Powell withdraws al-Qa'ida claim as hunt for Saddam's WMD flags

[snyttri]

The Independent UK

Powell withdraws al-Qa'ida claim as hunt for Saddam's WMD flags

By Raymond Whitaker
11 January 2004


The faltering American and British case for war in Iraq has suffered another blow with an admission by the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, that there was no hard proof of links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa'ida, contrary to his claims before the invasion.

"I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection," Mr Powell said last week. Almost at the same moment, the assertion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction - another crucial aspect of the Secretary of State's presentation to the UN Security Council last February - was being further discredited.

Not only did it emerge that a 400-member military team tasked with searching for unconventional weapons in Iraq had been quietly withdrawn, a leading Washington think tank, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, accused the Bush administration of "systematically misrepresenting" the danger of Saddam's alleged WMD before the war. The Washington Post also reported the discovery of a document suggesting Iraq might have destroyed its biological weapons more than a decade ago, and that subsequent "programmes" existed only on paper.

Mr Powell defended his pre-war statements on Iraq and al-Qa'ida, saying: "I think the possibility of such connections did exist, and it was prudent to consider them at the time that we did." Top administration officials also contend that the WMD hunt is not over, despite indications that scarcely any effort is being made on the ground.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=480031

[0007]

1. The freepers will be calling for this schmuck's scalp!

First, Condoleezza Rice and now Powell. And on the same page Perle is beating the drum for a Syria invasion.

Well it looks like they got the plants in place and are ready to be discovered by anyone but us, LOL!!

[David Zephyr]

2. 400-member military team tasked with searching for unconventional weapons

n/t

[MasonJar]

3. This is all some fiendish scheme to

get Bush elected. Get the bad news out early in the year. I understand that Bush is really into the election campaign; now there is a shock. It is all he and Rove have done since he stole the first election. I can't wait to see O'Neill Sunday night.

[alfredo]

4. As long as the hits keep on coming, bush is done.

If O'Neill survives, others will come forward.

[4dsc]

5. I've had no response from rightie yet

Rightie keeps yelling that ATTA was in Iraq and that's proof.. Or was that some crazed freeper I was engaged with??

[amber dog democrat]

6. Too Bad Powell

got caught up in this. After his shameful presentation to the UN SECURITY COUNCIL just prior to the invasion, I lost all faith his ability to act honestly or fairly.

Where matters of integrity are concerned you can not have it both ways.
I suppose he was just following orders.

[young_at_heart]

7. When will Powell show that he has integrity?

Does the earth have to move to get this man to wake up?

[amber dog democrat]

8. When HELL get an Artic Cold Front.

I'd say he has no soul left to bargain. Just look at the weasel his son turned out to be.
Apples don't fall far from trees.

[Stuckinthebush]

9. Never

Powell has little integrity and much loyalty. He is a soldier who believes that he does what his superiors tell him...even if it is illegal or a lie.

He'll never be his own man.

[Zhade]

11. When did Powell HAVE integrity?

The man appeared on the scene as an apologist for the US military after the My Lai Massacre.

My father served under this traitor during the first Gulf War Massacre. Remember all the atrocities in that particular "adventure"? Highway of Death "turkey shoot", anyone?

Powell has never had integrity. He simply LOOKED like he did. Fuck him. I hope he rots in hell.

[Rex]

10. Pat Robertson will probably call for a tactical nuke strike, again

Treason & traitors reside at 1600 Penn Ave.

[jpak]

12. Only one more lie left to go now....

"It's not about oil"

Will they ever fess up to that one???