The Phony ‘Bad Intel’ Defense on Iraq
Jeb Bushs stumbling start to his presidential bid has refocused attention on Official Washingtons favorite excuse for the illegal, aggressive and disastrous war in Iraq that it was just a case of bad intelligence. But that isnt what the real history shows, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern recalls.By Ray McGovern
May 15, 2015 "Consortium News"
It is a safe bet that, by Thursday, Iraq War champion Paul Wolfowitz, now a senior adviser to Jeb Bush, had taken him to the woodshed, admonishing him along these lines: Jeb, you remembered to emphasize the mistaken nature of pre-war intelligence; thats the key point; thats good. But then you need to say that if you knew how mistaken the intelligence was, you would not have attacked Iraq. Got it?
It was then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz together with his boss Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and a string of neocon advisers who exploited the tragedy of 9/11 to make war on Iraq, which they had been itching for since the 1990s. They tried mightily (and transparently) to link Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11 attacks. Following their lead, the fawning corporate media played up this bum rap with such success that, before the attack on Iraq, polls showed that almost 70 percent of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein played some kind of role in 9/11.
Brimming with WMD:.........
Riding High, Wolfowitz Slips:........
The Downing Street Memorandum:..........
Challenging Rumsfeld:........
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/05/15/the-phony-bad-intel-defense-on-iraq/
Old news to everyone here, but interesting for me to read just how much the CIA doubted these claims, I had thought they were on board from the start.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)Telling the truth for decades now, and on the right side of history.
Gman
(24,780 posts)And the CIA was with Cheney. Colin Powell doubted the data even as he gave his UN speech.
As a side note, I've always thought this makes Cheney the worst war criminal of all of them. Cheney and any others that assisted him.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)with Michael Ledeen and Wolfowitz among others whose name should go down in infamy.
I used to think we would see the day when all those war criminals would be held accountable.
Back when I still thought we were a free country with laws that applied to everyone.
Gman
(24,780 posts)The ACA didn't include single payer. TPP, and lots of others. But nothing compares to the failure to prosecute these war criminals not only here, but also at the International Criminal Court.
However, at the same time I also think that to do so would literally cause an armed rebellion by the right wing, the likes of which we have not seen since the civil war. Yes, I think they are that rabid.
I think Obama would have been very open to the idea prior to the election in 08. But I believe that after they, what I describe as showed him the film of the JFK assassination taken from behind the grassy knoll, there was no chance