Posted on 01/29/2008 10:20:47 AM PST by neverdem
George Piro, a personable and handsome FBI agent, appeared on 60 Minutes Sunday to tell us Saddam Hussein's secrets. The 36-year-old Lebanese-American was Saddam's interrogator. In addition to whatever the show disclosed about Saddam, it also revealed a lot about how the U.S. media and bureaucracies have handled and stoked the controversies over Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) -- basically, afflicted by chronic Alzheimer's. The events relevant to understanding OIF go back nearly 18 years -- to Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Few people worked on Iraq all those years. Still, those doing so now ought to know that history. Neither 60 Minutes nor the FBI do.
Piro explained that when he finally asked Saddam about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, Saddam replied that most were destroyed by U.N. inspectors (UNSCOM) and the rest were destroyed by Iraq. After their destruction, however, Saddam tricked the world into believing Iraq still had them. "That was what kept him...in power. That capability kept the Iranians away," Piro affirmed.
Yet in the first four years following the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq sought to do the opposite. It worked mightily to demonstrate that all its banned weapons had been destroyed and economic sanctions should be lifted. Baghdad was successful to a very significant extent. By March 1995, considerable pressure existed in the U.N. Security Council to reward the Iraqis for their cooperation and lift sanctions. Congressional leaders complained the Clinton administration was weak on Saddam, and the White House publicly promised to veto any attempt to end sanctions.
Yet the U.S. never had to use that veto. Although Iraq's chemical, nuclear and missile programs were thought to have been neutralized, one issue remained outstanding -- Iraq's biological program. UNSCOM began to address it in July...
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
bump
McCain's ACU Ratings are more dismal than you may have thought.
From time to time, Ill ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
Thanks nd.
Don't have a copy of the full length color movie. Just know someone who's on occasion dates an E5 crew member on a Blackhawk. His wing was over there then and the E-5 rotated back state side over the Holidays...his ship didn't go in either time with a group of 3, but, 3rd hand vague comments indicate the timing of what most likely happened with a buddy of the E5 who did. Can I say this dude ain't pulling her leg to get some leg, well maybe, but she believed him. "Lot's of equipment, some heavy looking dudes and 2 geeks and no idea where we flew to other than it was at night and west of his location."
Any trace of Americans in Syria would start WW3. Even Bush isnât dumb enough to do that. The Israeliâs are good enough to pull it off themselves.
Do you have the original CIA report on Iraq’s WMD’s, the one that was de-classified just before the vote on the war?
I think it was 28 pages; it cited where the weapons were and what types he had.
From another article pointing to needed cooperation with respect to Syria's escapades:
"But that's something of a red herring. The "codes" refer to signal transmitted by the Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponders carried by all combat aircraft. But in a combat environment, attacking aircraft shut off their IFF before entering hostile airspace. Israeli jets attacking that Syrian "agricultural" complex (presumably) weren't transmitting an IFF "squawk." Moreover, the target is apparently far enough from the border that an accidental "intrusion" into Iraqi airspace--and targeting by U.S. jets--was a remote possibility, at best. And, the Israelis knew that our fighters wouldn't respond to an incident that was clearly within Syrian territory, and posed no threat to our own forces.
So why did the Israelis have our IFF codes? There are several possibilities. First, there's the slimmest of chances that the commando force staged from one of Saddam's old airfields in western Iraq. However, the chances of that happening are virtually non-existent; in today's Middle East environment, the U.S. can't afford to provide direct support to an Israeli strike on a Muslim nation.
On the other hand, there a better chance that the U.S. would allow a crippled Israeli aircraft to land at an airfield in western Iraq that is under our control. Al Asad Airfield, located 180 miles west of Baghdad would be the most likely candidate for a divert base; obviously, an emergency landing at Al Asad or any other U.S.-controlled airfield would be facilitated by transmitting the right IFF squawk, and preventing intercept by our fighters. There's also the possibility that Israel has made "other arrangements" within Iraq, and needed the IFF codes to simply allow transit through U.S.-protected airspace."
September 18, 2007 Israel-Syria Overflight: A Roundup
Seems to be very plausible to me. Bush doesn't need to know the exact details, just what the 4 players involved at the time needed....Israel, Turkey, Iraq and the US. Those rebel Kurds are a threat to the stability of Turkey and Iraq and Iraq oil to Turkey. Some of those rebel Kurds are actually from Iran, who believe it or not knows those same Kurds can be a pain in the sides of not only Iran, but the US and its allies.
My comments are based upon a specific event, but, that event has direct ties to Jordon's interception of the dirty chemical bomb plot and the material a couple years back.
Could not such a 'fact finding mission' on the US's part be insurance in the bank from the behind the doors diplomatic scenes? Maybe we didn't have boots on the ground, but wouldn't it be nice to know the nature of all the components that were stored there and blown up?
I can't ever remember hearing in the MSM anything to the effect of the Sandi's saying hardly anything about the event on Sept. 6. A lot of players in this chess game.
Don't forget recent moves by the US to help out the starving in NK after the bombing too. Why?
Thanks for the ping!
You haven't been paying attention. WW3 started on 9/11/2001.
L
Well, we can take that to the bank, all right. It was based on an aquintance who sometimes dates an E5 who wasn't there but 3rd hand vague comments indicated that something happened. The only thing missing from this is an Elvis sighting in Roswell, NM.
Let's try to strive for a little credibility in our comments.
There was a lot mot involved than just a night hop in a Blackhawk with some non-standard air-fares. Supposedly, we have spy sat photos of the missiles being assembled and loaded...more like Global Hawk / Predator photos showing NK, Syrian, and Iranian military personnel at that site before it was popped. That's pretty much a given.
The UN has re-focused to Al-Gore and carbon credits after their obligatory condemnation of Israel protecting itself after 3 weeks of the incident.
Whatever the evidence is exactly, the stuff left around after the blasts was somehow collected by some interested 3rd parties and that is not being talked about.
Actually that was in reality WW4. Too bad we aren’t fighting it like it is a WW.
Thanks for the ping and post, neverdem. Good article by Laurie Mylroie.
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