Posted on 07/02/2007 1:29:42 PM PDT by ikez78
In a recent Washington Post Op-Ed former DIA analyst Christina Shelton discussed her intelligence work analyzing links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's Iraq and countered some of the conventional wisdom on the subject while taking issue with the way her background and work were depicted in former CIA director George Tenet's recent book "At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA."
Responding to Tenet's charge that she claimed the debate over Iraq - al Qaeda links was "open-and-shut" and in no need of further analysis Shelton wrote:
I said the covert nature of the relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda made it difficult to know its full extent; al-Qaeda's security precautions and Iraq's need to cloak its activities with terrorist networks precluded a full appreciation of their relationship.
Cooperation or meetings between the two sides would likely be something which would necessitate extreme secrecy and the information of such meetings/cooperation would likely be compartmentalized on a "need to know" basis if/when such meetings took.
(Excerpt) Read more at regimeofterror.com ...
PING
Outstanding! Thanks for your continued efforts, Mark.
George Tenet is the Tiger Woods of cya
Hence the importance of the captured Iraqi documents the public display of which the Dems were successful in getting pulled based on some trumped up security breech.
Thank you. Maybe you can help me get some attention on this in DC. You wanna email some congressman to ask them why they can’t be bothered talking with people like Ms. Shelton? Email them here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1850941/posts
I heard on the radio today that Tenet’s book claims that there were more than 20 major attacks thwarted during his tenure. That would mean that the Clinton administration did a rather good job of it. Who knows if a) he claimed it or b) it’s true. Both ex42 and Tenet seem to use the Dem definition of truth, that being what they wish were true.
bump
Thanks for the ping. I have always thought this Stephen Hayes article in The Weekly Standard established a direct link between Saddam Hussein’s government and terrorism:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/011/990ieqmb.asp
Ironically, this article concerns a terrorist attack that was solved when authorities recovered a cell phone from a bomb that failed to detonate....the recovered phone revealed that calls had been made to an Iraqi diplomat just prior to the time the bomb was planted.
I sense Tenent did not know as much as he often pretends to know. Either that or he loves to lie like his former boss.
There is a new documentary done by the media wing of Al Qaeda terrorist group called "The Return to the Mountains" and it shows the establishement of Al Qaeda in Iraqi Kurdistan during the last 2 years of Saddam regime and with the full approval of Saddam regime.
There is a top Senior officer in Saddam army who was in charge of the ammunition depot and who had have strong relations with AL Qaeda long before the war started. It was this Saddam army officer who gave the ammunitions and the ammunitions depot locations to Al Qaeda after the fall of Saddam regime.
Of course we know from the documents that I translated and published on FR that Saddam regime trained a lot of "Foreign Arabs non Iraqi Fedayeens" in Iraq since 1999 and Saddam issued a decree during the war to treat these "Arabs Fedayeens" with the same wages and benefits as members of the Iraqi special forces. The "Foreign Feedayeens" were for sure "Al Qaeda terrorists" who later on brought so much death and destruction on Iraq.
My guess is that it’s a combination of methods being compromised if “everything” is told and that the topic is so politicized that politicians are influencing what is said on the topic.
Wow Joseph. Do you have a copy of this video? Where did you see it at? You can PM me on this if that is easier.
Thank you for the ping, sir.
Thank you and BTTT!
No problem. Thanks for reading.
And there is this:
Statement by DCI George Tenet, October 8, 2002
Source:
Congressional Record
October 9, 2002
Page S10154
Statement by DCI George Tenet, October 8, 2002
There is no inconsistency between our view of Saddam's growing threat and the view as expressed by the President in his speech. Although we think the chances of Saddam initiating a WMD attack at this moment are low -- in part because it would constitute an admission that the possesses WMD -- there is no question that the likelihood of Saddam using WMD against the United States or our allies in the region for blackmail, deterrence, or otherwise grows as his arsenal continues to build. His past use of WMD against civilian and military targets shows that he produces those weapons to use not just to deter.
Read "our view" which is Tenet's and McLaughlin's letter to SSCI regarding al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Mark, thanks for the ping. jveritas, great work, as usual.
You probably see it as it is. And to many of them are never called on anything, and feel brazen enough to make it appear they have the whole truth.
Thank you for the post and ping!
What an excellent article!
I never trusted that man.
Thank you for your diligence.
Your posts are always “must reads.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.