Armitage defends US intelligence

[Judi Lynn]

2004/02/02

Armitage defends US intelligence


12:57:26 È.Ù
Tokyo, Feb 2 - Visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Monday defended the apparent failure of US intelligence over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, saying it was not an exact science.

Armitage told reporters there was room for much improvement in the intelligence gathering of other countries as well as the United States as they had all concluded Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, although weapons inspectors have yet to turn up any.

"Intelligence is a general matter, it's not an exact science," Armitage said when asked how Washington would improve intelligence gathering after former chief weapons hunter David Kay admitted the US intelligence community erred in concluding that Iraq h ad weapons of mass destruction.

"It's not quite an art, it's not quite a science," Armitage, who is in Tokyo to attend regular strategic security talks with Japan, told the Japan national press club, arguing intelligence was something "in between."
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http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=197695

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Armitage data dump:

(snip) Armitage, who was denied a 1989 appointment as Assistant Secretary of State because of links to Iran-Contra and other scandals, served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan years. U.S. Government stipulations in the Oliver North trial specifically named Armitage as one of the DoD officials responsible for illegal transfers of weapons to Iran and the Contras. But Armitage's dirty past goes much deeper.

A Vietnam veteran and graduate of Annapolis, Armitage's roots have been thoroughly intertwined with the likes of CIA veteran Ted Shackley, Richard Secord, Heine Aderholt, Elliot Abrams, Dewey Clarridge, Edwin Wilson and Tom Clines. All of these men have been directly linked to CIA covert operations, the drug trade, the abandonment of U.S. prisoners of War after Vietnam and/or Iran-Contra. Armitage has also been routinely discussed in FTW as a Bush-era covert functionary who has been linked to covert operations, drug smuggling and the expansion of organized crime operations in Russia, Central Asia and the Far East.

In 1986 a private dispute between POW activist Ross Perot and Armitage went public as photos of Armitage with a topless Vietnamese nightclub owner Nguyen O'Rourke brought allegations of gambling and prostitution close to Armitage's doorstep. The stories went public when TIME and "The Boston Globe" wrote lengthy stories on the feud in 1986 and 1987. That scandal arose as a result of 1984 investigations by President Reagan's Commission on Organized Crime in which the photo and documentation of gambling charges and prostitution led to direct Armitage's close association with O'Rourke. Then LAPD Assistant Chief Jesse Brewer, a former Commanding Officer of this writer, served on the Reagan Commission.

The 1992 best-seller "Kiss The Boys Goodbye" by former "60 MINUTES" producer Monika Jensen-Stevenson details Armitage's role as Reagan point man on Vietnam POW-MIA issues and describes why Armitage has earned the enmity of many POW activists. However, in a 1995 interview with "The Washington Post", Colin Powell referred to Armitage as his "white son." This, notwithstanding the fact that the 6 foot, balding, power-lifter, now 56, can still bench press 300 or more pounds and reportedly "enjoys killing."
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http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/politics/armitage_SS.html

[izzie]

1. I think we have these type men in all fields.

This type job would be like the bear and honey. Do we believe them? Well a little.I am sure congress does not even know what these people are doing. It is like they now have a life of their own. I used to think we should get rid of the CIA but then who would we write about? Where would all the self important men go to work? I am also of the mind that no President would think to get rid of them as they may have more power than the President, as they know every thing we are not to know about these men. Just to let it go wild think like this. Why did Bush not take any more Doctors test while in the guard so he could keep flying? What was he up to and doing on trips to Mexico? I am willing to bet the CIA Knows.I am willing to bet they know a lot about all powerful men.

[Snappy]

2. CIA

So the CIA is just gonna brush this off and take the hit?

[0007]

3. Wow!! Armitage, indeed cuts the CIA slack by introducing

a fudge factor. "Intelligence isn't an exact science" -

Perhaps it is time to find persons with an attitude toward life, limb and proerty to a more exact science.