By revealing the photos, Kennedy let the Soviets know the exact limits of our photo recon capability. This was a major deal at the time, since this capability was top secret in the extreme.
Posted on 01/27/2003 1:04:08 PM PST by ex-Texan
Democrats demand ‘proof’ from Bush
Daschle, Pelosi sharply assail president on eve of State of the Union speech
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 — On the eve of President Bush’s State of the Union address, congressional Democratic leaders challenged the president to show “proof to the world” that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
Jan. 26 — Presidential aides indicate that Bush’s State of the Union address will deal with a growing federal deficit and will require cuts to some programs. NBC’s Joe Johns reports.
IN WHAT WAS billed as a “pre-buttal” to Bush’s address to Congress and the nation Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the party’s leader in the House, sharply criticized Bush for taking what they said was a “hurry-up approach on Iraq” and charged that he was creating a “credibility gap” by saying one thing and doing another across a range of issues.
“If we have proof of nuclear and biological weapons, why don’t we show that proof to the world — as President Kennedy did 40 years ago when he sent Adlai Stevenson to the United Nations to show the world U.S. photographs of offensive missiles in Cuba,” Daschle said at the National Press Club news conference.
“At a time when we have only just begun to fight the war on terror, the American people deserve to hear why we should put hundreds of thousands of American troops at risk, spend perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars, risk our alliances, and inflame our adversaries to attack Iraq,” said Daschle, D-S.D.
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS CITED
Daschle’s reference to Cuba related to the Cuban missile crisis of four decades ago. At the time, the Kennedy administration unveiled reconnaissance photographs at the United Nations to prove its claim that the Soviet Union had dispatched missiles to an island 90 miles off the United States mainland.
“The state of our union today is anxious,” he said. “The triple threat of war, terrorism and recession are combining to make Americans unsure about their future and unclear about the course our nation is taking.
Pelosi’s criticism of Bush was directed largely at domestic issues, including the president’s proposed elimination of the tax on corporate dividends and his record on the environment.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...
By revealing the photos, Kennedy let the Soviets know the exact limits of our photo recon capability. This was a major deal at the time, since this capability was top secret in the extreme.
That is the idea. They believe that the reason they lost the '02 elections was because they weren't far left enough and the left wing wacko message wasn't getting out. As if every left wing wacko wasn't already a Rat. (Well, except Jeffords and Chafee.)
That bears repeating...
I think France, German, and Bill Clinton are ALL criticizing Bush because of the same reason: they're scared to death of what we'll find when we get there.
Yeah? My point is that I believe 1000 (or roughly a third of those killed on 9-11) would be enough to justify force in the minds of most Americans. I have no doubt they would agree if the number were, say, 10,000 or 100,000.
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Headline: Indian firm helped Iraq: report -- Detail Story |
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| NEW DELHI: An Indian firm had helped Iraq get materials useful to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the Indian Express said on Sunday, quoting Indian customs sources. It said a probe by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) into the Delhi-based NEC Engineers Pvt Ltd indicates that the company, under the directions of Iraq's Ministry of Military Industries, may have helped Iraq manufacture precursors for WMD. "The statement made by former general manager (projects) of the NEC, N. Katturajan, under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 to the DRI, is explosive," the Expresss said. He named an Iraqi official Abdul Baghi as the Director-General of the Al Rashid Chlorate plant, a project that was run by Saddam's Ministry of Military Industries, says the report "Katturajan, in the statement to DRI on May 24, 2002, claims knowledge that the Al Rashid plant was used for making sodium chlorate and sodium perchlorate, chemical precursors for making rocket-propellant ammonium perchlorate that is used as missile fuel. Katturajan claims that the missile fuel facility was barely 500 metres from the Al Rashid facility," the Express said. |
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BINGO!!!
Indian firm’s link with Iraqi ministry revealed
Ex-NEC official’s statement to DRI: He was hosted by Saddam ministry, Iraqis visited Chennai plant; Iraq, NEC deny contact Shishir Gupta
NEW DELHI: Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix who has been scanning the backyards of Baghdad can perhaps pick up some clues here.
A Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) probe into the Delhi-based NEC Engineers Pvt Ltd indicates that the company, under the directions of Iraq’s Ministry of Military Industries, may have helped Saddam Hussein manufacture precursors for weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The statement made by former general manager (projects) of the NEC, N. Katturajan, under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 to the DRI, is explosive. He names an Iraqi official Abdul Baghi as the Director General of the Al Rashid Chlorate plant, a project that was run by Saddam’s Ministry of Military Industries. Katturajan, in the statement to DRI on May 24, 2002, claims knowledge that the Al Rashid plant was used for making sodium chlorate and sodium perchlorate, chemical precursors for making rocket-propellant ammonium perchlorate that is used as missile fuel. Katturajan claims that the missile fuel facility was barely 500 metres from the Al Rashid facility.
According to the former NEC official, he was involved with rebuilding the chlorine plant at Fallujah, 58 km from Baghdad, and claims that the overall charge of the facility was with General (Dr) Khazi Fascil.
In his statement, Katturajan names one Shahab as secretary to the Ministry of Military Industries and the ‘‘total controller and advisor for both (Al Rashid and Fallujah) the projects.’’ He claims to have gone to Iraq in July 1999 by road via Jordan and being taken to Hotel Al Sadeer in Baghdad, where his boarding and lodging were taken care of by the Iraqi Ministry for Military Industries.
Katturajan claims that he went to Iraq four times for NEC work and stayed there for three-to-four months in each visit. However, NEC has taken a stand (since Tony Blair went on record on Sept 24, 2002 that NEC illicitly helped Iraq’s WMD programme) that its export operations are overboard and that it was not supplying spherical aluminum powder to Iraq but was only exporting it to Jordan.
Iraq too has denied receiving any material from the Indian company. ‘‘Iraq did not not receive any material. There is no proof in that regard,’’ Iraq’s ambassador Saleh Mukhtar told reporters on Saturday. He claimed ‘‘the company had legally exported certain material to the UAE and Jordan.’’
Katturajan’s statement to DRI has another startling revelation that four Iraqi officials visited chemical factories in Chennai along with then NEC Director Hansraj Shiv in July/August 1998.
At that time, Katturajan was working with a chlorate manufacturing company in Pondicherry and joined NEC in July 1999. He now runs a chemical engineering consultancy firm in Pondicherry. According to him, the Al Rashid plant was commissioned in November 1999 and Fallujah chlorine facility in August 2000 with NEC’s help. At the same time, the former NEC official statement makes it clear that he did not visit the missile fuel manufacturing facility near the Al Rashid plant.
He says Hansraj Shiv asked him not to go to the facility as ‘‘Iraqi officials wanted free technology from us and that he (Hansraj Shiv) is there in Iraq for earning money and not free services.’’ The DRI is now on the look-out for Hansraj Shiv and his son Siddarth Hans.
DRI reports show influential Jordan national Mohammed El-Khatib and son Abu Tariq were helping NEC. According to Katturajan, NEC was operating through a front company, Al Najah General Trading Company, at Alibaba Square in Baghdad.
He claims Iraqi directors Muntasir Awni and Ammar Auni handled NEC’s operations in Baghdad. NEC is accused of exporting 11 consignments of sensitive materials including spherical aluminum powder, titanium vessels and anodes between Sept 1998 and Feb 2001 in contravention of Indian export laws.
On January 13, 2003, NEC’s technical director R.C.P. Choudhary surrendered before a local court after Additional Sessions Judge Manju Goel rejected his anticipatory bail application on December 16, 2002. Choudhary is currently in judicial custody.
Two other NEC officials, general manager (operations) Rajiv Dheer and its Chennai representative Anna Kumar, were also arrested but are currently on bail.
NEC’s involvement with Baghdad may have dented the Indian pride on its commitment to non-proliferation, but it has also spurred New Delhi to enforce tighter export control regimes.
Under Indian law, exports of sensitive materials are governed by SCOMET (Special Chemical Organism Materials Equipment and Technologies) provisions of Exim Policy 1997-2002. In March 2001, New Delhi received intelligence that NEC was supplying dual-use items to Iraq by showing exports to Jordan. —IE
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