Free Republic

This is one of those articles that I really REALLY hope people will read before just commenting on the headline or the quoted sections. In fact, I think it's one of the best articles I've seen on this subject in half a decade. Yes, it's long, detailed, and forces many readers to question their previously held beliefs about regime ties to the Al Queda terrorist network, but it's not the typical anti-Bush/anti-war piece or a woohoo-Bush-was-right piece either. It is EXACTLY why: members of the 911 Commission, Sen Intel Com, as well as others (and why every investigation into the...

Thursday February 8, 2007 10:01 PM AP Photo BAG108 By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Some of the Pentagon's prewar intelligence work, including a contention that the CIA underplayed the likelihood of al-Qaida connections to Saddam Hussein, was inappropriate but not illegal, a Defense Department investigation has concluded. In a report to be presented to Congress on Friday, the department's inspector general clears former Pentagon policy chief Douglas J. Feith of allegations by some Democrats of illegal activities - specifically that he misled Congress about the basis of the administration's assertions on the threat posed by Iraq....

If you thought efforts were over to rewrite history on the lead-up to the war in Iraq and to smear the head of the Iraqi National Congress, Ahmad Chalabi, then think again. A remarkable pair of reports released last week by the Senate Select committee on Intelligence re-examine for the umpteenth time the pre-war intelligence on Iraqi WMD programs and Saddam’s alleged ties to al-Qaeda. The reports were produced at the demand of committee Democrats as part of a vast fishing expedition aimed at buttressing their old saw, Bush lied-People died. What’s remarkable about these reports are not the facts...

Turf war keeping lid on evidence of WMD in Iraq? By KATHLEEN PARKER If you thought Democrats and Republicans were politically divided over the war in Iraq, you haven't seen anything yet. The real battle apparently is being waged under the radar between the White House, the intelligence community and Congress. ADVERTISEMENT At the center of the current skirmish is a newly unclassified document released last Wednesday that seems to confirm evidence of WMD in Saddam's Iraq, including both degraded and possibly lethal chemical agents. According to the document, coalition forces have recovered some 500 weapons munitions since 2003 that...

As the Senate Intelligence Committee struggles to complete its investigation into prewar intelligence, some Republicans have become increasingly concerned that they are at a disadvantage in the bitter and partisan fight over what is known as “Phase Two” of the probe. “We don’t have a majority on the committee,” says one Hill Republican, noting that while the GOP, of course, maintains formal control of the committee — there are eight Republicans and seven Democrats — Republican lawmakers have lost effective control because two of their own, Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine, sometimes side with Democrats....

French connection armed Saddam By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES The United States stood by for years as supposed allies helped its enemies obtain the world's most dangerous weapons, reveals Bill Gertz, defense and national security reporter for The Washington Times, in the new book "Treachery" (Crown Forum). In this excerpt, he details France's persistence in arming Saddam Hussein. First of three excerpts New intelligence revealing how long France continued to supply and arm Saddam Hussein's regime infuriated U.S. officials as the nation prepared for military action against Iraq. The intelligence reports showing French assistance to Saddam ongoing in the...

<p>NEW YORK — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell returned to the United Nations yesterday, a year and a day after his Security Council presentation on Iraq's suspected weapons — this time with an unrepentant defense of the intelligence that prompted the United States to oust Saddam Hussein.</p>