IAWM on admissions by top US WMD official

by Justin Morahan - Peace People Sat Jan 24, 2004 13:32

Great work in putting up the news so fast and having a comment on behalf of IAWM.
We missed your incisive and dynamic voice while you were in jail. Right on the ball.

by Tim Hourigan Sat Jan 24, 2004 14:09

And yet the politicians play dumb.

Bush and Blair stick to their guns (and they have the big guns, not the Iraqi's or the Syrians)

Bertie tries to pretend that we weren't involved, even though over 3600 military aircraft used Irish airspace last year and 612 Chartered CIVILIAN aircraft carrying weapons for the us landed in Shannon last year.

Bertie and Cowen kept using the argument about WMD in the Dail and elsewhere even after the epxerts in the Dept of Foreign Affairs said that the Downing Street Dossier was not credible, a full 6 months before the invasion of Iraq began. for 6 months the government lied to us, tried to get Irish support for the abuse of Shannon based on fictitious WMD.

Robin Cook said that in his conversations with Blair before the war it was clear that Blair no longer believed that Iraq had WMD.

In December we heard from Paul O'Neill a rare admission that the Bush administration was looking for an excuse to go into Iraq prior to 9/11.

At the same time the White House is going to great lengths to find a trigger for launching an attack on Iran, while they unsuccessfully sought sanctions on Syria for alleged WMD production.


So, when the bombs start falling in Tehran or Damascus, will the Taoiseach still turn around and sing the same tune, repeating empty rhetoric from Washington and London?


Cook lays bare Blair's drive toward war.

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=926&id=1105222003

here's an interesting snippet.

Mr Cook reports a key meeting with John Scarlett, the chairman of the joint intelligence committee (JIC), on 20 February this year. (2003)

He says: "My conclusion at the end of an hour is that Saddam probably does not have weapons of mass destruction in the sense of weapons that could be used against large-scale civilian targets."

On 5 March, Mr Cook recalls talking to the Prime Minister about the Scarlett briefing and says: "Tony did not try to argue me out of the view that Saddam did not have real weapons of mass destruction that were designed for strategic use against city populations and capable of being delivered with reliability over long distances.

by MAMA - MAMA Sat Jan 24, 2004 14:25 087-9777703

PRESS RELEASE.
For immediate release. 24 Jan 2004
From: MAMA (Midwest Alliance against Military Aggression)

The Mid-West Alliance against Military Aggression (MAMA) has called on the
Irish Govt to finally acknowledge that the war on Iraq was a sham and that
letting George Bush use Shannon airport was a mistake.
The call comes following comments made by CIA official David Kay on Friday.
Mr Kay has officially stood down as the head of the Iraq Survey Group which
has found no evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq - the reason
given to justify the war.
David Kay, who for 6 months led a team of weapons inspectors said in an
interview that he "did not believe that they existed" and that he did not
believe that Iraq had an operational weapons program following the 1991 Gulf
War.
David Kay has confirmed in public what a great many of us already knew. Iraq
did not possess Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Bush and Blair lied about
this war.
Iraq is occupied and tens of thousands of innocent people are dead because
of the lies of these two men.
This simple truth has been obvious to many people for a long time, yet the
politicians continued to hide behind the fig leaf of inspections, calling
for more time.
Now the head inspector has resigned and already the political leaders are
trying to re-write history to retroactively justify the war, talking about
intentions to develop weapons rather than possession of actual weapons.
MAMA demands that the Bush and Blair government's must be held to account,
and so should the Irish government for their part in aiding and abetting
Bush's war.
In 2003, 3,691 military aircraft passed through Irish airspace, and 612
chartered civilian jets landed at shannon with weapons on board. The
Taoiseach and Brian Cowen told us all that there was nothing unusual going
on and that we were not taking part in a war.
They continued to argue that Saddam Hussein should give up his WMD, even
though the experts in the Dept. of Foreign Affairs had already told our
government that the Downing Street dossier lacked credibility - six months
before the invasion in March.
The Irish government was content to continue to spread lies and turn a blind
eye to mass murder to suit political ends.
It is an insult for Mr. Ahern to say he was dead against the war. His
government actively assisted the US war effort, and passed a dail motion
stating the opposite. Nobody believes him.
If the Irish Govt is still allowing itself to be duped by these warmongers
then will they pretend to believe the same lies when Bush decides to invade
Iran or Syria?
MAMA repeats its call for landing and overflight facilities to be withdrawn
from the US military.
Shannon should be returned to civilian operations and the government must
account for its actions.
All those before the Irish courts for taking action to prevent these war
crimes should be rewarded rather than punished.


-ENDS-

by Tim. Sat Jan 24, 2004 14:51

When the Irish Dept of Foreign Affairs got Blair's dossier in Sept 2002, the experts rubbished it. The mainstream media here did not pick up on it. It was referred to in an article a year later in the British paper, the Independent on sunday, during the frenzy about David Kelly's death.

==============================
That was the headline-grabber, the stark image that stuck in the mind - that fearful weapons could be unleashed suddenly, without warning, on any of Iraq's neighbours. It was spotted almost immediately by an expert in the Irish Republic's Department of Foreign Affairs, when a British diplomat arrived in Iveagh House with a copy of the dossier, hoping it would secure Ireland's vital vote on the UN Security Council. Their specialist instantly dismissed it as utterly unbelievable, for technical and political reasons.

Politically, it was unthinkable that Saddam would allow the Iraqi army, which he deeply mistrusted, to hold weapons that they could use for a sudden strike against a presidential palace, he said. And technically, it defied belief that they could store these materials permanently in battle-ready conditions out in the heat of the Iraqi desert.

by watchdog Sat Jan 24, 2004 15:36

Unfortunately the relevant Independent article is "premium content" - i.e. you have to pay for access.

However it was referred to during a debate in the Free State parliament when the Green deputy John Gormley questined Biffo "Read my Lips" Cowen about it ....

by watchdog Sat Jan 24, 2004 15:40

Actually the text of the article can be found at this URL courtesy of the BangladesherDak .... great thing this Internet .... I wonder when they'll close it down ....

by archives Sat Jan 24, 2004 16:06

check the newspaper archive in your local/college library. I found a copy of that paper in my college library. it's a small part of an article about the whole dossier and kelly affair.

by Tim Sat Jan 24, 2004 16:34

Feb 2001.
Powell and Condeleeza Rice say that Iraq is contained and poses no threat to neighbours.
I saw this on John Pilger's recent special "Breaking the Silence" which I have on tape.

-so, Powell says Iraq no immediate threat.


2002. Iraq becomes a threat overnight. Dubya demands Saddam turns over WMDs.


Sept 2002. Blair dossier sent to members of security council -which included Ireland at the time, cos we had a temporary seat.
Our experts reckon that it's a load of rubbish, but Irish govt keeps talking about WMD and need to get rid of them... meanwhile US military is moving loads of weapons through Shannon. Eoin Dubsky redecorates US Special Forces C-130 and then calls cops to turn himself in.

various dates... experts including former weapons inspector and retired US Marine Major, Scott Ritter says Iraq was disarmed after 1991, and no longer poses threat.

Jan 2003. Peace Camp set up at Shannon to focus media on military use.
Various TDs say nothing unusual or secret going on.
eventually admit that 'some weapons are coming through'

Mary Kelly takes an axe to US Navy jet.

Min of Transport, Brennan says this is embarrassing and security has been reviewed so this cannot happen again.

feb 3. it happens again.. Pitstop Ploughshares use hammers on repaired Navy Jet.

Feb 5 Peace camp evicted by High Court.

Feb 15 over 100,000 people march in Dublin.
Bertie glad to see that they 'agree' with government line. does nothing. no backlash from public at large.

March 17 Robin Cook resigns, says Blair knows there are no WMDS.
-nobody resigns from Irish Govt.

March 20. Lying criminal scum (cabinet) push proposal in Dail that Ireland is NOT participating in war, but that US military use of Shannon will continue.

Baghdad mercilessly bombed from the air, thousands killed and wounded as invasion begins.

Irish govt expresses 'regret', denies involvement in war.

April. Ed Horgan takes govt to court. gets documents proving that missiles etc passed through Shannon airport.
Govt says --not much.
Judge says Govt breaking law, but Court cannot interfere with Govt powers. (cop out)


June, Mary Kelly trial sees Scott Ritter, Denis Halliday and Ramsey Clark turn up as witnesses. Former US Attorney General, Clark says Mary Kelly acted in harmony with law. Michael Birmingham, returning from Iraq tells jury about awful state of Iraq following invasion. Jury fails to reach decision on Mary's guilt or innocence on Criminal Damage Charge.

Sept. David Kelly found dead, after whole fiasco about 'sexed up dossier.

Dec David Kay goes home, Iraq search teams quietly demoted, as more staff sent to help in occupation.

Jan 2004.
Bush state of Union speech says that David Kays report lists loads of weapons and programmes.
Kay resigns says no WMD in Iraq, no evidence there was any WMD in Iraq.

Irish govt invite for Bush to visit Ireland still open. Red carpet being cleaned and stored for big welcome...

by Malatesta Sun Jan 25, 2004 02:36

Bush will still get re-elected, since most Amuricans still think that Saddam was responsible for 9/11. How thick can you get? I hope they all die of obesity, the greedy fascists.

by iosaf ipsiphi - typing up threads. Mon Jan 26, 2004 15:48

went buzzing about the parlour table of international diplomacy in 2002.
December 8th.

It left Iraq on Lufthansa flight LH404 at 17 h 05 local time Baghdad (16 h 05 GMT) on route to the UN HQ in NYC.
Meanwhile the other dossier left 16 h 10 (14 h 10 GMT) from Laranaca Airport Cyprus direct flight, to be deposited with the (IAEA). The inspectors transferred in Cyrpus at 10 h 45 local time (08 h 45 GMT) and continued to Vienna in a Cyprus Airlines jet.

And in minutes, the world knew something that moments before had been almost concensually surmised:
Iraq had no WMD.

Long ago.
almost 400 days.
Good to see you back Fintan.

by io Mon Jan 26, 2004 15:51

now almost pay for view.

by newshound Tue Jan 27, 2004 17:01

guardian Tues 27 Jan 2004.
by David Leigh and Richard Norton-Taylor

notable excerpts.

The Iraqi exile group in London which claims to have supplied MI6 with the intelligence about Saddam's 45-minute capability admitted that the information might have been completely untrue.
Nick Theros, the Washington representative of Iyad Allawi, who headed the Iraqi National Accord in exile, said it was raw intelligence from a single source, part of a large amount of information passed on by the INA to MI6.
He told the Guardian, :"We were passing it on in good faith. It was for the intelligence services to verify it." ...

But Mr. Theros said the information now seemed to be a "crock of shit". "Clearly we have not found WMD." he said.

Mr. Theros works with his father, a former US ambassador, to promote the political affairs of Mr. Allawi, who is now a member of the Iraqi governing council in Baghdad.

================


Well ain't that interesting?
Lie through your teeth the help the US and UK depose Saddam, control the oil and all the reconstruction contracts... and then get pu on the Iraqi governing council.

three cheers for Bush's new democracy.

by Noel Dorr Wed Jan 28, 2004 16:30

Bush's democracy is a damn sight better than Saddam's terror state. let's be honest about that, at least.