White House promises 'smoking gun intelligence'

The Daily Telegraph ^ | January 16, 2003 | Toby Harnden

[MadIvan]

White House officials have reassured Republicans by signalling that America and Britain are prepared to release powerful intelligence evidence to cement the case for war against Iraq.

Andy Card, the White House chief of staff, and Karl Rove, President George W Bush's chief political strategist, have each indicated privately that the administration has proof that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Card received blunt warnings from conservative Republican senators last week that Mr Bush had to produce a much more concrete case for war if he hoped to keep public support.

Senator Kit Bond of Missouri said more information should be released and asked: "What is the connection between Iraq and al-Qa'eda?" According to sources at the private meeting, Mr Card is understood to have urged him: "Don't worry."

Mr Rove is believed to have used similar language during private briefings to politicians in Washington.

He strongly suggested that the Bush administration already possesses a piece of intelligence from the CIA or MI6 that would amount to the "smoking gun" critics are calling for.

[MadIvan]

I sense "strategery" is going to triumph again shortly.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

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[rintense]

On Hannity last Friday, Tony Snow said he also was told of the 'smoking gun' and that it is close to being released. He wasn't told, of course, what the smoking gun was- only that there is one.

[jbstrick]

Ivan,

I tend to agree.

[denydenydeny]

I'm not even going to say the word, but you know what I'm thinking.

[Slick]

Everybody who has doubted that this was the case, that Bush was about to go wobbly, has not been paying attention the past two years. Bush makes a decision to accomplish something and then relentlessly pursues it to its resolution.

In this case, he settled on regime change in Iraq. Once that decision was made, I was never in doubt that that is exactly what he would do. When he went to the United Nations and got a resolution which, politically, he had to know would require a powerful argument to invade, I assumed that he had a powerful argument in hand.

In other words, I think you can take this administration at its word. The only exception I can see is the current mess of the Education bill. Even the steel tariffs were pretty much reversed.

[EternalVigilance]

It's been pretty obvious all along that the Administration possessed ample proof.

Smart politicians, politicians who are smart enough to rise to the Presidency of the US, don't proceed with the kind of confidence Bush has without an ace as a hole card.

[Robert_Paulson2]

no... but if you don't spit it out... we are all gonna get really angry at you...

We need the "you heard it hear first" rush that comes with us breaking news... and spreading it faster than a west texas prarie fire.

[mombonn]

I heard Tony when he said that. As I posted the other day, there was a tone of absolute knowledge in his voice that told me he knew what he was talking about.

I heard a former weapons inspector on Hannity saying much the same thing.

My prayer is that saddam realizes the party is over, and opts for the proverbial golden parachute. Or, that he takes a silver bullet.

[doug from upland]

Our dumb frat boy mentally deficient president has once again seemed to outfox the RATS. How could that possibly happen? He is playing them like a violin.

[txhurl]

The rest of us might not. What's it start with?

[WOSG]

hmmmm, if they had it in October, they could have released it then

OR IS IT THE NEWS ABOUT THE AL QUAEDA IN IRAQ ThAT HAS POPPED UP IN THE NEWS???? This is big stuff, but is getting hardly any play in the press. basically escaped taliban/al quaeda are now in northern iraq. ... and where they possess chemical weapons. That seems to me to be the 'missing link' needing to tie terrorists, WMD, and Saddam into one package.

[Robert_Paulson2]

smoking gun as in OKC?
or as in "he's got nukes?"

inquiring minds...

[Restorer]

If you look at the last 18 months or so, Bush has outmanuevered his far more intelligent opponents consistently.

If you are baited into constantly claiming that we can't go to war without real evidence, then when it is produced you have a very tough time finding another rationale for opposition.

[Argus]

That smoking gun will be in the hand of a Special Forces soldier or Marine standing over Saddam's still warm, but very dead corpse.

[Restorer]

hmmmm, if they had it in October, they could have released it then

Nahh. I've said all along that GWB is just waiting for the right weather. Which is within about the next month.

Also the "smoking gun" released just before the attack gives the opposition no time to recover and find some other reason for opposing war.

[txhurl]

Pssst.. what's he thinking?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

This is good. And at this point, the Bush and Blair don't have much of a choice. The U.N. is obviously more than happy to slow-roll us. We're going to wind up posting our evidence to the world, then going to war while the U.N. sits on their hands.

What's even more ludicrous is that they'll immediately curse us for going to war, in direct contrast to their being tight-lipped about obvious Iraqi violations (like Iraq "forgetting" to report 17,000 artillery shells loaded with nerve gas and shooting at our aircraft every damn day).

[jwalsh07]

The smoking gun shouldn't be released until the 54 MOS's backed by the the good guys with the bad attitudes hold it up for the world to see live and in color on Fox News.