"Miguel A. González" <miguel.gonzalez@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:53lq845rsvim364kkkjia0ohaf71ioncno@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:59:56 -0600, "Reality_Check©"
> <Reality@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Miguel A. González" <miguel.gonzalez@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>news:gi5q84h26aqpg5593okan9trhb7orenm9l@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:55:05 -0600, "Reality_Check©"
>>> <Reality@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Miguel A. González" <miguel.gonzalez@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>>>news:v3tn84919he5mq0i9udadafmmoi7cokec7@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>> On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:08:43 -0600, "Reality_Check©"
>>>>> <Reality@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>"Mr. Albritton" <albritton77@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>>>>>news:negn84l8qdec1t49uojau0nufi5f4sol0s@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>>>> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:08:01 +0100, "Alex W." <ingilt@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>"Reality_Check©" <Reality@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>>>>>>>news:6f1gp9F9cc80U1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> "Alex W." <ingilt@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>>>>>>>> news:6f0j8cF928j0U1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> "Deadrat" <a@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>>>>>>>>> news:Mqoik.13409$LG4.8415@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> American "qualms" stopped the use of nuclear weapons in Korea.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> It may also have had something to do with the fact that by that
>>>>>>>>>> time,
>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> Soviet Union was also a nuclear power ...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Which begs the argument that Nuclear Proliferation is a "good"
>>>>>>>>> thing,
>>>>>>>>> and explains why Iran needs nukes for their sovereign defense.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Nothing wrong with nuclear deterrent, except for two reasons:
first,
>>>>>>>>the
>>>>>>>>consequences of human error would be catastrophic in the extreme.
>>>>>>>>Secondly,
>>>>>>>>it cannot be guaranteed that control of the nuclear arsenal
remains
>>>>>>>>with
>>>>>>>>marginally sane and rational people. For a truly stool-loosening
>>>>>>>>scenario,
>>>>>>>>consider the not altogether unlikely prospect that Pakistan's
>>>>>>>>government
>>>>>>>>will be taken over by religious fundamentalists of the same
calibre
>>>>>>>>as
>>>>>>>>the
>>>>>>>>Taliban, more in love with the destructive aspect of their god
than
>>>>>>>>with
>>>>>>>>preserving Mankind ....
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yea, we have military personnel falling asleep with launch codes
>>>>>>> open
>>>>>>> season. Our military is undisciplined and the standards lowered
to
>>>>>>> unacceptable levels. No one wants to fight Americas pet wars
except
>>>>>>> those who are already crazy, derelict, gun happy, with no
direction
>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>> their lives.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>i.e. the typical U$ Soldier
>>>>>>
>>>>> Neither you nor Kip (BTW, you're fooling no one by passing yourself
>>>>> off as Albritton) have served a single day in uniform. You don't
know
>>>>> squat about the typical U.S. soldier, or airman, or sailor, or
marine.
>>>>> You should be grateful that time and time again, there are people
who
>>>>> are willing to sacrifice and do their duty to this Nation, so that
>>>>> idiots like you can enjoy the freedoms they protect. Even more, you
>>>>> should be ashamed of yourselves.
>>>>
>>>>So why aren't you on the front lines fighting, eh coward?
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Because I got bumped from the deployment schedule this year.
>>
>>Sure you did.
>>
>>So what's stopping you from getting you cowardly ass to the frontline
>>with any one of the many U$ Mercenary ("subcontractors") units?
>
> 1) I'm still on active duty.
> 2) I've only started the job hunting process.
> 3) I'll probably end up working for a military contractor either way.
>
> You're one to talk about being a coward. Never served a day in your
> life and yet you call me a coward.
What's with this "served" bull****, eh stooge?
Do you not get paid $ ?
>I wear the uniform proudly and am
> willing to go wherever they need me to go.
Like an ignorant droid.
>>
>>That way YOU can fight and die for the criminal Bu$h mob's neo-con lies,
>
> IOW, anything that doesn't jive with your marxist ideology is a
> "neocon" (whatever the **** that means) lie. Okay, what are those
> "neocon" lies you so much talk about. What lies did Bush tell?
LIE #1: "The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear
weapons program ... Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum
tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to
enrich uranium for nuclear weapons." -- President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in
Cincinnati.
FACT: This story, leaked to and breathlessly re****ted by Judith Miller in
the New York Times, has turned out to be complete baloney. Department of
Energy officials, who monitor nuclear plants, say the tubes could not be
used for enriching uranium. One intelligence analyst, who was part of the
tubes investigation, angrily told The New Republic: "You had senior
American
officials like Condoleezza Rice saying the only use of this aluminum
really
is uranium centrifuges. She said that on television. And that's just a
lie."
LIE #2: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently
sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." -- President Bush,
Jan.28, 2003, in the State of the Union address.
FACT: This whopper was based on a do***ent that the White House already
knew
to be a forgery thanks to the CIA. Sold to Italian intelligence by some
hustler, the do***ent carried the signature of an official who had been
out
of office for 10 years and referenced a constitution that was no longer in
effect. The ex-ambassador who the CIA sent to check out the story is
pissed:
"They knew the Niger story was a flat-out lie," he told the New Republic,
anonymously. "They [the White House] were unpersuasive about aluminum
tubes
and added this to make their case more strongly."
LIE #3: "We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear
weapons." -- Vice President Cheney on March 16, 2003 on "Meet the Press."
FACT: There was and is absolutely zero basis for this statement. CIA
re****ts
up through 2002 showed no evidence of an Iraqi nuclear weapons program.
LIE #4: "[The CIA possesses] solid re****ting of senior-level contacts
between Iraq and al-Qaeda going back a decade." -- CIA Director George
Tenet
in a written statement released Oct. 7, 2002 and echoed in that evening's
speech by President Bush.
FACT: Intelligence agencies knew of tentative contacts between Saddam and
al-Qaeda in the early '90s, but found no proof of a continuing
relation****p.
In other words, by tweaking language, Tenet and Bush spun the
intelligence180 degrees to say exactly the opposite of what it suggested.
LIE #5: "We've learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in
bomb-making
and poisons and deadly gases ... Alliance with terrorists could allow the
Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints." --
President Bush, Oct. 7.
FACT: No evidence of this has ever been leaked or produced. Colin Powell
told the U.N. this alleged training took place in a camp in northern Iraq.
To his great embarrassment, the area he indicated was later revealed to be
outside Iraq's control and patrolled by Allied war planes.
LIE #6: "We have also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a
growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to
disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We are
concerned
that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]
for missions targeting the United States." -- President Bush, Oct. 7.
FACT: Said drones can't fly more than 300 miles, and Iraq is 6,000 miles
from the U.S. coastline. Furthermore, Iraq's drone-building program wasn't
much more advanced than your average model plane enthusiast. And isn't a
"manned aerial vehicle" just a scary way to say "plane"?
LIE #7: "We have seen intelligence over many months that they have
chemical
and biological weapons, and that they have dispersed them and that they're
weaponized and that, in one case at least, the command and control
arrangements have been established." -- President Bush, Feb. 8, 2003, in a
national radio address.
FACT: Despite a massive nationwide search by U.S. and British forces,
there
are no signs, traces or examples of chemical weapons being deployed in the
field, or anywhere else during the war.
LIE #8: "Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of
between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough to fill
16,000 battlefield rockets." -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5
2003, in remarks to the UN Security Council.
FACT: Putting aside the glaring fact that not one drop of this massive
stockpile has been found, as previously re****ted on AlterNet the United
States' own intelligence re****ts show that these stocks -- if they
existed -- were well past their use-by date and therefore useless as
weapon
fodder.
LIE #9: "We know where [Iraq's WMD] are. They're in the area around Tikrit
and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat." -- Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003, in statements to the press.
FACT: Needless to say, no such weapons were found, not to the east, west,
south or north, somewhat or otherwise.
LIE #10: "Yes, we found a biological laboratory in Iraq which the UN
prohibited." -- President Bush in remarks in Poland, published
internationally June 1, 2003.
FACT: This was reference to the discovery of two modified truck trailers
that the CIA claimed were potential mobile biological weapons lab. But
British and American experts -- including the State Department's
intelligence wing in a re****t released this week -- have since declared
this
to be untrue. According to the British, and much to Prime Minister Tony
Blair's embarrassment, the trailers are actually exactly what Iraq said
they
were; facilities to fill weather balloons, sold to them by the British
themselves.
So, months after the war, we are once again where we started -- with
plenty
of rhetoric and absolutely no proof of this "grave danger" for which O.J.
Smith died. The Bush administration is now scrambling to place the blame
for
its lies on faulty intelligence, when in fact the intelligence was fine;
it
was their abuse of it that was "faulty."
Rather than apologize for leading us to a preemptive war based on
impossibly
faulty or shamelessly distorted "intelligence" or offering his
resignation,
our sly madman in the White House is starting to sound more like that
other
O.J. Like the man who cheerfully played golf while promising to pursue
"the
real killers," Bush is now vowing to search for "the true extent of Saddam
Hussein's weapons programs, no matter how long it takes."
On the terrible day of the 9/11 attacks, five hours after a hijacked plane
slammed into the Pentagon, retired Gen. Wesley Clark received a strange
call
from someone (he didn't name names) representing the White House position:
"I was on CNN, and I got a call at my home saying, 'You got to say this is
connected. This is state-sponsored terrorism. This has to be connected to
Saddam Hussein,'" Clark told Meet the Press anchor Tim Russert. "I said,
'But -- I'm willing to say it, but what's your evidence?' And I never got
any evidence.'"
And neither did we.
==========
> What crimes did he commit?
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) Criminal No.Plaintiff, )) Conspiracy to
Defraudv. ) the United States)GEORGE W. BUSH, ) 18 U.S.C. Section
371RICHARD
B. CHENEY, )CONDOLEEZZA RICE, )DONALD M. RUMSFELD, and )COLIN
POWELL, )Defendants )INDICTMENTTHE GRAND JURY CHARGES:Introductory
AllegationsAt times relevant to this Indictment:1. The primary law of the
United States FederalGovernment was set forth in the U.S.
Constitution("Constitution"), which provides that the first branchof
government is the Legislative Branch ("Congress").
Page 2
Pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Congress has certainpowers and
obligations
regarding oversight of foreignaffairs, including the powers to: (1)
declare
war; (2)raise and sup****t the armed forces; and (3) tax andspend for the
common good.2. Article II of the Constitution establishes the
ExecutiveBranch. The Executive Power of the United States isvested in the
President, who is also the Commander inChief of the Armed Services.3.
Defendant GEORGE W. BUSH ("BUSH") has beenemployed as President of the
United States sinceJanuary 20, 2001. On that day, BUSH took
aconstitutionally mandated oath to faithfully executethe Office of
President
and to preserve, protect, anddefend the Constitution. BUSH is also
constitutionallyobligated to take care that the laws be
faithfullyexecuted.4. As Chief Executive, BUSH exercised
authority,direction, and control over the entire ExecutiveBranch, which
includes the White House, the Officeof the Vice President, the Departments
of State,Defense, and others, and the National SecurityCouncil.5.
Defendant
RICHARD B. CHENEY ("CHENEY") hasbeen employed as Vice President of the
United Statessince January 20, 2001.6. Defendant CONDOLEEZZA RICE ("RICE")
wasemployed as the National Security Adviser fromJanuary 2001 to January
2005, when she becameSecretary of State, a position she holds as of the
dateof this indictment. As National Security Adviser,RICE exercised
direction, control, and authority overthe National Security Council, which
coordinatesvarious national security and foreign policy agencies,including
the Departments of Defense and State.7. Defendant DONALD M. RUMSFELD
("RUMSFELD")has been employed as Secretary of Defense sinceJanuary 2001.8.
Defendant COLIN M. POWELL ("POWELL") wasemployed as Secretary of State
from
January 2001through January of 2005.9. Before assuming their offices,
CHENEY, RICE,RUMSFELD and POWELL took an oath to preserve,protect, and
defend the Constitution.10. As employees of the Executive Branch,
BUSH,CHENEY, RICE, RUMSFELD, and POWELL weregoverned by Executive Orders
12674 and 12731.These Orders provide that Executive Branchemployees hold
their positions as a public trust andthat the American people have a right
to expect thatthey will fulfill that trust in accordance with
certainethical
standards and principles. These include abidingby the Constitution and
laws
of the United States, aswell as not using their offices to further private
goalsand interests.11. Pursuant to the Constitution, their oaths of
office,
theirstatus as Executive Branch employees, and theirpresence in the United
States, BUSH, CHENEY,RICE, RUMSFELD, and POWELL, and theirsubordinates and
employees, are required to obeyTitle 18, United States Code, Section 371,
whichprohibits conspiracies to defraud the United States.12. As used in
Section 371, the term "to defraud the UnitedStates" means "to interfere
with
or obstruct one of itslawful government functions by deceit, craft,
trickery,or at least by means that are dishonest." The term alsomeans to
"impair, obstruct, or defeat the lawfulfunction of any department of
government" by the useof "false or fraudulent pretenses or
representations."13. A "false" or "fraudulent" representation is one that
is:(a) made with knowledge that it is untrue; (b) a half-truth; (c) made
without a reasonable basis or withreckless indifference as to whether it
is,
in fact, true orfalse; or (d) literally true, but intentionally
presentedin
a manner reasonably calculated to deceive a personof ordinary prudence and
intelligence. The knowingconcealment or omission of information that
areasonable person would consider im****tant indeciding an issue also
constitutes fraud.14. Congress is a "department of the United States"
withinthe meaning of Section 371. In addition, hearingsregarding funding
for
military action andauthorization to use military force are
"lawfulfunctions"
of Congress.15. Accordingly, the presentation of information toCongress
and
the general public through deceit, craft,trickery, dishonest means, and
fraudulentrepresentations, including lies, half-truths, materialomissions,
and statements made with recklessindifference to their truth or falsity,
while knowingand intending that such fraudulent representationswould
influence Congress' decisions regardingauthorization to use military force
and funding formilitary action, constitutes interfering with,obstructing,
impairing, and defeating a lawfulgovernment function of a department of
the
UnitedStates within the meaning of Section 371.The Conspiracy to Defraud
theUnited States16. Beginning on or about a date unknown, but no laterthan
August of 2002, and continuing to the present, inthe District of Columbia
and elsewhere, thedefendants,GEORGE W. BUSH,RICHARD B. CHENEY,
Page 3
CONDOLEEZZA RICE,DONALD M. RUMSFELD, andCOLIN M. POWELL,and others known
and
unknown, did knowingly andintentionally conspire to defraud the United
States byusing deceit, craft, trickery, dishonest means, false
andfraudulent
representations, including ones madewithout a reasonable basis and with
recklessindifference to their truth or falsity, and omitting tostate
material facts necessary to make theirrepresentations truthful, fair and
accurate, whileknowing and intending that their false and
fraudulentrepresentations would influence the public and thedeliberations
of
Congress with regard to authorizationof a preventive war against Iraq,
thereby defeating,obstructing, impairing, and interfering with
Congress'lawful functions of overseeing foreign affairs andmaking
appropriations.17. The Early Months of the Bush-Cheney
Administration:Prior
to January of 2001, BUSH, CHENEY, andRUMSFELD each demonstrated a
predisposition toemploy U.S. military force to invade the Middle
East,including, specifically, to forcibly remove SaddamHussein.18. Since
1992, CHENEY has endorsed a "bold foreignpolicy" that includes using
military force to "punish"or "threaten to punish" possible aggressors in
order toprotect the United States's access to Persian Gulf oiland to halt
proliferation of weapons of massdestruction ("WMD"), a term that is
customarily usedto describe chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.19.
On
or about January 26, 1998, RUMSFELD and sevenother future BUSH-CHENEY
administrationappointees signed a letter sent by a conservativepolicy
institute named "Project for a New AmericanCentury" ("PNAC") to then
President WilliamClinton, which called for U.S. military action toforcibly
remove Saddam Hussein from power.20. In January 1999, BUSH named RICE and
her futureDeputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley("Hadley"), as
his
presidential-campaign foreign-policy advisers, along with future Deputy
Secretary ofDefense Paul Wolfowitz ("Wolfowitz") and fourothers who had
publicly advocated forcibly removingSaddam Hussein.21. On or before
September 2000, 12 future BUSH-CHENEY administration appointees,
includingWolfowitz, former Assistant to Vice PresidentCHENEY, I. Lewis
"Scooter" Libby, and Rumsfeld'slong-term aide Stephen Cambone,
participated
indrafting "Rebuilding America's Defenses," a PNACpolicy statement which
asserted that the "need for asubstantial American force presence in the
Gulftranscends the issue of the regime of SaddamHussein." PNAC
acknowledged
that its goals wouldtake a long time to achieve "absent some
catastrophicand
catalyzing event--like a new Pearl Harbor."22. Once BUSH became the
Republican candidate in the2000 presidential election campaign, he and
CHENEYinformed the general public that they would bereluctant to use
military force and did not believe thatthe United States should engage in
"nation-building."23. On and after January 20, 2001, BUSH and CHENEYcaused
to be appointed as senior foreign policyadvisors and consultants, at least
thirty-four personswho had publicly endorsed the PNAC principles ofUnited
States global preeminence and use of force to"punish" or "threaten to
punish" emerging threatsfrom weapons of mass destruction ("WMD")
orimpediments to United States access to oil in theMiddle East. Of those
appointees, eighteen had alsopublicly advocated forcibly removing
SaddamHussein.24. In late December 2000, BUSH and CHENEY advisedoutgoing
President William J. Clinton and others that,among potential foreign
policy
issues, BUSH'sprimary concern was Iraq.25. On February 11, 2001, BUSH
ordered the firstairstrikes since 1998 to be conducted outside of
theUnited
Nations ("UN") agreed-upon No-Fly zones, toget Saddam Hussein's
"attention."26. The Attacks of September 11, 2001. On September 11,2001,
nineteen men hijacked four commercialairplanes. They crashed two planes
into
the WorldTrade Towers in New York City and another into thePentagon in
Wa****ngton, DC. The fourth planecrashed in Pennsylvania. In total, nearly
3,000 peopledied as a result of the September 11, 2001,
attacks("9/11").27.
Shortly afterward, United States intelligence agenciesdetermined that 9/11
was the work of the terroristorganization al Qaeda, spearheaded by Osama
BinLaden. Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers were fromSaudi Arabia, two
from
Yemen, and two fromLebanon. This information, along with the
conclusionthat
no evidence linked the attacks to Saddam Husseinor al Qaeda, was
immediately
communicated toBUSH, CHENEY, RICE, RUMSFELD, POWELL,and others.28.
BUSH-CHENEY administration members begandiscussing an invasion of Iraq
immediately after 9/11.BUSH, RUMSFELD and others also assigned
varioussubordinates, including former counterterrorism czarRichard Clarke,
CIA Director George Tenet, andGeneral Richard Meyers to look for
intelligence thatcould justify attacking Saddam Hussein's regime.
Page 4
29. On September 17, 2001, BUSH secretly ordered theformulation of
preliminary plans for an invasion ofIraq, while admitting to his aides
that
no evidenceexisted to justify an attack.30. On or about September 18,
2001,
in response toBUSH's request, Clarke sent RICE a memo thatstated: (a) the
case for linking Hussein to 9/11 wasweak; (b) only anecdotal evidence
linked
Hussein toal Qaeda; (c) Osama Bin Laden resented thesecularism of Saddam
Hussein; and (d) there was noconfirmed re****ting of Saddam cooperating
with
BinLaden on unconventional weapons.31. On September 20, 2001, BUSH
informed
British PrimeMinister Tony Blair that after Afghanistan, the UnitedStates
and Britain should return to the issue ofinvading Iraq.32. U.S.
Intelligence
Community *****sments of Riskfrom Iraq in Effect on November 2001. On
occasion,Executive Branch officials request *****sments ofcurrent
intelligence on risks posed by WMD in agiven country. Although such
*****sments arecoordinated by the Central Intelligence Agency("CIA"), the
final product incor****ates the analyses,including dissenting opinions, of
the intelligencebranches of the Departments of State, Energy,Defense, the
National Security Agency, and others,which are collectively called the
IntelligenceCommunity ("IC").33. As of November 2001, the most recent
*****sment onIraq was a December 2000 classified IntelligenceCommunity
*****sment ("ICA") called "Iraq: SteadilyPursuing WMD Capabilities." This
ICA was acomprehensive update on possible Iraqi efforts torebuild WMD and
weapons delivery systems after the1998 departure of International Atomic
EnergyAgency ("IAEA") representatives and UN weaponsinspectors, who are
collectively referred to as theUnited Nations Special Commission
("UNSCOM").34. Regarding Iraq's possible nuclear program, theDecember 2000
NIE unanimously concluded that:(a) The IAEA and UNSCOM had destroyed or
neutralizedIraq's nuclear infrastructure, but Iraq still had afoundation
for
future nuclear reconstitution;(b) Iraq was continuing low-level
theoretical
researchand training, and attempting to obtain dual-use itemsthat cold be
used to reconstitute its nuclear program;(c) if Iraq acquired a
significant
quantity of fissilematerial through foreign assistance, it could have
acrude
nuclear weapon within a year; if Iraq receivedforeign assistance, it would
take five to seven years toproduce enough weapons-grade fissile material
for
anuclear weapon; and(d) Iraq did not appear to have reconstituted
itsnuclear
weapons program.35. Escalation of Military Activity and Planning
forInvasion
of Iraq. On November 21, 2001, BUSHsecretly ordered preparation of a
formal
war plan forinvading Iraq. Thereafter, for sixteen months, theBUSH-CHENEY
administration expended substantialU.S. government funds in military
activity andplanning for invasion of Iraq, all without notice to,
orapproval
by, the U.S. Congress.36. BUSH did not receive an extensive briefing
aboutpossible WMD in Iraq before ordering a war plan, nordid he discuss
the
legitimacy of grounds for war withanyone. BUSH received no such briefing
untilDecember 21, 2002.37. On or about November 27, 2001, RUMSFELD
askedGeneral "Tommy" Franks, head of Central Command,which supervises
Middle
East operations, toimmediately prepare an Iraq war plan in response
toBUSH's
order.38. Thereafter, Franks discussed numerous revised Iraqwar plans with
RUMSFELD. Between December2001 and August 2002, BUSH, CHENEY,
RICE,RUMSFELD,
POWELL, and others held at least fivelengthy meetings about Franks' plans.
In August,BUSH ordered Franks to prepare to invade Iraq usingthe "Hybrid
Plan," a combination of the "RunningStart" and "Generated Start" plans
developedpreviously.39. During 2002, the United States and Great
Britainincreased air strikes in order to degrade Iraqi airdefenses and
began
deploying troops to areas aroundIraq.40. On or about July 30, 2002,
without
approval by, ornotice to, Congress, BUSH caused the diversion of$700
million
from Afghanistan war funds into Iraqinvasion preparations.41. On September
5, 2002, without approval by, or noticeto, Congress, BUSH caused
approximately 100 UnitedStates and British aircraft to launch ballistic
missilesat Iraq's major western air-defense facility.42. By September 12,
2002, without approval by, or noticeto, Congress, BUSH had caused the
movement of40,000 military personnel and over 350,000 tons ofequipment to
areas around Iraq. Franks also orderedCentral Command to be moved to Al
Udeid Air Basenear Doha, Qatar.43. Behind-the-Scenes Strategizing with
British Officials:On or before March 2002, BUSH, RICE, Wolfowitz,and
others
secretly began discussing ways to persuadethe public and foreign allies to
accept Bush's goal ofinvading Iraq, with British Prime Minister Tony
Blair("Blair") and his advisers.44. On March 12, 2002, in Wa****ngton, DC,
RICE metwith Blair's Foreign Policy Adviser Sir David
Page 5
Manning and informed him of BUSH's problems withpersuading "international
opinion that military actionagainst Iraq was necessary and justified."45.
On
March 17, 2002, in Wa****ngton, DC, BritishAmbassador Sir Christopher Meyer
advisedWolfowitz that the two countries should "wrongfoot"Saddam Hussein
by
seeking a UN resolution thatwould require the readmission of weapons
inspectorswith the expectation that Saddam would create ajustification for
war by obstructing the inspections.46. On April 6, 2002, in Crawford,
Texas,
BUSH and Blairdiscussed strategies to sway public opinion
regardingmilitary
action in Iraq. Blair agreed to sup****t aUnited States invasion if the two
countries obtained aUN resolution first.47. In mid-July, 2002, in
Wa****ngton, DC, White Houseofficials discussed Iraq with visiting British
officials.Upon their return to London, these officials re****tedthe talks
to
Blair in a meeting at 10 Downing St. onJuly 23, 2002. Among other things,
Blair's adviserssuggested that he urge BUSH to devise a morerealistic
political strategy for attacking Iraq, because adesire for "regime change"
would not justify militaryaction under international law.48. In mid-July,
2002, in Wa****ngton, DC, CIA DirectorTenet and others talked about the
Bushadministration's intentions regarding Iraq with SirRichard Dearlove,
the
head of British Intelligence.49. On July 23, 2002, during the Downing St.
meetingdescribed above, Dearlove informed Blair that in theUnited States
"Military action was now seen asinevitable. BUSH wanted to remove Saddam,
throughmilitary action, justified by the conjunction ofterrorism and WMD.
But the intelligence and factswere being fixed around the policy."50. On
July 23, 2002, British Foreign Secretary Jack Strawalso noted that BUSH
had
"made up his mind to takemilitary action." Straw said he would urge
POWELLto
persuade BUSH to seek a UN resolution requiringSaddam Hussein to readmit
weapons inspectors, ineffect, suggesting the "wrongfooting" strategy
thatMeyer had described to Wolfowitz.51. Behind-the-Scenes Efforts to Fix
Intelligence Aroundthe Policy. Within weeks after learning from
Clarke,Tenet, and others that Iraq and Saddam Hussein hadno involvement
with
either 9/11 or al Qaeda,RUMSFELD caused Deputy Undersecretary forDefense
Douglas Feith ("Feith") to secretly create theCounter Terrorism Group
("CTEG"), a small unit ofpolitical appointees whose mission was to find
linksbetween Iraq and al Qaeda by reviewing rawintelligence that
previously
had been discarded asunreliable. CTEG re****ted weekly to
RUMSFELD'slong-term
associate Stephen Cambone, andoccasionally presented information directly
toWolfowitz, thereby cir***venting standard ICprocedures.52. At some time
in
2002, Feith also designated politicalappointees to work under his
supervision in thenewly-created Office of Special Plans, whose purposewas
to
develop and package information for use inmarketing the President's plan
for
an invasion of Iraq.In the fall of 2002, this group presented
informationdirectly to RUMSFELD, to RICE's office, and toCHENEY's office,
thereby cir***venting standard ICprocedures.53. In the spring of 2002,
CHENEY and his former aide, I.Lewis "Scooter" Libby, began visiting
CIAheadquarters to question CIA agents' *****smentsabout Iraq. RUMSFELD
and
Deputy NationalSecurity Adviser Hadley also repeatedly pressed CIADirector
Tenet and his subordinates to present astronger case against Iraq.54.
Bush's
Creation of the White House Iraq Group. By thesummer of 2002, domestic and
international sup****tfor BUSH's plan to invade Iraq was lukewarm. At
thesame
time, Bush's chief political strategist and SeniorAdviser Karl Rove and
Kenneth Mehlman, head of theWhite House Office of Strategic Initiatives,
werebeginning to coordinate the President's involvement inthe November 7,
2002, congressional election. Theiroverall goal was to gain Republican
majorities in bothhouses of Congress so that the President would havethe
greatest possible sup****t for his policies. Rove hadspecifically
recommended
that Republicans "focus onwar" as a way to win elections. Consequently, in
thesummer of 2002, BUSH's efforts to win sup****t for aninvasion of Iraq
and
his efforts to assist Republicancongressional candidates became
inextricablyintertwined.55. In the summer of 2002, BUSH caused the
creation
ofthe White House Iraq Group, which was cochaired byBUSH's long-term
political operatives Karl Rove andKaren Hughes, who remained BUSH's close
associateeven though she had resigned her position asCounselor to the
President. This team, also calledWHIG, was largely a political and
public-relationsentity that included RICE, Hadley, President's Chiefof
Staff
Andrew Card, President's legislative liaisonNicholas Calio, CHENEY's key
aide and veteranRepublican political strategist Mary Matalin,CHENEY's
senior
adviser Libby, and JamesWilkinson, another Republican campaign
consultant.56. On or about September 6, 2002, Rove and Cardpublicly
announced that: (a) the BUSH-CHENEYadministration was beginning to "roll
out" its case foran invasion of Iraq; (b) its public-relations campaignwas
specifically directed at forcing Congress to pass a
Page 6
resolution authorizing the President to use militaryforce in Iraq; (c)
BUSH
wanted the resolution passedin about five weeks, before the 2002 election;
and (d)in the end, it would be difficult for any legislator tovote against
it.57. The Defendants' Massive Fraud to "Market" aninvasion of Iraq. On or
about September 4, 2002,BUSH staged a photo op****tunity with a
bipartisangroup of congressional leaders, after which he falselyand
fraudulently announced that Iraq posed a seriousthreat to the safety of
the
United States and the world,while concealing from Congress and the
Americanpeople the material facts that: (a) he had no reasonablebasis
whatsoever for his assertion; (b) he had neverdiscussed the legitimacy of
the grounds for an attackagainst Iraq with anyone; (c) he had never
extensivelyreviewed existing intelligence regarding any possiblethreat
from
Iraq; (d) he had not requested an updatedintelligence *****sment on Iraq;
(e) the United Statesintelligence *****sment then in effect stated that
Iraqhad neither nuclear weapons nor a nuclear weaponsprogram; and (f) the
IC
had consistently re****ted thatIraq had no involvement in 9/11 and no
relation****pwith al Qaeda.58. On September 4, 2002, BUSH also falsely
andfraudulently claimed he was beginning an "opendialogue" with the
American
public, with Congress,and with United States allies to decide how to
respondto Iraq, while concealing the material facts that he: (a)had
requested a formal plan to invade Iraq nearly ayear before; (b) had been
conducting significantmilitary and nonmilitary planning and attacks
againstIraq for a year; (c) had directed significant militarydeployment to
areas around Iraq; (d) was planning amassive air assault against Iraq's
air
defense facilityfor the next day; and (e) intended to work with the UNonly
to create a justification to use military forceagainst Iraq.59.
Thereafter,
the defendants and WHIG executed acalculated and wide-ranging strategy to
deceiveCongress and the American people by makinghundreds of false and
fraudulent representations thatwere only half-true, or literally true but
misleading; byconcealing material facts; and by making statementswithout a
reasonable basis and with recklessindifference to their truth, regarding,
among otherthings:(a) their true intent to invade Iraq;(b) the extent of
military buildup and force usedagainst Iraq without notice to or approval
byCongress;(c) their true purpose in seeking a Congressionalresolution
authorizing the use of military force againstIraq;(d) their true intent to
use their involvement in seekinga UN resolution requiring Iraq to
cooperate
withweapons inspectors as a sham; and(e) their claimed justifications for
invading Iraq,including but not limited to:* The alleged connection
between
Saddam Husseinand the attacks of September 11, 2001;* The alleged
connection
between Iraq and al Qaeda;* The alleged connection between Saddam
Husseinand
any terrorists whose primary animus was directedtowards the United
States;*
Saddam Hussein's alleged intent to attack the UnitedStates in any way;.
Saddam Hussein's possession of nuclear weaponsand the status of any
alleged
ongoing nuclear weaponsprograms;* The lack of any reasonable basis for
asserting withcertainty that Saddam Hussein was activelymanufacturing
chemical and biological weapons; and*The alleged urgency of any threat
posed
to theUnited States by Saddam Hussein.60. Congressional Joint Resolution
to
Authorize Use ofForce Against Iraq. As a result of the defendants'
falseand
fraudulent "marketing" of the President's plan toinvade Iraq, on October
11,
2002, the U.S Congress,acting pursuant to its Article I constitutional
authorityto oversee and authorize use of military force, passeda
Congressional Joint Resolution to Authorize Use ofForce Against Iraq ["the
Resolution"] which stated:The President is authorized to use the Armed
Forces of theUnited States as he determines to be necessary andappropriate
in order to--(a) defend the national security of the United Statesagainst
the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and(b) enforce all relevant United
Nations SecurityCouncil resolutions regarding Iraq.61. The Resolution
required the President to, either beforeor within 48 hours after
exercising
the authority to useforce, make available to the Senate and the House
ofRepresentatives his determination that:(a) reliance by the United States
on further diplomatic orother peaceful means alone either (1) will
notadequately protect the national security of the UnitedStates against
the
continuing threat posed by Iraq or(2) is not likely to lead to enforcement
of all relevantUnited Nations Security Council resolutions regardingIraq;
and(b) acting pursuant to this resolution is consistent with theUnited
States and other countries continuing to takethe necessary actions against
international terroristsand terrorist organizations, including those
nations,organizations or persons who planned, authorized,committed or
aided
the terrorists attacks that occurredon September 11, 2001.
Page 7
62. The Resolution also required the President to, at leastevery 60 days,
present Congress a re****t on "mattersrelevant to this joint
resolution."63.
In furtherance of the above-described conspiracy, thedefendants and their
coconspirators committed andcaused to be committed the following overt
acts:Overt ActsA. On December 9, 2001, CHENEY announced on NBC'sMeet the
Press that "it was pretty well confirmed" thatlead 9/11 hijacker Mohamed
Atta had met the head ofIraqi intelligence in Prague in April 2001,
whichstatement was, as CHENEY well knew, made withoutreasonable basis and
with reckless disregard for thetruth, because it was based on a single
witness'suncorroborated allegation that had not been fullyinvestigated by
U.S. intelligence agencies.B. On July 15, 2002, POWELL stated on Ted
Koppel'sNightline: "What we have consistently said is that thePresident
has
no plan on his desk to invade Iraq at themoment, nor has one been
presented
to him, nor havehis advisors come together to put a plan to him,"which
statement was deliberately false and misleadingin that it deceitfully
implied the President was notplanning an invasion of Iraq when, as POWELL
wellknew, the President was close to finalizing detailedmilitary plans for
such an invasion that he had orderedmonths previously.C. On August 26,
2002,
CHENEY made numerous falseand fraudulent statements including: "Simply
statedthere is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now hasweapons of mass
destruction. There is no doubt thathe is amassing them to use against our
friends, againstour allies, and against us," when, as CHENEY wellknew,
this
statement was made without reasonablebasis and with reckless indifference
to
the truth in thatthe IC's then prevailing *****sment was that Iraq
hadneither nuclear weapons nor a reconstituted nuclearweapons program.D.
On
September 7, 2002, appearing publicly with Blair,BUSH claimed a recent
IAEA
re****t stated that Iraqwas "six months away from developing a
[nuclear]weapon" and "I don't know what more evidence weneed," which
statements were made without basis andwith reckless indifference to the
truth in that: (1) theIAEA had not even been present in Iraq since
1998;and
(2) the re****t the IAEA did write in 1998 hadconcluded there was no
indication that Iraq had thephysical capacity to produce weapons-usable
nuclearmaterial or that it had attempted to obtain suchmaterial.E. On
September 8, 2002, on Late Edition with WolfBlitzer, RICE asserted that
Saddam Hussein wasacquiring aluminum tubes that were "only suited"
fornuclear centrifuge use, which statement wasdeliberately false and
fraudulent, and made withreckless indifference to the truth in that it
omitted tostate the following material facts: (1) the U.S.intelligence
community was deeply divided about thelikely use of the tubes; (2) there
were at least fifteenintelligence re****ts written since April 2001 that
castdoubt on the tubes' possible nuclear-related use; and(3) the U.S.
Department of Energy nuclear weapon***perts had concluded, after analyzing
the tubes'sspecifications and the cir***stances of the Iraqis'attempts to
procure them, that the aluminum tubeswere not well suited for nuclear
centrifuge use andwere more likely intended for artillery
rocketproduction.F. On September 8, 2002, RUMSFELD stated on Face
theNation:
"Imagine a September 11th, with weapons ofmass destruction. It's not three
thousand, it's tens ofthousands of innocent men, women and children,"which
statement was deliberately fraudulent andmisleading in that it implied
without reasonable basisand in direct contradiction to then
prevailingintelligence that Saddam Hussein had no operationalrelation****p
with al Qaeda and was unlikely to provideweapons to terrorists.G. On
September 19, 2002, RUMSFELD told the SenateArmed Services Committee that
"no terrorist stateposes a greater or more immediate threat to thesecurity
of our people than the regime of SaddamHussein," which statement was, as
Rumsfeld wellknew, made without reasonable basis and withreckless
indifference to the truth in that: (1) Husseinhad not acted aggressively
toward the United Statessince his alleged attempt to assassinate
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush in 1993; (2) Iraq's military forcesand
equipment
were severely debilitated because ofUN sanctions imposed after the 1991
Gulf
War; (3)the IC's opinion was that Iraq's sponsor****p ofterrorists was
limited to ones whose hostility wasdirected toward Israel; and (4) Iran,
not
Iraq, was themost active state sponsor of terrorism.H. On October 1, 2002,
the defendants caused the IC'supdated classified National Intelligence
Estimate to bedelivered to Congress just hours before the beginningof
debate
on the Authorization to Use Military Force.At the same time, the
defendants
caused anunclassified "White Paper" to be published which wasfalse and
misleading in many respects in that it failedto include qualifying
language
and dissents thatsubstantially weakened their argument that Iraq poseda
serious threat to the United States.I. On October 7, 2002, in Cincinnati,
Ohio, BUSH madenumerous deliberately misleading statements to thenation,
including stating that in comparison to Iranand North Korea, Iraq posed a
uniquely serious threat,
Page 8
which statement BUSH well knew was false andfraudulent in that it omitted
to
state the material factthat a State Department representative had
beeninformed just three days previously that North Koreahad actually
already
produced nuclear weapons. Thedefendants continued to conceal this
information untilafter Congress passed the Authorization to UseMilitary
Force against Iraq.J. Between September 1, 2002, and November 2, 2002,BUSH
traveled the country making in excess of thirtycongressional-campaign
speeches in which he falselyand fraudulently asserted that Iraq was a
"seriousthreat" which required immediate action, when as hewell knew, this
assertion was made withoutreasonable basis and with reckless indifference
to
thetruth.K. In his January 28, 2003 State of the Union address,BUSH
announced that the "British have recentlylearned that Iraq was seeking
significant quantities ofuranium from Africa" which statement was
fraudulentand misleading and made with reckless disregard forthe truth, in
that it falsely implied that the informationwas true, when the CIA had
advised theadministration more than once that the allegation
wasunsup****ted
by available intelligence.L. In a February 5, 2003, speech to the UN,
POWELLfalsely implied, without reasonable basis and withreckless disregard
for the truth, that, among otherthings: (1) those who maintained that Iraq
waspurchasing aluminum tubes for rockets were alliedwith Saddam Hussein,
even though POWELL wellknew that both Department of Energy nuclearweapons
experts and State Department intelligenceanalysts had concluded that the
tubes were not suitedfor nuclear centrifuge use; and (2) Iraq had an
ongoingcooperative relation****p with al Qaeda, when he wellknew that no
intelligence agency had reached thatconclusion.M. On March 18, 2003, BUSH
sent a letter to the Speakerof the House of Representatives and the
President ProTem****e of the Senate which asserted that furtherreliance on
diplomatic and peaceful means alonewould not either: (1) adequately
protect
United Statesnational security against the "continuing threat posedby
Iraq"
or (2) likely lead to enforcement of allrelevant UN Security Council
resolutions regardingIraq, which statement was made without
reasonablebasis
and with reckless indifference to the truth inthat, as BUSH well knew, the
U.S. intelligencecommunity had never re****ted that Iraq posed anurgent
threat to the United States and there was noevidence whatsoever to prove
that Iraq had either themeans or intent to attack the U.S. directly
orindirectly. The statement was also false because, asBUSH well knew, the
UN
weapons inspectors had notfound any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
andwanted to continue the inspection process because itwas working well.N.
In the same March 18, 2003 letter, BUSH alsorepresented that taking action
pursuant to theResolution was "consistent with continuing to take
thenecessary actions against international terrorists andterrorist
organizations, including those nations,organizations or persons who
planned,
authorized,committed, or aided the terrorists attacks that occurredon
September 11, 2001," which statement was entirelyfalse and without
reasonable basis in that, as BUSHwell knew, Iraq had no involvement with
al
Qaeda orthe terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.All in violation of
Title 18, United States Code, Section371.A TRUE BILL[Note: This is not an
actual indictment]Assistant United States Attorney: Ladies and Gentlemen,
we're going tospend the afternoon discussing the law that applies to your
considerationof the indictment...The full discussion is omitted in this
excerpt, but, in brief, this is thelegal question you will be deciding:Is
there probable cause to believe that the defendants used deceit,
craft,trickery, dishonest means -- including lies, false
pretenses,misrepresentations, deliberate omissions, half-truths, false
promises, andstatements made with reckless indifference to their truth --
to
obstruct,impede, or interfere with Congress' lawful government function
ofoverseeing foreign affairs, relating to the invasion of Iraq?We'll see
you
all tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Our witness tomorrow will bean FBI agent. She's
from Boston, but we should be able to get bywithout a translator.Have a
good
evening.END OF DAY ONE[Coming Thursday: Part 3 of United States v. George
W.
Bush atTomdispatch.com - The Grand Jury Testimony]Elizabeth de la Vega is
a
former federal prosecutor with more than 20years of experience. During her
tenure, she was a member of theOrganized Crime Strike Force and Chief of
the
San Jose Branch of theU.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of
California.
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