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Secret Saddam WMD Tapes Subject of ABC Nightline Special -- 02/15/2006
by Rattle at 2:04 pm EST, Feb 15, 2006 |
Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein discussing ways to attack America with weapons of mass destruction will be the subject of an ABC "Nightline" program Wednesday night, a former federal prosecutor told Cybercast News Service. The tapes are being called the "smoking gun" of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. The New York Sun reported that the tapes have been authenticated and currently are being reviewed by the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Loftus has been tight-lipped about the tapes, telling the Sun only that he received them from a "former American military intelligence analyst." However, on Wednesday he told Cybercast News Service, "Saddam's tapes confirm he had active CW [chemical weapons] and BW [biological weapons] programs that were hidden from the UN."
This should be interesting. The key figure here is John Loftus, who organizes an intelligence conference that takes place this weekend. This is from a press release on the Intelligence Summit website: A former military intelligence analyst, who currently works as a civilian contractor, believes he has found a cache of extremely confidential--and very shocking--audio recordings of Saddam Hussein's office meetings. The audiotapes, which had apparently been overlooked, were found in a warehouse along with many other untranslated Iraqi intelligence files. These tapes are extremely significant, since they may be the best evidence yet of Saddam's secret intentions concerning weapons of mass destruction.
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RE: Secret Saddam WMD Tapes Subject of ABC Nightline Special -- 02/15/2006
by noteworthy at 3:10 pm EST, Feb 15, 2006 |
Rattle wrote: Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein ...
The summit sounds potentially interesting, but your source here is dubious: "Cybercast News Service" claims the summit includes "former CIA agent Michael Scheurer, author of 'Imperial Hubris.'" Of course, his name is Scheuer, and he was an analyst, not an agent. Here are a few pointers about "CNS": From the Conservative Communications Center: CNSNews.com is the flagship of the C3 family. Providing hard-hitting, balanced news with a conservative edge. Here's a Daily Kos bit: CNSNews was the first source of the Swift Boat Vet claims in the 2004 election. |
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RE: Secret Saddam WMD Tapes Subject of ABC Nightline Special -- 02/15/2006
by Decius at 3:15 pm EST, Feb 15, 2006 |
noteworthy wrote:
Rattle wrote: Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein ...
The summit sounds potentially interesting, but your source here is dubious: "Cybercast News Service" claims the summit includes "former CIA agent Michael Scheurer, author of 'Imperial Hubris.'" Of course, his name is Scheuer, and he was an analyst, not an agent. Here are a few pointers about "CNS": From the Conservative Communications Center: CNSNews.com is the flagship of the C3 family. Providing hard-hitting, balanced news with a conservative edge. Here's a Daily Kos bit: CNSNews was the first source of the Swift Boat Vet claims in the 2004 election.
Yeah, this is a partisan source, but I think ABC is likely to be reasonable.... We'll see what they say... The information seems to be that: Iraq had dealings with Al'Q back in 1992/1993. They bought a limited amount of chemical and biological stuff back in 2000. |
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'Dealings' between Iraq and Al Qaeda
by noteworthy at 4:09 pm EST, Feb 15, 2006 |
Decius wrote: Yeah, this is a partisan source, but I think ABC is likely to be reasonable.... We'll see what they say... The information seems to be that: Iraq had dealings with Al'Q back in 1992/1993. They bought a limited amount of chemical and biological stuff back in 2000.
What are "dealings"? Anyway, it was likely opportunistic on both sides and not a strategic arrangement. If Saddam had rebuffed them, Al Qaeda could have gone elsewhere -- to Pakistan, for example, where they might have been offered nuclear materials or technology. So perhaps the US owes thanks to Saddam for sating their appetite with World War I-era technology. As for as the "dealings" -- the US had substantial dealings with Islamist jihadists as late as 1989, funneling huge sums of money, weapons, and technical and operational support through Pakistan over a sustained period of several years. Our "ties" to the mujahideen were much stronger than Saddam's ever were, but no one ever seriously suggested this relationship as a basis for toppling the US government. Peter Bergen -- a journalist who has worked for/with CNN, ABC, NYT, LA Times, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and more -- met extensively with Osama bin Laden, conducted formal interviews of him, etc. Yet he won awards for his previous book, and he has a new book just now in stores. |
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RE: Secret Saddam WMD Tapes Subject of ABC Nightline Special -- 02/15/2006
by Rattle at 3:32 pm EST, Feb 15, 2006 |
noteworthy wrote:
Rattle wrote: Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein ...
The summit sounds potentially interesting, but your source here is dubious: "Cybercast News Service" claims the summit includes "former CIA agent Michael Scheurer, author of 'Imperial Hubris.'" Of course, his name is Scheuer, and he was an analyst, not an agent. Here are a few pointers about "CNS": From the Conservative Communications Center: CNSNews.com is the flagship of the C3 family. Providing hard-hitting, balanced news with a conservative edge. Here's a Daily Kos bit: CNSNews was the first source of the Swift Boat Vet claims in the 2004 election.
I fully agree. Everything about this seems like a PR stunt. For one, nothing has been said about when the tapes have been dated. If they are from pre-91', they are meaningless. |
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RE: Secret Saddam WMD Tapes Subject of ABC Nightline Special -- 02/15/2006
by Decius at 10:24 am EST, Feb 16, 2006 |
Charles Duelfer, who led the official U.S. search for weapons of mass destruction after the war, says the tapes show extensive deception but don't prove that weapons were still hidden in Iraq at the time of the U.S.-led war in 2003. "What they do is support the conclusion in the report, which we made in the last couple of years, that the regime had the intention of building and rebuilding weapons of mass destruction, when circumstances permitted."
I don't think that was ever in dispute. This is a non-story, but it gives the Conservative rags something to talk about while the second reel of Abu Ghraib photos goes around. RE: Secret Saddam WMD Tapes Subject of ABC Nightline Special -- 02/15/2006 |
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