, VA
Steering Committee Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
And finally:
The VIPS can be reached at: vips@counterpunch.org
-----So, VIPS is a Counterpunch.org front group???
10 posted on 05/30/2003 4:53 PM PDT by Shermy

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