Posted on 11/13/2008 9:30:17 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Eclipsed by the election campaignining, this story slipped under the radar. Much has been said about the invasion of Iraq. Often there are claims that there were no weapons of mass destruction and no ties to Al Queda. In fact, most of the WMD claims that were made before the invasion turned out to be true. Iraq was not clean and innocent in regards to WMD, and the ties to Al Queda were wrongly dismissed.
One of those ties regard Saddam’s involvement with Al Queda groups like Ansar al Islam which no one disputes was present and active in the northern section of Saddam’s Iraq. Opponents of the war dismiss that tie by saying that if they weren’t in the part of Iraq that Saddam controlled, then they weren’t under his control. That’s a nice piece of rhetoric, and it’s good spin, but it’s ignorant of the fact that Ansar was the ONLY means of influence Saddam had in the North (that, and the threat of invading the north). He used Ansar as his proxy guerrilla force to attack his Kurdish enemies and impose his will in the North.
The point remains, Ansar and other Al Queda groups were inside Iraq in 2002, and the CIA knew it. They knew it because they sent extremely brave people there-into Iraq, and those people monitored the Al Queda until the Pentagon blew the opportunity to destroy the camps.
Charles “Sam” Faddis, who led a CIA team into northern Iraq following the 9/11 attacks, says the Pentagon’s “endless planning and delays” foiled a chance to wipe out a band of al Qaeda leaders who were fleeing American bombs in Afghanistan.
Faddis says the delays, beginning in 2002, also facilitated the escape of some “key” al Qaeda figures, including terrorist scientists who were working on chemical and biological weapons.“Some died, some are still on the run,” Faddis said in a telephone interview Tuesday, following his appearance on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show to promote a new book, Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq.
“The site was physically destroyed … but certainly the research wasn’t destroyed.”
To argue that the Pentagon “botched” this is to argue that there was something substantial to be botched. Admitting the US missed an opportunity to attack Al Queda in Iraq before 2002 is admitting that there was enough of an Al Queda presence in Iraq before the invasion to warrant military action.
Now that Obama is President, it’s OK to acknowledge this.
We lost the Iraq War public relations battle years ago. The public views it as an unnecessary war against a country that didn’t attack us for the sake of destroying weapons that didn’t exist.
Yeah, but it doesn’t matter now — Bush is going home and a Democrat is going to be in the White House.
Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq (Hardcover)
Product Description
On July 10, 2002, more than eight months before the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime, eight American CIA operatives slipped into northern Iraq. They endured almost a year of being denied vital supplies by a NATO ally, Turkey, as they pursued a covert operation with profound consequences for both the War on Terror and the Iraq War: Operation Hotel California.
Operation Hotel California tells the inside story of the dangerous mission that paved the way for the Iraq invasion—and delivers the most blistering indictment to date by any American counterterrorism officer of the Bush administration’s blunders vis-à-vis Iraq and al Qaeda. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Charles Faddis, the operation’s leader, and other team members, Operation Hotel California is a riveting work that will shake Washington to the core.
Bush may have had many flaws: But I can NEVER forgive him for his absolutely insane/inane/inept “get out the message” methods.
He “may” have been saying this TO the media in various WH press conferences and interviews, but he forgot that that THEY refused to pass his message along, and instead, passed along tens of thousands of sound bites of of his ENEMY'S message.
And Bush never figured out he was losing the propaganda battle. hence, McCain too failed to get the message THROUGH his enemies. But then again, McCainenver had a chance after 8 years of Bush's failure.
i’m sure this will be on abccbscnnnbcmsnbc...
/s
Too tenuous to change anyones mind who buys into the “Bush lied” mantra. History will prove it was the right move, and this is just a non-starter in the present climate.
Yes, I imagine they’ll even take credit. The retort will become ‘And Bush knew about this?’ I sense some spin coming our way.
bump for later
Agreed. The Bush Administration’s inability to communicate is their single biggest failing if you ask me.
God Bless those VERY VERY brave agents who went in and got this info for us. Remarkable!
If McCain had won, the press would never have released this story
Bump for Fri. reading
This will make as much difference as the revelation of the huge cache of yellowcake uranium they found and shipped to Canada. The MSM - in the barrel for Ubama - won’t mention it for fear of improving Bush’s ratings before he leaves office.
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