Powell Presses C.I.A. on Faulty Intelligence on Iraq Arms

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/02/politics/02inte.html?pagewanted=print&position=

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has pressed the Central Intelligence Agency for several months to account for the faulty intelligence that led Mr. Powell to tell the United Nations last year that Iraq definitely possessed illicit weapons, several senior administration officials said Tuesday.

In particular, Mr. Powell has sought answers about the C.I.A.'s sources of information for the evidence, now considered false by the agency, that Iraq possessed mobile biological weapons laboratories. Serious doubts have now arisen about all four of the sources that the C.I.A. relied on, intelligence officials say. At least two of the sources were Iraqi defectors introduced to intelligence agencies by the Iraqi National Congress, led by Ahmad Chalabi, the government officials said.

The contention that Saddam Hussein had developed the mobile laboratories was a critical element of Mr. Powell's presentation to the United Nations on Feb. 5, 2003, which was broadcast around the world. In past interviews, Mr. Powell has described an intensive process he went through at the C.I.A. in the days and nights before the speech, reviewing the intelligence.

He said last summer that the mobile labs were "some of the most solid" evidence the United States possessed, but in the past few months he has stepped back from those remarks, and then reversed himself. Two weeks ago he declared "the sourcing was inaccurate and wrong and in some cases, deliberately misleading."

"And for that, I am disappointed and I regret it," he added.

[FleshCartoon]

1. Sure, Colin...

...we believe this. From a man who was overheard calling the intelligence bullshit before he presented it to the U.N.

Now he wants to get to the bottom of it.

[happynewyear]

3. I never needed to hear Powell say that

hell, it was written all over his face!

Now he demands an explanation for his lies!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. He was told by the CIA to avoid any mention of WMDs in his...

...speech to the UN. Powell continues to lie about this subject, just as he's lied many times throughout his career.

If he wants answers, he needs to go talk to his NeoCon buddies in the Pentagon.

[gratuitous]

4. Gee, and only 800 service deaths later

Horse, long gone. But Stable Boy Powell is dutifully searching for the lock. Or at least he's looking like he's looking.

It should be good enough to fool the presstitutes, though.

[bpilgrim]

5. since we know he knows this leads directly to the Office of Special Plans

headed up by rummy... who do yall think will prevail?

or will they pin it all on tenet... then unceremoniously cut him loose :shrug:

peace

[leesa]

7. No they will pin it on Tenet and then publically announce that he's a

swell guy doing a swell job. You know, like they always do.

[bpilgrim]

10. why should we expect different behaviour

good point. reminds me of the quote gore used recently at nyu...

Matthew 7:16 By their fruits you will know them

listen to this mp3 if any haven't already...
http://news.globalfreepress.com/mp3/airAmericaRadio.com/gore/gore_nyu_05-28-04.mp3

peace

[FleshCartoon]

8. Yeah, they're going after Tennet.

That was what they tried in the first place and it backfired on them.

I suspect it will again.

Also, I think that Colon is trying to salavage whatever credibility and political future he can at the last minute.

[UpInArms]

6. gosh, the kitchen must be getting mighty warm!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,968581,00.html

Powell's doubts over CIA intelligence on Iraq prompted him to set up secret review

Specialists removed questionable evidence about weapons from draft of secretary of state's speech to UN

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington and Richard Norton- Taylor
Monday June 2, 2003
The Guardian

Fresh evidence emerged last night that Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, was so disturbed about questionable American intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that he assembled a secret team to review the information he was given before he made a crucial speech to the UN security council on February 5.

Mr Powell conducted a full-dress rehearsal of the speech on the eve of the session at his suite in the Waldorf Astoria, his New York base when he is on UN business, according to the authoritative US News and World Report.

Much of the initial information for Mr Powell's speech to the UN was provided by the Pentagon, where Paul Wolfowitz, the US deputy defence secretary, set up a special unit, the Office of Special Plans, to counter the uncertainty of the CIA's intelligence on Iraq.

Mr Powell's team removed dozens of pages of alleged evidence about Iraq's banned weapons and ties to terrorists from a draft of his speech, US News and World Report says today. At one point, he became so angry at the lack of adequate sourcing to intelligence claims that he declared: "I'm not reading this. This is bullshit," according to the magazine.

Presented with a script for his speech, Mr Powell suspected that Washington hawks were "cherry picking", the US magazine Newsweek also reports today. Greg Theilmann, a recently retired state department intelligence analyst directly involved in assessing the Iraqi threat, says that inside the Bush administration "there is a lot of sorrow and anger at the way intelligence was misused".

...more...

[jjmalonejr]

9. Powell's reputation is ruined...

...he wants to bring some people down with him.

I don't think the CIA is his target, though. I think he wants to see a few members of the neocon cabal taken down.

I'm interested to see where this leads, but it certainly won't bring Powell's credibility back to life.

[struggle4progress]

11. Hey, Colin's blaming the CIA, just like the other Bushistas have.