(Wikileaks) Classified Papers Prove German Warnings to Bush

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,798728,00.gif




A classified document obtained by SPIEGEL shows notes from a meeting between a top German diplomat and Condoleezza Rice just weeks before the Iraq invasion. It indicates steps by the German government to prevent the war and undermines claims in George W. Bush's memoir that Gerhard Schröder indicated he would support the president should the US go to war.


Classified Papers Prove German Warnings to Bush
By Klaus Wiegrefe[br />11/24/2010

Gerhard Schröder and Joschka Fischer made every effort they could. The German chancellor and foreign minister spared no effort with their appeals, whether in public or private, in small groups or with the eyes of the entire world upon them. In the end, though, it was all for naught. Then-United States President George W. Bush wouldn't allow anyone to change his mind. He was dead set on launching a war against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and thereby bringing "freedom," as he put it, to the Middle East. It was a freedom that Bush described as " God's gift to mankind."

Over time, however, this would-be gift from God has grown to become the biggest foreign-policy disaster in US history since the Vietnam War. The war in Iraq and its subsequent occupation has cost more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians and over 4,000 American soldiers their lives. Washington's credibility has been severely damaged, and Iraq will remain a trouble spot for the foreseeable future.

It is facts like these that have helped stoke the outrage since Bush recently published his memoirs, "Decision Points," in which he claims that Schröder -- the very man who won re-election in 2002 in large part based on his opposition to the war -- assured him in January 2002 that Germany would support the United States if it decided to go to war against Iraq. For his part, Schröder was quick to deny Bush's comments, claiming instead that "(t)he former American president is not telling the truth."

SPIEGEL has now obtained a previously secret copy of notes taken from a conversation in February 2003 marked "Classified Information -- For Internal Use Only." At that time, in was just a matter of weeks before US soldiers invaded Iraq. Klaus Scharioth, a Berlin-based state secretary in the German Foreign Ministry, had flown to Washington in the hope of still having a chance of changing the minds of Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser at the time, and other high-ranking members on the National Security Council.

According to the notes -- all in German -- the meeting amounted to 90 minutes of verbal blows, which primarily stemmed from Rice's "relatively rigorous and uncompromising" defense of the US position. The same notes indicate that Scharioth didn't budge an inch toward Washington, either. In retrospect, though, they document a high point in German diplomatic history, because the objections and predictions put forward by Berlin on that Tuesday have turned out to be legitimate and correct.

[rfranklin]

1. The evidence is clear and damning...they are war criminals...

"Who could have known?" she asked.

[Richard D]

25. And bush's penalty will be . . .

tons of money from the government, secret service protection for the rest of his life - at our expense, highly paid speaking engagements, etc.
:banghead:

[deutsey]

72. and the smirking satisfaction that he can do whatever he likes whenever he pleases.

:evilfrown:

[vanbean]

76. Only Bush could be caught lying in his memoirs weeks after he published them. Only Bush!

[Initech]

28. Yup. The only way to win is to keep exposing them for who they are.

[MissDeeds]

47. Shhhhh

We have to look forward.

:mad:

[Octafish]

68. Traitors, too.

"Corruption in public office is treason." -- Adlai Stevenson, Jr.

[Ohio Joe]

2. Bush lied... what a shock...

I would be more surprised if anyone found anything true in that war criminals book.

[SpiralHawk]

14. "Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

"But, I'm like a Republicon and stuff, so lying doesn't count. Lying is one of our most cherished Republicon Family Values."

- xCommander AWOL (R)

[NYMdaveNYI]

19. The part about him picking

up his dog’s shit seems credible.


But I read the book, and the section addressing this is filled with fucking lies.

[WestSeattle2]

35. Totally agree. The man lacks integrity and character.

[Javaman]

74. I know. hard to believe...

morons* book is nothing more than a poor attempt at papering over his* failed history.

Sadly, only a small portion of the general population will read this story. The rest will believe that moron* is "spilling his* guts" is his military romance novel.

[Autumn]

3. Damn that Wikileaks, harming our country

by letting the truth out. K/R

[pleah]

4. K&R Keep it leaking.

[fascisthunter]

5. War Criminals and Their bullshit Lying Weasels calling themselves patriots!

[truedelphi]

71. And Some Weasels, like Georgie W, they forget that many they discuss in their

Book are still alive and can contradict them.

[Project Grudge]

6. What's great about stories like this...

is that they won't get any coverage in the United States. This would involve the American media overcoming its aversion to "journalism"

[mmonk]

7. +1000

[Posteritatis]

20. Er? This is all over the NYT. (nt)

[leveymg]

8. Germany also issued warnings about the 9/11 attack, and immediately traced the money trail back to

insider trading in puts options on AA and UA placed through "Buzzy" (Blackwater) Krongard's investment firm.

http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&before_9/11=insidertrading.

Early September 2001: Almost Irrefutable Proof of Insider Trading in Germany
Edit event

Ernst Welteke. Ernst Welteke. German central bank president Ernst Welteke later reports that a study by his bank indicates, “There are ever clearer signs that there were activities on international financial markets that must have been carried out with the necessary expert knowledge,” not only in shares of heavily affected industries such as airlines and insurance companies, but also in gold and oil. His researchers have found “almost irrefutable proof of insider trading.” “If you look at movements in markets before and after the attack, it makes your brow furrow. But it is extremely difficult to really verify it.” Nevertheless, he believes that “in one or the other case it will be possible to pinpoint the source.” Welteke reports “a fundamentally inexplicable rise” in oil prices before the attacks and then a further rise of 13 percent the day after the attacks. Gold rises nonstop for days after the attacks.

Entity Tags: Ernst Welteke

Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline

Category Tags: Insider Trading/ Foreknowledge
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< . . . >


September 6-10, 2001: Suspicious Trading of Put Option Contracts on American and United Airlines Occur
Edit event

A. B. “Buzzy” Krongard.A. B. “Buzzy” Krongard. Suspicious trading occurs on the stock of American and United, the two airlines hijacked in the 9/11 attacks. “Between 6 and 7 September, the Chicago Board Options Exchange purchases of 4,744 put option contracts in UAL versus 396 call options—where a speculator bets on a price rising. Holders of the put options would a profit of $5 million once the carrier’s share price after September 11. On September 10, 4,516 put options in American Airlines, the other airline involved in the hijackings, purchased in Chicago. This compares with a mere 748 call options in American purchased that day. Investigators cannot help but notice that no other airlines such trading in their put options.” One analyst later says, “I saw put-call numbers higher than I’ve ever seen in ten years of following the markets, particularly the options markets.” “To the embarrassment of investigators, it has also that the firm used to buy many of the ‘put’ options… on United Airlines stock was headed until 1998 by ‘Buzzy’ Krongard, now executive director of the CIA.” Krongard was chairman of Alex Brown Inc., which was bought by Deutsche Bank. “His last post before resigning to take his senior role in the CIA was to head Bankers Trust—Alex Brown’s private client business, dealing with the accounts and investments of wealthy customers around the world.”

Entity Tags: Chicago Board Options Exchange, United Airlines, American Airlines, Deutsche Bank, Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System

Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline

Category Tags: Insider Trading/ Foreknowledge
Bookmark and Share
September 6-10, 2001: Suspicious Trading on Stocks of Two Large WTC Tenants
Edit event

The Chicago Board Options Exchange sees suspicious trading on Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, two of the largest WTC tenants. In the first week of September, an average of 27 put option contracts in its shares are bought each day. Then the total for the three days before the attacks is 2,157. Merrill Lynch, another WTC tenant, see 12,215 put options bought between September 7-10, when the previous days had seen averages of 252 contracts a day. Dylan Ratigan of Bloomberg Business News, speaking of the trading on Morgan Stanley and other companies, says, “This would be one of the most extraordinary coincidences in the history of mankind if it was a coincidence.”

Entity Tags: Morgan Stanley, World Trade Center, Dylan Ratigan, American Airlines, Chicago Board Options Exchange

Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline

Category Tags: Insider Trading/ Foreknowledge
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September 7-10, 2001: Dubai Banker Claims Al-Qaeda Agent Speculates on Airline and Blue-Chip Stocks
Edit event

French author Bernard-Henri Levy claims to know an anonymous manager at a Dubai, United Arab Emirates, bank who gives him astute and accurate tips on Arab banking. The manager tells Henri-Levy in 2002, “We know a bank here that made transaction between the 8th and 10th of September on certain Dow Jones blue-chip stocks for accounts linked to bin Laden. I know the name of a bank that, by shorting 8,000 shares of United Airlines on the 7th of September, then 1,200 shares of American Airlines on the morning of the 10th, allowed the attack to finance itself.” The manager won’t name the bank, but he quotes bin Laden from a late September 2001 interview, stating, “al-Qaeda is full of young, modern, and educated people who are aware of the cracks inside the Western financial system, and know how to exploit them. These faults and weaknesses are like a sliding noose strangling the system.” The timing and amount of type of stock speculation mentioned in this account is similar to, but not the same as, previously published reports (see September 6-10, 2001). Levy suspects the al-Qaeda agent making these transactions is the financially astute Saeed Sheikh, graduate of the London School of Economics. An al-Qaeda agent using the alias Mustafa Ahmad is captured by a surveillance camera entering the Bank of Dubai on September 10, Dubai time, to pick up money sent by Mohamed Atta in previous days, but this video footage has never been publicly released. Levy and others argue that Mustafa Ahmad and Saeed Sheikh are one and the same (see September 5-10, 2001).

Entity Tags: Al-Qaeda, Saeed Sheikh, American Airlines, Osama bin Laden, United Airlines

Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline

Category Tags: Insider Trading/ Foreknowledge, Saeed Sheikh
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September 9, 2001: Internet Forum Message Warns of 9/11 Attack
Edit event

On September 9, 2001, a message is posted on Alsaha.com, a website based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, warning of the 9/11 attack. It proclaims that in the next two days, a “big surprise” is coming from the Saudi Arabian region of Asir, the remote, mountainous province that produced most of the 19 hijackers who struck on September 11. Since 9/11, the FBI and CIA have closely monitored this website as “a kind of terrorist early-warning system” due to its popularity with Muslim fundamentalists. However, it is doubtful if they were monitoring the site before 9/11, or noticed this message. Additionally, on September 10, someone in Jordan posts on a website that at attack is close to “zero hour.”

Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, United Arab Emirates, Alsaha.com, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline

Category Tags: Insider Trading/ Foreknowledge
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September 10, 2001: Alarm Bells Sound over Unusual Trading in US Stock Options Market
Edit event

According to CBS News, in the afternoon before the attack, “alarm bells were sounding over unusual trading in the US stock options market.” It has been documented that the CIA, the Mossad, and many other intelligence agencies monitor stock trading in real time using highly advanced programs such as Promis. Both the FBI and the Justice Department have confirmed the use of such programs for US intelligence gathering through at least this summer. This would confirm that the CIA should have had additional advance warning of imminent attacks against American and United Airlines planes. There are even allegations that bin Laden was able to get a copy of Promis.

Entity Tags: Promis, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Department of Justice, Israel Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks (Mossad)

Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline

Category Tags: Warning Signs, Insider Trading/ Foreknowledge
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< . . . >

September 10, 2001: Trader Makes Suspicious Investments Moves; Later Accused of 9/11 Foreknowledge
Edit event

Amr “Tony” Elgindy.Amr “Tony” Elgindy. Amr Elgindy orders his broker to liquidate his children’s $300,000 trust account fearing a sudden crash in the market. He also tells his stockbroker that the Dow Jones average, then at 9,600, will fall to below 3,000. Elgindy is arrested in San Diego in May 2002, along with FBI agents Jeffrey Royer and Lynn Wingate, who, according to government prosecutors, were using their FBI positions to obtain inside information on various corporations. They also questioned whether Elgindy had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. A report published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, however, casts some doubt on the government’s allegations. In 2005, now former FBI agent Jeffrey Royer admits to giving Elgindy confidential details of federal investigations, including a probe of the 9/11 attacks. Royer claims he did it to use Elgindy’s knowledge to help develop evidence of criminal wrongdoing. A court case against Royer and Elgindy continues.

Entity Tags: Jeffrey Royer, Lynn Wingate, Amr Elgindy

Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline

Category Tags: Insider Trading/ Foreknowledge
Bookmark and Share

[Poboy]

12. Important post. -nt

[Major Hogwash]

17. Wow, I had never seen that information before. Thanks.

That is mindblowing. Probably all swept under the rug because of the chaos of 9-11.

[Bluenorthwest]

73. Swept under the rug using the chaos, not because of the chaos

The chaos was a smokescreen.

[ljm2002]

18. Thank you...

...I never knew of the Krongard / Blackwater connection.

[leeroysphitz]

32. almost irrefutable = refutable. n/t

[AllyCat]

33. Wow. I've not seen this before now.

Sure makes one wonder about the LIHOP/MIHOP theories and how crooked capitalism is that they were clearly banking on the death and destruction of thousands of people.

[Proud_Lefty]

57. I saw this information way back in 2002

There's enough out there to convince anyone who will listen to even a very small amount of the factual information available, but the powers that be have been very successful in labeling LIHOP/MIHOP theorists nut cases. I'll never believe the official version, but gave up long ago trying to even present any of the facts to people. Funny, though, my sister went to New York several years ago and she asked everyone she came in contact with if they believed the official version. Almost all of them said hell no. The U.S. Government did it. They're not running around saying that, but it seemed to be common knowledge.

[grasswire]

34. Promis?? Promis???

A blast from the past.

[northernlights]

42. shit. this deserves its own thread...

please, re-post as its own thread. too important to let it get buried here....

[Dawson Leery]

43. This should be it's own post.

[MissDeeds]

49. +1000

[Poboy]

55. I agree.

[NoodleyAppendage]

45. Follow the money. Pure and simple. Great post! n/t

J

[NoodleyAppendage]

46. Follow the money. Pure and simple. Great post! n/t

J

[Nothing Without Hope]

52. Very important post. n/t

[harun]

58. Interesting but were the options ever exercised? How much money did it amount to be?

[TheWraith]

67. No, the options were never picked up. Nobody made the roughly $10 million it would have been.

The SEC ended up concluding that the options were a coincidence: that since the airline stocks had been falling and likely would continue to do so, some investor decided to short them, then when 9/11 happened the individual decided against profiting off the deaths of thousands of people, and let the options expire.

[snappyturtle]

66. OMG! Finally......thanks for posting this information. nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

77. Info everyone should know -

K&R

[WillieW]

9. The US has the technoloy to shut this down. Why not?

[Toucano]

21. To what technology are you referring? And on what legal basis would the U.S.

"shut this down"?

[Tunkamerica]

70. badges? we don't need no stinking badges.

[2Design]

10. well well this is fascinating

I love when there is other proof about the liars

[kgnu_fan]

11. No wonder "Nation at risk!!!!!!!" screaming Washingon!!!!!!!!

yeah, do they know shame?

[randr]

13. More facts to get in the way

Of course the messengers will be demonized, the facts dismissed as irrelevant, and faux and friends will find another cause to celebrate the Bush White House's hard choices in the face of adversity.
The countless lives lost over a few fools playing power games with the world will not be remembered. Nor the thousands of soldiers and their families that continue to make sacrifices for what is proving to be one of the most criminal and obscene decisions in history.
We are at the mercy of the rats they set loose on the world and no one of authority has the moral character to confront them and make them face their atrocities.
I pisses me off so much I an ready to think the dark side has won.

[davidwparker]

31. NEVER!

Evil looses in the end.

[Old and In the Way]

15. The elective war on Iraq was also an attack on the US taxpayer.

Yes, we killed 100's of thousands of innocent Iraqi's...and injured, displaced millions more. We committed our troops to a battlefield of this administration's choosing....shedding blood for what? To rid the world of a defanged tyrant or a troublesome leader of an oil rich country? And this administration used this war to transfer trillions of USD to the MIC and assure our continued dependence on ME oil. Mission Accomplished!

[grasswire]

16. shock and awe, baby

Chaos capitalism.

[avaistheone1]

22. Finally some blowback from our side.

Hope it exposes the whole house of cards these wars have been built on, as well as the facade of the Homeland Security Industrial
Complex.


k&r

[upi402]

27. and Obama hides his thumb

Oh where could it be? He will lose all majority to the Reich Wingers with his strategy of kneeling and looking away. Don't expect investigations and the resultant prosecutions. BushCo dragged Germany into Iraq, etc etc etc.

Brilliant people like those that capture the WH are soooo stupid. I hope Michelle padlocks the gate to the garden of love until there are serious investigations!

[Enthusiast]

44. The greatest act of treason

in the history of this country. And it goes uninvestigated and unpunished.

Remember back to the outrageous investigations into Bill Clinton for a bit of perspective.

[indimuse]

KNR! n/t

[indimuse]

23. KNR! n/t

[laughingliberal]

24. K & R nt

[Abq_Sarah]

26. Germany was opposed from the beginning

The German Constitution made any support for the Iraq war very problematic. As a side note, they were also making a boat load of money from Iraq and didn't want any disruptions in "business".

[Schibulsky]

50. disruption in business?

...and they were right, now KBR and all the other cronies of BushCo are doing the business...how convenient!

[Uncle Joe]

29. Kicked and recommended for the OP and post #8.

Thanks for the thread, unhappycamper.

[raouldukelives]

30. K&R for the truth! nt

[felix_numinous]

36. So much for Bush's 'coalition of the willing'

--and it serves him right that his book of lies is turning around and biting him in his own ass. I have often wondered that the only way to take down Bush&Co would be an international effort, since we and our government seem hogtied. Our demonstrations, petitions and voting for people we thought would look into indictment have had no results.

[The Backlash Cometh]

37. Is Fischer the woman who shrugged when Bush tried to massage her shoulders?

[racaulk]

40. No, that was German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-marsh/bush-gropes-germanys-merk_b_25317.html

Bush's behavior was inappropriate and detestable...as usual.

:mad:

[Enthusiast]

38. K&R Well, if this was all they did.

First of all the doofus didn't even win the fucking election, neither one. The PTB had to get him in there, they had BIG PLANS. And they carried out their big plans-"mission accomplished".

[kgnu_fan]

39. kick!

[racaulk]

41. K&R for truth. nt

[Kltpzyxm]

48. So do we still need to

"move forward"?

[meow mix]

51. K&R

and some here didnt want this to come out i guess

[spanone]

53. k&r

[malaise]

54. Looks like the German government provided this

information - good for them.
Bush is a pathological fugging liar.

[Wednesdays]

56. I wish people would stop mincing words.

:mad:

Der ehemalige amerikanische Präsident ist nicht die Wahrheit sagt.
The former American president is not telling the truth.

But they couldn't say this instead?

Der ehemalige amerikanische Präsident lügt.
The former American president is lying.

[proud patriot]

59. they must be prosecuted

[myrna minx]

60. K&R n/t

[hulka38]

61. We have the body, the weapon, the motive...

what's it going to take, 60 progressive senators?

[FrancisTreptoe]

63. Unfortunately, yes.

[roamer65]

62. Just confirming what we already know.

B*$H is a frakkin liar.

[bertman]

64. Recced even though we already knew Bush is a lying POS and a deserter. nt

[Rosa Luxemburg]

65. can Bush and Cheney be arrrested this week?

[cartach]

69. Hope all hell breaks loose.

If that's the price to be paid then so be it. If that's the way to bring the perpetrators to some kind of justice then we should stand back and watch it all happen. However if after a couple of weeks or so it all fizzles out then we all should consider kool-aid because then things will just get worse at a much faster pace, or alternatively, it will be time to take to the streets.

[rasputin1952]

75. And all along, I thought ...

bush was God's gift to mankind...

Sounds like bush will be trying to sell more books claiming the typical GOP route in these situations, "I'm being ".

Something I wouldn't mind seeing, if I could drive the nails...:evilgrin:

[Poboy]

78. .