The Man Who Knew (Inspectors laughed at Colin Powell's UN speech)

[w4rma]

(CBS) In the run-up to the war in Iraq, one moment seemed to be a turning point: the day Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the United Nations to make the case for the invasion.

Millions of people watched as he laid out the evidence and reached a damning conclusion -- that Saddam Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction.
…
What was the reaction among the inspectors as they watched the speech?

“Various people would laugh at various times because the information he was presenting was just, you know, didn't mean anything, had no meaning,” says Allinson.

And what did he and the other inspectors say when Secretary Powell finished the speech?

“They have nothing,” says Allinson.
…
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/14/60II/main577975.shtml

[Cha]

1. Kick! Harry Belafonte is so right about

powell...I could just burst at powell's Lies!

[0007]

14. .......and Iran/Contra convict

John Negroponte was sitting behind Colin Powell at the UN Security meeting. Whom junior appointed UN Ambassador.

These folks are so lovely!

[NNN0LHI]

2. The NYT again with this crap on their front page! The fuckers

>>>Months later, Thielmann reported to Secretary Powell’s office that they were confident the tubes were not for a nuclear program. Then, about a year later, when the administration was building a case for war, the tubes were resurrected on the front page of The New York Times.<<<

[teryang]

6. The Times is part of the CIA wurlitzer

As are a number of their reporters and columnists. They perform on command.

[Dirk39]

3. Powell looked old-fashioned to me, when he held his speech...

I mean, we live in times, where politicians start to believe in their own lies again, just like the Nazis, but Powell didn't. It was just so obvious. He just looked, as if Daddy has sent him to do this thing and he simply had to do it, without believing a single word he was saying.
It was a cheap theater, just like the Iraquis celebrating their freedom.
These idiots can't even deliver a good performance anymore.
Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[Jester_11218]

11. He has a speech that he pushed aside

He was going to read from his notes but when El Baradi exposed the forgeries Powell decided to ad lib his speech.

I am sure his speech made mention of the Niger claim.

[Ladyhawk]

15. Hello from the United States...

or the Fascist States of America, as it were.

I hope Europe doesn't have to save us.

[stevedeshazer]

4. My reaction was like that of the inspectors

When I saw the speech, I was alternately amused and horrified. Well, mostly horrified.

[Jester_11218]

5. I wrote about this in July

http://tvnewslies.org/html/powell_lies_to_un.html

I laughed when he gave his second speech. I guess the planet was asleep at the time.

[Cocoa]

7. they showed Blix and al-Baradi's reaction during the speech

They were sitting together in the audience while Powell was speaking, and when Powell made one of the claims the camera cut to Blix nudging al-Baradi and giving him a look like "can you believe this crap."

[Saudade]

8. Powell

"He just looked, as if Daddy has sent him to do this thing and he simply had to do it, without believing a single word he was saying."

Are you saying that Colin Powell is a complete moral coward?

I agree.

[Dirk39]

21. Excactly, esp. when this little schoolboy took this paintings...

out of his school satchel. He must have done a better job in covering My Lai.
As I was watching this live in Germany, I felt like one of my school buddies would sit there, pretending he has done his homework while he didn't, hoping that the teacher doesn't recognise it....
Poor Uncle Tom,
Dirk

[Jester_11218]

9. I sat there in shock!

When El Baradi said his bit about the evidence being "forgeries" I thought for sure that it would hit the news media like a bomb.

Nothing. Not a mention of it.

Unbelievable

[Cocoa]

12. It was reported in newspapers, but ignored by TV news

It was posted here, and people were correctly shocked. My reaction was that it was impeachable that Bush used it.

Then Wilson pushed it and it became a big story on TV.

Then Rumsfeld lied to Congress about when he learned about it. Then lied to Tim Russert about lying to Congress about it.

[Minstrel Boy]

13. I couldn't believe what I was hearing either,

until I saw Powell's face.

Was it this occasion when CNN's transcript of Blix's report, allegedly complete, deleted paragraphs critical of Powell and US intelligence?

[Jester_11218]

16. I don't think so

I read the CNN transcript when I wrote the article and it seemed complete.

What I do now is I keep a blank tape in the VCR in case any big speeches or interviews are given, this way I can have the real content if I need it.

[Minstrel Boy]

17. Here's what I'm thinking of:

CNN originally omitted 750 critical words from Blix's response to Powell's address. They added later, but I saw the omission and noted it, as did Take Back the Media, and Google's preserved the cache of CNN's incomplete "complete" transcript:

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/news-cnnedit.html

[Jester_11218]

20. OK, now I remember

I do remember that now.
Unreal!

[Jester_11218]

10. I sat there in shock!

When El Baradi said his bit about the evidence being "forgeries" I thought for sure that it would hit the news media like a bomb.

Nothing. Not a mention of it.

Unbelievable

[young_at_heart]

18. I typed in "Powell defends" on Google

I'm sure he has defended his UN speech and denounced CBS. I couldn't believe all the "Powell defends" I found......simply amazing. By the way...I think Harry Belafonte was absolutely correct!

[RedEarth]

19. Here is a mp3 of the 60 minutes interview for those that missed it

Wonk posted this on another thread here at DU last night.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=166663#168476