Posted on 04/08/2006 12:51:48 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The latest in a stream of eye-opening Iraqi documents shows Saddam Hussein's regime was planning suicide attacks on U.S. interests six months before 9-11. Why won't Washington get the word out?
Last month the Pentagon began releasing records captured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Among the documents is a letter dated March 11, 2001, written by Abdel Magid Hammod Ali, one of Saddam's air force generals.
According to an unofficial translation, Page 6 of the letter asks for "the names of those who desire to volunteer for suicide mission to liberate Palestine and to strike American interests."
Assuming the document's accuracy, this shows that Saddam's regime was not only providing aid and support for terrorist organizations of other countries. It was also planning its own bombings directed at U.S. facilities and personnel.
As counterterrorism consultant Dan Darling wrote last week on the Weekly Standard's Web site, that would mean Russian intelligence services under Vladimir Putin were better informed about Iraq's terrorist abilities than the U.S. spy community.
Though little noticed by the press, during a July 2004 visit to Kazakhstan the Russian president said that between 9-11 and the U.S. invasion of Iraq, "Russian special services and Russian intelligence several times received . . . information that official organs of Saddam's regime were preparing terrorist acts on the territory of the U.S. and beyond its borders, at U.S. military and civilian locations."
This new document, said Darling, "would seem to refute a long-standing contention among members of the U.S. intelligence community that Iraq ceased its involvement in international terrorism after its failed 1993 plot to assassinate former President George H.W. Bush." Darling cites former National Security Council official Richard Clarke's book "Against all Enemies," which contends that the NSC, the CIA and the FBI all agreed Iraq posed no terrorist threat to the U.S.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Developing story ping
*bump*
The clueless still don't get it!
bookmark
I posted this on a professional discussion board. My reply from the lefties was, "Yeah, so. This isn't about WMD, and it's obvious Saddam Hussein posed no threat to our country."
You have to be in a complete state of denial. There is no other way.
Ping
Investors Business Daily is no Newsmax...they are read by the movers and shakers. If they are starting to ask questions then others soon will follow.
Even if SH came out now at his trial and said he had all the WMD's he needed and was going to use them on Iran, Israel and the USA, the MSM and Dummo-crats still would say Bush lied and now put SH up to saying that ....
Hate blinds a lot of people.
Except to the lamestream media who would rather focus on Dingy Harry's complaining about the decision by the President to declassify information prior to the Iraq war. Jeezz.
April 08, 2006
IBD Decries 'Amateur' Effort On Saddam Translations
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An editorial in the Investors Business Daily scolded Congress and the White House for not putting more of an official effort into translating the tens of thousands of documents captured during the fall of Iraq in 2003. CQ reader Angry Dumbo points out one passage that stands out regarding the efforts made by the blogosphere (especially at Free Republic, which translated the document I posted earlier this week):
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******Excerpted*********************
At present, we're relying too much on translations by bloggers and other amateurs [emphasis mine -- CE]. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., says the White House has been dragging its feet for fear of embarrassing supposed allies (such as Russia) whose links with Saddam would come under scrutiny.
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I understand Angry Dumbo's irritation. It really does not matter whether amateurs or professionals translate these documents -- rather, the accuracy of the translation is all that we need to ensure. Bloggers have done this because the government simply didn't want to commit the resources necessary to do it. Rather than scold Rep. Hoekstra, IBD should congratulate him for getting someone engaged in determining the contents of this treasure trove of documentation.
******************Excerpt.....*************************************
However, knowing the extent of IND's support of the blogosphere, this does not appear to be meant as an insult to bloggers. IBD wants to press the government to take responsibility for the evaluation of these documents rather than push it off to a community of volunteers. That's commendable; the government never should have let these sit for three years unexploited. We could have bridged a gap in our understanding of the war much earlier and avoided a lot of political infighting as a result.
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And Finally
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On the other hand, I'm not sure that I agree with IBD's overall assessment of this credibility gap between the volunteers and the professionals within the intelligence agencies. The administration has to deal with a high level of distrust, a lot of it irrational, that would make anything they produce suspect in most circles.
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And in CONCLUSION
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One argument that I received after posting the translation supplied by Laurie Mylroie was that because the translation came from Free Republic, it made it unreliable.
After that argument was made, I contacted two professional translators who will translate page 6 of the BIAP document independent of each other. When I receive those translations -- for which I paid a fee to both -- I will post them along with the FR translation as soon as they arrive. That should put an end to speculation about the motives of the translators, and put to rest the worries about "amateurs" involving themselves in the process.
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I have chopped up this for a quick flavor ........One really need to read both with concentration to understand what IBD is saying.....etc....
But it is getting interesting ......
And of course we are all Amateurs here.....
And the American Press missed this bombshell.
Though little noticed by the press, during a July 2004 visit to Kazakhstan the Russian president said that between 9-11 and the U.S. invasion of Iraq, "Russian special services and Russian intelligence several times received . . . information that official organs of Saddam's regime were preparing terrorist acts on the territory of the U.S. and beyond its borders, at U.S. military and civilian locations."
Maybe they are afraid Putin will supply nuclear weapons (or already has) to AQ terrorists. Russia has a long way to go before proving they are a trusted friend of the USA.
Thanks for posting this.
It's obvious why no one can find any mention of these docs in msm. They're just a bunch of selfish and deluded lefties who are clearly embarrassed and chagrined to find out that they were wrong (as usual) and the hated Bush was right to take out Hussein. It 's equally mystifying as to why the Bush admin sits on these docs when shouting out these revelations would fully vindicate the decision to oust Hussein.
Sorry for any double p[ings....
Well well well...isnt Laurie Mylroie the same person who is a god to some on this site.
I will post them along with the FR translation as soon as they arrive. That should put an end to speculation about the motives of the translators, and put to rest the worries about "amateurs" involving themselves in the process.
Posted by Captain Ed at April 8, 2006 11:49 AM
Is there a ping list for this?
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