Countdown shows Powell 2-24-2001 saying Iraq has no WMD

[Hamlette]

Yowza. Powell said the sanctions had worked and Iraq had no WMD.

And they say "9-11 changed all that".

[Fridays Child]

1. Link?

:-)

[Hamlette]

2. live TV

they had the tape, said it was Bush administration policy and belief as of Feb 24, 2001.

Powell said the sanctions against Iraq worked and Saddam had not developed any new WMD.

Why is this not the lead story everywhere today?

I can't even find mention of it on the web site.

[MidwestTransplant]

3. Did they actually show a video?

It will be a day or so before it get's picked up big time. It will though. Once one outlet plays it, it will snowball.

[Hamlette]

7. yep, they have the video

and showed it, it was story #5, the first one of the program.

[Wwagsthedog]

4. Links to original story from Australia

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4808.htm

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/23/1064082978207.html

Pilger claims White House knew Saddam was no threat
September 23, 2003 - 2:33PM

Australian investigative journalist John Pilger says he has evidence the war against Iraq was based on a lie which could cost George W Bush and Tony Blair their jobs and bring Prime Minister John Howard down with them.

A television report by Pilger aired on British screens last night said US Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice confirmed in early 2001 that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had been disarmed and was no threat.

<snip>

[DrBB]

5. Link to STATE DEPARTMENT TRANSCRIPT goddamit!

Here ya go. Share it with your friends, local journalists, your congressional delegation. It's fun! And it's the American thing to do!

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2001/933.htm

Here's the paragraph you want:

We will always try to consult with our friends in the region so that they are not surprised and do everything we can to explain the purpose of our responses. We had a good discussion, the Foreign Minister and I and the President and I, had a good discussion about the nature of the sanctions -- the fact that the sanctions exist -- not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein's ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction. We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they are directed toward that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was ten years ago when we began it. And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. So in effect, our policies have strengthened the security of the neighbors of Iraq, and these are policies that we are going to keep in place, but we are always willing to review them to make sure that they are being carried out in a way that does not affect the Iraqi people but does affect the Iraqi regime's ambitions and the ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and we had a good conversation on this issue.


edit: bolded the juicy bit

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

6. WTF?

How could 9-11 change the fact that "the sanctions had worked and Iraq had no WMD"? How could 19 Saudis flying airplanes into buildings make weapons materialize?

For the next 14 months every republican will respond to every question or accusation by screaming "9-11!" and diving underneath their desk.

Oh, wait, they've been doing that already. Never mind.

[Old and In the Way]

13. I think your answer lies here

"How could 19 Saudis flying airplanes into buildings make weapons materialize?"

I guess Bush couldn't attack the real source of terror due to extenuating circumstances, so he went with Dad's favorite enemy.

[Le Taz Hot]

8. I saw that on MSRNC

My guess: It was released indirectly by the White House as a prelude to getting rid of him. Pretty transparent, actually.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

12. Creepy

But very possibly true. Yuck.

[lumpy]

9. This deserves a big kick

What better proof of the web of lies spun by Colin and his cohorts.

[grasswire]

10. another simultaneous thread...

...http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php

[wyldwolf]

11. Repeat at 12 AM...