Friday, February 09, 2007
Report about the DoD Manipulating Pre-War Intel, and Clinton's 1998 Desert Fox Speech
After reading this article about the DoD manipulating Pre-War intel, I couldn't help but think of a speech President Clinton gave 16 December 1998.
First, the article: Report says Pentagon manipulated intel
"That was the argument that was used to make the sale to the American people about the need to go to war," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. He said the Pentagon's work, "which was wrong, which was distorted, which was inappropriate ... is something which is highly disturbing."
If you read the entire article, they even throw in Cheney and Rumsfeld as instigators.
Now... the logical followup to this accusation: Who was behind the manipulation of intelligence leading up to Operation Desert Fox, when Clinton and Blair attacked Iraq due to its non-compliance with the UN resolutions?
The Speech: (Worth the read)
CLINTON: Good evening.
Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors.
Their purpose is to protect the national interest of the United States, and indeed the interests of people throughout the Middle East and around the world.
Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological weapons.
I want to explain why I have decided, with the unanimous recommendation of my national security team, to use force in Iraq; why we have acted now; and what we aim to accomplish.
Six weeks ago, Saddam Hussein announced that he would no longer cooperate with the United Nations weapons inspectors called UNSCOM. They are highly professional experts from dozens of countries. Their job is to oversee the elimination of Iraq's capability to retain, create and use weapons of mass destruction, and to verify that Iraq does not attempt to rebuild that capability.
The inspectors undertook this mission first 7.5 years ago at the end of the Gulf War when Iraq agreed to declare and destroy its arsenal as a condition of the ceasefire.
The international community had good reason to set this requirement. Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. With Saddam, there is one big difference: He has used them. Not once, but repeatedly. Unleashing chemical weapons against Iranian troops during a decade-long war. Not only against soldiers, but against civilians, firing Scud missiles at the citizens of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iran. And not only against a foreign enemy, but even against his own people, gassing Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq.
The international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again.
...Read the rest here.
Isn't it amazing. Had Clinton or Gore been in office, an offensive operation against Iraq would have been supported by all sides.
posted by El Capitan at 9:47 AM
1 Comments:
Southern (in)Sanity said...
My, my, my...I can't wait to hear how the Democrats and the Bush bashers "explain" this one.
5:54 PM