Feith Says Pentagon Overdid (lied) WMD Rationale !

[IChing]

By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top policy adviser to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says the Bush administration erred by building its public case for war against Saddam Hussein mainly on the claim that he possessed banned weapons.

The comment by Douglas J. Feith, in an interview with The Associated Press, is a rare admission of error about Iraq by a senior administration official. Feith, who is leaving after four years as the undersecretary of defense for policy, said he remains convinced that President Bush was correct in deciding that war against Iraq was necessary.

"I don't think there is any question that we as an administration, instead of giving proper emphasis to all major elements of the rationale for war, overemphasized the WMD aspect," he said, using the abbreviation for weapons of mass destruction.<<<<snip
"Our intelligence community made, apparently, an error, as to the stockpiles" of weapons it assured President Bush existed in 2003, Feith said. Thus that part of the administration's argument for why war was necessary was overdone, he said, adding, "Anything we said at all about stockpiles was overemphasis, given that we didn't find them."<<<,snip

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FEITH_INTERVIEW?SITE=MNMAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-07-14-18-56-23

[LiberalVoice]

1. Blah Blah Blah...

No admission of guilt. Just "overemphasized the WMD aspect". :eyes: Invading a country that never harmed or threatened to harm an american citizen is still against the law.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. So Feith is proving the Downing Street Memos are correct

that they were going to war no matter what.

[central scrutinizer]

4. yeah, that's my reading as well

the Cabinet was just a bunch of PR flacks sitting around a Madison Avenue conference table bullshitting about ad campaigns. Let's see, yes this is really just a bag of dogshit, but if we tie it up with a pretty bow and figure out the right angle, we can get Joe Sixpack to buy it and make him feel damn glad he did buy it

[IChing]

3. Does anyone wonder why he's saying this Now?

Overstated vs Lied, Plame, DSM, Wilson, Rove ???
anyone ?
Bueller? Bueller?

[displacedtexan]

6. Trying to get the CIA to back off?

Hm.

Treason doesn't look good on a resume.

[katty]

15. Exactly, Feith's statement: I need to come clean for my next gig

PLEASE HIRE ME!

[IChing]

32. I was asking for Bueller but you guys work.

Both had good answers, now how is this tied to the rest of the story?

[yurbud]

46. "ummmm, could I be a witness instead of defendant?"

Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[msongs]

5. ummm sorry, I think they KNEW there were no WMD's....

and they knew all that other stuff they spouted was fraudulent and phony and did the war anyway, since by the time people found out, it was a done deal, and

the war on Iraq IMO is REALLY a war on American citizens who oppose what the republicans,the bushistas, and their fascist christian gang of thugs
stand for. The war is blanket coverage for all their crimes and evil doings.

Msongs
www.msongs.com

[yorkiemommie1]

7. Junior will do anything to get Daddy to love him

...even attacking another country and killing hundreds of thousands, even getting our own country into massive debt, even incurring the disdain of most of the world's nations...

now do you love me the most, daddy?

[Shakespeare]

8. Like rats off a sinking ship.....

My, my, my--and from one of the staunchest of the neocons, too. This is most interesteing.

[Zorra]

9. That is sooooo lame. They knew exactly what they were doing.

And Feith knows this better than he knows how to spell his name.

Give me a break. Lying POS.

[hippiegranny]

10. "over emphasis"

is a euphemism for "made shit up."

[Disturbed]

12. Part of the Mission was successful.

The Bush Regime with the PNAC Crowd were Hell bent on taking Saddam out. They couldn't get the Brits to sign on to regime change because that is illegal. WMDs was the ticket but they had to convince Congress, ergo the UN con job by Powell.

They figured, rightly so, that once Iraq was taken over that nothing would hamper the goals of privatization and Occupation. So far, they are correct. The U.S. will stay there indefinitely.

Bush Regime Iraq Successes

1. Saddam will no longer sell Iraqi oil via the Euro.

2, A military foothold in the ME. Other than Saudi Arabia.

3, No countries will be able to buy Iraqi oil that the U.S. disapproves of.

4. The Multi-Intl. Oil Corps are reaping great profits, esp. Bush Junta fave ally Saudi Dicktatorshit.

“We live a lie when we fail to hold leaders accountable for their lies. By not calling now for impeachment, we are saying that we condone hypocrisy, pseudo-democracy, and murdering thousands of Americans and Iraqis for strategic control of energy resources that we have no right to. Patriotism demands that we insist on the ideals of democracy, not that we support the "leaders" who cynically destroy them.”
Robert Shetterly

[AlinPA]

14. Their biggest success was that Bush** got another term. n/t

[mom cat]

22. Tell that gobbledegook to the families of the slain!

[lumpy]

11. His rationale doesn't make sense.

Yeah, the BUsh administration erred by making lies aout WMDs, threats, but the thug is still convinced that Bush was correct in invading Iraq. The reasons for invading were all about WMDs and threats to US welfare. His half-assed admission doesn't make me despise him any less, F.....g B.....d.

[IChing]

13. This is a strange relevation at this time to be used as spin

A vocal advocate of U.S. intervention in the Middle East and for the hard-line policies of the Likud party in Israel, Feith has been involved in or overseen the activities of two controversial Pentagon operations-the Defense Policy Board, whose former head Richard Perle resigned after concerns arose about conflicts of interest between his board duties and business dealings, and the Office of Special Plans (OSP), which allegedly misrepresented intelligence on Iraq to support administration policies. Feith's office not only housed the Office of Special Plans and other special intelligence operations associated with the Near East and South Asia (NESA) office and the Office of Northern Gulf Affairs but also the office of Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone, who directed military policy on interrogations of the Guantanamo Bay detainees and then arranged for the transfer of the base's commanding officer, Maj. General Geoffrey Miller to the Abu Ghraib prison in an effort to extract more information from Iraqi prisoners.


His militarism-and close ties with the military-industrial complex-were evident in his policy work in the Pentagon working with Richard Perle in the 1980s and then part of the Vulcans along with Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Cheney in the Bush II administration; his work as a corporate lobbyist in the 1990s for Northrup Grumman along other military contractors; and his prominent role in the Center for Security Policy and in the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). His political orientation is distinctly neoconservative, as evident in his affiliations with such groups as the Middle East Forum, Center for Security Policy, and Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS). Feith has also been associated with the National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP), a policy institute that promotes missile defense, space weapons, and nuclear weapons development. Feith, along with Max Kampelman, were team leaders for NIPP initiatives, funded by the right-wing Smith Richardson Foundation, for studies advocating the implementation of ambitious missile defense systems.







the link

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/feith/feith.php

[Zorra]

16. Ahem: WMD Just a Convenient Excuse for War, Admits Wolfowitz

The Bush administration focused on alleged weapons of mass destruction as the primary justification for toppling Saddam Hussein by force because it was politically convenient, a top-level official at the Pentagon has acknowledged.

The extraordinary admission comes in an interview with Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Defence Secretary, in the July issue of the magazine Vanity Fair.
snip---
"For bureaucratic reasons we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on," Mr Wolfowitz tells the magazine.
The comments suggest that, even for the US administration, the logic that was presented for going to war may have been an empty shell. They come to light, moreover, just two days after Mr Wolfowitz's immediate boss, Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, conceded for the first time that the arms might never be found.
snip---
There have long been suspicions that Mr Wolfowitz has essentially been running a shadow administration out of his Pentagon office, ensuring that the right-wing views of himself and his followers find their way into the practice of American foreign policy. He is best known as the author of the policy of first-strike pre-emption in world affairs that was adopted by Mr Bush shortly after the al-Qa'ida attacks.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/053103A.shtml

Mr Feith? How do you respond?

[IChing]

18. Mr Feith? How do you respond?....Well at least I didn't out an agent

that I remember at this time. I was talking to the head of the world bank seeing if I can get out of the country and distance myself from these affairs.
Sorry about dragging the US into a false war.

[Ilsa]

17. They all knew that anything short of a threat to the US wouldn't

be sufficient cause to send our men and women to die on foreign soil. It was either Rummy or Wolfowicz, and I think it was the latter, that said nothing short of a direct threat wouldn't be reason to spill American blood.

Liars. All of them. They knew the deal. They knew they had to larket and sell the war.

[jbnow]

41. But even the threat as presented wouldn't have been enough

without 9/11. People would not be in the fear mode, bush would not be their cowboy daddy savior, they wouldn't all be blinded by the flag. Even MSM and certainly congress would feel freer to question louder and longer.

9/11 was such a veil for them to do many things that they could never have gotten away with without it. The Patriot act! It cast this unreal atmosphere and they thought it would last, they believed no one would notice the emperor had no clothes. As they got away with more and more blatant things they were giddy with their power.

Even the many "smaller" horrors in regulations they changed and laws they got passed were let to go by more easily.

So the weapons threatening us were the only lie that would work, but without 9/11 the charade would not have worked.

[dweller]

19. It was for the

OIL.

but no-one will own up to it.

dp

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. If I'm not mistaken, Feith was one of the engineers of the plan to....

...deceive the American public.

IMHO, he's trying to deflect attention away from himself.

[IChing]

21. He is more than that check my link below.

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/feith/feith.php

[4dsc]

36. Check this out from your link..

Feith cannot be described by just one label. He is a longtime militarist, a neoconservative, and a right-wing Zionist. According to Bob Woodward's book, Plan of Attack, Feith was described by the military commander who led the Iraq invasion, Gen. Tommy Franks, as "the f---ing stupidest guy on the face of the earth," referring to the bad intelligence fed to the military about Iraq and the extent of possible resistance to a U.S. invasion.

[Samantha]

23. Perhaps he is practicing his Grand Jury testimony ...

He is one of Judith Miller's "sources" so he might feel a sudden need to rehearse reciting what actually happened, err ... what he thinks happened ... what he feels other might perhaps remember happened ... something like that.

[KoKo]

24. It's amazing ...because tonight on Blitzer's show he was spouting PNAC

lies about WMD and said "we don't know where he but we know they were there and he secreted them somewhere." :shrug:

I guess his fellow NeoCon/PNAC'ers read him the riot act after the article you mention. He's back to his whore self tonight. :-(

[karlrschneider]

25. He sure as hell didn't make any such statements a couple hours ago on

Hardball...

[Igel]

26. Anybody else here remember the Sam Tannenhaus article

that received a bit of attention in 2003, was it? (In Vanity Fair, IIRC.)

[wallwriter]

27. "Just Kidding!" What a splendid rationale!

[tuvor]

28. Why hasn't this been nominated yet?

And kicked.

[0007]

29. Hmmmm very interesting - everyone pointing the finger at others

The crack in the damm is about to break.

[leesa]

30. Too late to wiggle out, Dougie! There WERE no other rationales for this

crime. It was all lies pushed by YOU and your pals in crime.

[geckosfeet]

31. Over-emphasis: Code for they lied their effing asses off. n/t

[WhiteTara]

33. given that was their only rationale for war

I can understand why he wants out of the government now. He is hoping that the shit won't splash on him. But since he was one of the CHIEF architects, I think he is actually awash in it.
:grr:

[AndyTiedye]

34. Overdone?

[ignatius 2]

35. "Overdone"? That is something you do to a cake or a steak, not to the

reasons for starting an illegal war. A war that has caused the deaths of thousands upon tousands of innocent lives, destroyed a country and cost this country in dollars and in precious lives. There is no hell hot enough for these fuckers, IMO.

[maxrandb]

37. Again I Ask. Since the MSM Won't

"Is this Administration a bunch of crooked liars, or are they just "effing" incompetent?"

[maddezmom]

38. all of the above

:D Thanks for asking

[LaurenG]

39. Hum, kinda like "fixing the facts"? nt

[1democracy]

40. Just to make it clear re: WMD claims and Britain

It was imperative that there be "evidence" of WMD in order for Britain to get into the war, ala the DSM, or else it would be illegal for them to get involved.

So, not only was the "evidence" of WMD done to "fool" congress and the American public, it was asserted to con our allies.

Who was responsible for the forged documents that came through Italy on Niger yellowcake sales? Follow that lead and we might REALLY be onto something!

From reading this thread, it appears the only way to thwart the * success of this mission would be to withdraw and put the U.N. in charge. Democrats should remember this when they keep speaking of "staying the course" etc. We must extricate ourselves and delve into the huge profits been stolen from the taxpayers and PROSECUTE!

[UTUSN]

42. The REAL Reasons Were/Are:

Shrub 1) Avenging wimpy Poppy and 2) Getting out from Poppy's shadow. He is documented back to 1999 as wanting to do it, and his Big Picture management style went like this: "This is what I want to do ANYWAY. YOU flunkies come up with WHATEVER of YOUR reasons to git'r DONE!"

We are too broad in characterizing who his string-pullers are: Not single persons like ROVE and CHEENEE, but also, GROUPS-- interest groups as it were: Yes the Neo-Cons, but also Israel, also Fundies, also plain flunkies carrying out THEIR version of what they THINK is wanted.

It is incredible that the Shrubbites are STILL flailing about in trying to settle on a REAL reason for the illegal attack.

*******QUOTE*******

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FEITH_INTERVIEW?SITE=MNMAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-07-14-18-56-23

Feith: Administration Overdid WMD Claims

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top policy adviser to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says the Bush administration erred by building its public case for war against Saddam Hussein mainly on the claim that he possessed banned weapons. ....

Feith said he is irritated by the assertions of administration critics that the absence of WMD stockpiles in Iraq negates the rationale for going to war. They ignore the broader reasoning, he said, which included the dangers posed by Saddam's record of aggression against Kuwait, hostility toward the United States, a "rhetorical and financial support" for terrorism and a weakening of the world's resolve to contain his ambitions.

"One could fault the administration on the presentation of the rationale, but that is different from saying the rationale was actually extremely narrow and invalidated by the disclosure of the error" on WMD stockpiles, he said.

Another element of the administration's reasoning was a belief, still held, that if the tyrannical regime in Baghdad could be replaced with democratic institutions, it could have a beneficial effect in transforming the politics of the Middle East. That alone, however, was not a sufficient reason to go to war, Feith said. ....

********UNQUOTE*******

[kodi]

43. note fieth's DoD group did not believe joe wilson's niger report

and this denial was used as a cudgel in the senate intelligence report to accuse wilson of lying.

[johannes1984]

44. nostalgia

In tenth grade we had to watch wack the dog .At the time it was fun , a fictional story better than most classes , and hollywood flicks .Now the neocons brought that movie to life by going to war with Iraq ,with as justification ...a mere add campaign .I guess now we're about to see the sequal , the one where trying to cover your sorry behind is the main motive .Because if you don't , you might suddenly have a heart attack .

[Just Me]

45. Feith, you intentionally conspired to defraud the American people.

You are a treasonous bastard!!! :grr:

[Garbo 2004]

47. He still can't come up with a defensible justification for invading Iraq.

We didn't wage war because Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Or because Saddam was anti-US (after the US turned on him) or any of the other reasons they trot out.

The PNAC agenda which on its own would not be enough to sell to the public. Hence all the lies and the "marketing." It was a discretionary war that never "needed" to be waged.