Why are the Bushies fessing up to the Niger issue

[Az]

It makes little sense. Do they think it can't harm them? Why not circle the SUVs and shut down any source of info? What is the game here?

[whathappened]

1. time goes by

this is damage control , they know the sheep will forget all of this by 2004

[TheBigGuy]

2. yeah, I think so too.

I think folks knew this WMD was a big excuse anyway...so...no biggy...

[59millionmorons]

25. Oh this was timed

This was deliberatly put out while Bush was out of the country.

[neuvocat]

3. They're not the brightest bunch in the world.

They're ruthless and they often make up for their ignorance that way.

Instinct and intellect however are still preferable to intimidation and treachery.

[Cocoa]

4. maybe that Wilkinson guy?

or some other incontrovertible proof that they know is coming out?

You're right, it's kind of unprecedented behavior for them.

[blm]

34. Bingo!

.

[mainer]

5. Maybe they think nobody cares

And in truth, I'm sad to say, most of the country doesn't care. Most of the country is either too uninterested or uninformed to care. Most of the country either 1) thinks Iraqis were on the 9/11 jets or 2)thinks WMD's have been found or 3)thinks Bush is GOD.

I'm sorry. I am getting so disgusted with my fellow Americans these days.

[SayitAintSo]

20. Most of the country is too worried about the economy and their jobs

And their families future. Maybe that's the strategy - In our great hierarchy of needs ....when we are fearful, jobless, with dwinding future and opportunities, we worry less about the candor and integrity of our leaders? Could that be the strategy?

[killbotfactory]

6. It's one of their most indefensible claims..

So they're fessing up before their obfuscation gets them in deeper trouble.

[bowens43]

7. They didn't fess up.

They are claiming that they were given bogus information. That's not fessing up. Fessing up would be ADMITTING that bush knew it was bogus BEFORE he gave the State of the Union speech. They're not doing that. They're just assigning blame.

[baby_bear]

8. passing the buck, as it were

No bucks stop in the Oval Office in this misadministration.

s_m

[SEAburb]

9. they are just putting their bs spin on it and defining the debate

According to the Bushies, Bush didn't know it was bogus at the time of SOTJ. Isn't this the same defense Reagan used for Iran-Contra.

[chookie]

19. "We were fed bad evidence -- yeah yeah, that's the ticket!"

This is going to be a teensy bit tough, because a number of people have come forth and stated that up to 10 months ago the Bushistas knew that this evidence was bogus.

It was the one bit of bullshit that was even too stinky for Colin Powell to use in his speech to the UN.

It is clear -- the Bush administration was selective about the intelligence they selected to use -- and they only accepted that which backed up their plans to go to war.

Anyone who was following this story knew that with every report of evidence that was being put forth, intelligence analysts around the globe were loudly objecting that it was not strong intelligence -- therefore, the knowledge that it was bad intelligence existed all over the place. Clearly, there was a decision at some level to ignore the warnings that the evidence they were citing was questionable. What are we going to hear next -- that smirky the chimp really is so fucking stupid and messianically absolute that he believed the monolithic intelligence reports he was being hand fed, and believed that there was no possibility that it could selective, and never expressed any skepticism or insistance on proof?

Funny -- when they had excellent intelligence that a group of terrorists were going to strike against prominent targets of American and Jewish significance in the US, quite possibly using airplanes -- they were selective about ignoring it.

Imcompetent? Or is everything going exactly according to plan?

[Pepperbelly]

10. check out my thread on Tit in the wringer ...

They admit this because they hope to conceal an even bigger problem.

[BeachBuckeye]

44. This is it in a nutshell

I completely agree.

[PDittie]

11. Because Bush responded to this e-mail:

Dear Mister Gaorge Bush:

Please keep this in the strictest confidense. You do not know me, but my name is Umbuto Johnson, and I am the grandson of Ashtari P. Johnson, in charge of the nuclear programme of the African country of Niger.

For severale years, my grandfather had been secretly selling radoactiv materiels to the little known country of Iraqe. He was given the sum of twenty million dollars by Saddem Hussan, of Iraqe, for this materiels. When my grandfather was discovered, two years ago, he was shot by the government. The money from those sales however remained hidden to all.

Before he was caoght, my grandfather shared with me his secret, and gave me instructions on how to move the moneys out of the country. In order to do this, I need the help of a trustworthy American friend and this is why I am seeking to write to you today.

In order to recieve the moneys I must pay a fee bribe of twenty thousand American dollars. I do not have this moneys. If you can send to me these moneys, I will split my grandfathers moneys with you.

Please tell nobody of this message, for I fear I will be in grave danger if it is known. I am relying on you, George Bush, to keep my secret. Respond to me and I will tell you how to send the moneys to me.

Your frend,
Umbuto Johnson

[sendero]

24. great parody...

... of the Nigerian scam letters I get almost every week. And yes, how stupid would a person have to be to believe them?

(Apparently a person who works where my wife works was, and lost thousands of dollars. A fool and her money :))

[rppper]

35. BAAAAAA HAAAAAAA HAAAAAAA HAAAAAA

oh gawd stop....i just spit coffee through my nostrils.....

Umbuto Johnson....who was this nigerian mystery man who gave our beloved president bad information...next on the o'reilly factor....

[CWebster]

12. They may be tossing out a bone

to test the waters at a time when they are trying to depict Bush as a statesman doing good and voicing compassionate regrets about past slavery. On the other hand, it could all be slipping.

Something I noticed earlier tonight while channel surfing, A&E had one of their crime programs on and it was about Karla Faye Tucker. It didn't particularly paint Bush's participation in a flattering light under the circumstances. Odd that they would air it.

[chookie]

30. Good call

You're right -- they know now, have known for weeks, that they have been caught with fabricated evidence. The "Republican Guard" has been carpet-bombing the airwaves and Op Eds with the notion "Saddam himself was a weapon of mass destruction" and congratulating the USA for the humanitarian gesture of rescuing an opressed people.

The Goree Island photo op was to serve the same purpose as the one at Auschwitz -- to show the effects of "unstopped evil doers" and thus present Bush as a heroic crusader ushering in a Christian Utopia By The Sword.

Thus -- he is appealing to the innate decency of ignorant American swing voters who don't know enough about history or current events to know that Bush is actually one of the "evil doers" he loves to sermonize about -- and to attempt to woo African Americans that he hasn't been able to woo with the Good Negro examples of Condi Rice, Colin Powell, and Clarence Thomas, and Jewish voters. Presumably, the ballot in Palm Beach County will be re-designed this time so that a vote for Dean/Kerry/Kucinich/Lieberman/Gephardt/Sharpton/MoselyBrown will register as a vote for Bush.

African Americans are far too smart to fall for this shit, and already hate Bush in such numbers already that this is a lost cause. But more and more we are getting carpet bombed with Likkud infallibility, and the characterization of Palestinians as murderous terrorists just like Mohammed Atta that perhaps some Jewish Americans will fall for it. (Not any of *my* Jewish friends though!! They see right through this bastard, and through Sharon as well.)

[RapidCreek]

41. George Bush on race relations

"Some of my best friends are African Americans!"

RC

[plurality]

13. so they can say it was an honest mistake

instead of a deliberate lie. they can now say that suggesting the lie is now hitting below the belt. Like when it came out that Bush had been briefed before 9/11 about terrorist attacks he squelched investigation calls by saying people who wanted them were saying Bush LIHOPed.

[proud patriot]

14. I think I said it in one of my first posts on DU

Their arrogance will ultimately bring them down .

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. Saying they were factually errors is NOT admitting they were lying

They are trying to mitigate the event because Bush used tis info in speeches even after it was debunked and this IS an impeachable offense.

CIA officer: Bush ignored warnings
By Jonathan S. Landay
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON - Making his case for war with Iraq, President Bush in his State of the Union address this year accused Saddam Hussein of trying to buy uranium from Africa, even though the CIA had warned White House and other officials that the story did not check out.

A senior CIA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the intelligence agency informed the White House on March 9, 2002 -- 10 months before Bush's nationally televised speech -- that an agency source who had traveled to Niger could not confirm European intelligence reports that Iraq was attempting to buy uranium from the West African country.

Despite the CIA's misgivings, Bush said in his State of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium in Africa."

Three senior administration officials said Vice President Dick Cheney and some officials on the National Security Council staff and at the Pentagon ignored the CIA's reservations and argued that the president and others should include the allegation in their case against Saddam.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/6079211.htm


Missing Weapons Of Mass Destruction:
Is Lying About The Reason For War An Impeachable Offense?
By JOHN W. DEAN
----
Friday, Jun. 06, 2003

President George W. Bush has got a very serious problem. Before asking Congress for a Joint Resolution authorizing the use of American military forces in Iraq, he made a number of unequivocal statements about the reason the United States needed to pursue the most radical actions any nation can undertake - acts of war against another nation.

Now it is clear that many of his statements appear to be false. In the past, Bush's White House has been very good at sweeping ugly issues like this under the carpet, and out of sight. But it is not clear that they will be able to make the question of what happened to Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) go away - unless, perhaps, they start another war.

That seems unlikely. Until the questions surrounding the Iraqi war are answered, Congress and the public may strongly resist more of President Bush's warmaking.

Presidential statements, particularly on matters of national security, are held to an expectation of the highest standard of truthfulness. A president cannot stretch, twist or distort facts and get away with it. President Lyndon Johnson's distortions of the truth about Vietnam forced him to stand down from reelection. President Richard Nixon's false statements about Watergate forced his resignation.

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030606.html

[Pepperbelly]

18. Teena ...

check out this link that Eloriel posted on another thread:



http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_2518.shtml

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

29. Right this is the line I am referring to

"The International Atomic Energy Agency told the United Nations in March that the information about uranium was based on forged documents."

Bush reiterated the claim in a speech in April. It is in the archives at old DU. SO while we knew even back then the claim was bogus as were other claims about Iraq, they continued to pursue this lie and commit us to billions ( committed in closed door security meetings to their donors and to companies from which 9 of the members of the Defense Policy Board sprung.)

This ALSO BEGS the question as to why Senators such as Dianne Feinstein ( who is my senator) voted FOR the resolution following the closed door intelligence breifing they received last year. She ( as a member of the Senate Intelligence committe) MET with Baradi and had all of this info PRIOR to THAT VOTE!!!

[asjr]

16. Niger

They are trying to head us off at the pass. I don't think it will work.

[CatWoman]

17. from today's Joe Conason's Journal

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2003/07/08/hangout/?ref=null

July 8, 2003 | Fleischer's modified limited hangout
Even in the Bush White House, the truth will seep out -- but only when the preferred lie can no longer be sustained. From last March, when the International Atomic Energy Agency exposed documents supposedly proving Iraq's attempt to acquire uranium from Niger as "crude" forgeries, until yesterday, the White House resolutely ignored the growing evidence that the president had misled the public about this crucial issue.

Perhaps when he first mentioned the alleged attempted uranium purchase in his State of the Union address, that was an honest if inexcusable error; since then, no such excuse has been plausible. And over the past few days, two things happened that forced a strangled confession from the White House press office.


On July 6, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV revealed in a New York Times Op-Ed essay that he is the previously "unnamed" envoy dispatched to Niger last year by the CIA -- and that he reported upon his return in February 2002, nearly a year before Bush's State of the Union speech, that the uranium story was false. "Based on my experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat," wrote the respected career diplomat.

Almost immediately following Wilson's devastating account came the release of the investigative report of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, which cast additional doubt on the British government's promotion of the Niger uranium story last September (and much more).


Yet as of early yesterday morning, Ari Fleischer was still attempting to "contain" the embarrassing truth. "There is zero, nada, nothing new here," he told Times reporter David Sanger. In his blandly deceptive way, Fleischer claimed that "we've long acknowledged" that the Niger uranium tale "did, indeed, turn out to be incorrect." He went on say, "We see nothing that would dissuade us from the president's broader statement." Hours later, after the president and his entourage had left Washington for Africa, the White House issued " a statement in Mr. Fleischer's name that made clear that they no longer stood behind Mr. Bush's statement."

Around the same time, Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus received a similar statement from a "senior Bush administration official." As "authorized" by the White House, it said: "Knowing all that we know now, the reference to Iraq's attempt to acquire uranium from Africa should not have been included in the State of the Union speech."

"Knowing all that we now know"? What about the facts they knew last spring, long before Bush, Cheney and Rice uttered all their frightening, baseless statements about the Iraqi nuclear threat? What about the facts they've known since no later than the eve of the war, when the IAEA informed them that the Niger documents were fake?

Yesterday's feeble admissions constitute what an earlier White House used to call a "modified limited hangout." The Bush crowd, improving on what they learned from the Nixon gang, has consistently excelled at lowering expectations of all kinds -- and this occasion is no different. Now even the briefest, most grudging and partial acknowledgment of an obvious fact qualifies as extraordinary candor.

[StClone]

21. It's a bold new tactic, err gimmick

They know they are guilty as sin. The use of fessing up in the belief that Bush has people to blame for the gross abuse of discredited or unreliable sources. He is the CEO with in-house "experts" held at arms length that will always be the fall guys & gals. I suspect they have supreme confidence in this if you look at O'Neil's departure.

There is also psychology at play. A contrite mea culpa may lessen later critical findings. He lied and they knew it. Nixon-esque in my opinion.

Freepers often call us useful idiots. Well my guess is they buy this crapola... useful dupes?

[BeatleBoot]

22. Because....

They know its a huge story that's percolating (see last Sunday's Meet The Press) and they want to get it out now rather than try to cover it up...

It's the coverup that will bring you down (see Nixon and Watergate).

Plus it coincides with the Resident being out of the country in Africa. Rove, et al, planned this news release to coincide with the Africa visit in order to distract the newsflow and try to steal headlines away from the scandal. Sounds like I'm a conspiracy dope, but it ain't too far from reality, really.

I think that this scandal is the real thing folks. And its going to grow.

But, its just all my opinion...

[Imalittleteapot]

23. Because they are caught! n/t

?

[DoYouEverWonder]

26. Gee Karl,

Is it time to defrost Osama or Saddam yet?

[LibertyorDeath]

27. It is a lynch pin in their house of lies & deception. The people who put

this team of fascist fucks in power can just as easily turn & eat their own if Shrub & Co start becoming to much of a liability. Which
is what is starting to happen. If the media is in any way a barometer of public opinion, then the tide has started to turn on the worst
administration in all of American history.

Rove is starting to sweat as the wheels start coming of the train.

The gig is almost up.

[bermudat]

28. Bush will wiggle out of this like he dodges everything else.

I wish I could be as optimistic as everyone else on this board that this is the smoking gun. Like Reagan (is he dead yet?) Bush is the teflon president. He could cut the throat of a young boy and sodomize him during the Super Bowl halftime and still would get a free ride. His agreement with the devil covers him.

[LibertyorDeath]

32. The shrub is not the teflon pres, he is the idiot son of an asshole &

the Rove spin machine can only counteract so much bad
press, & it's building by the hour & day, the amount of negative press the shrub & his psychotic band of greed monkeys is getting is snowballing while I type this. Rove is not God or Gerbills he is
a hired thug for the shrub spin machine a Parasite on American Democracy. These Weasels are goin down.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=127&ncid=742&e=14&u=/030630/7/4jscz.html

[alcuno]

37. Welcome to DU, bermudat

The teflon you are refering to is control of all branches of government and the media. However, the American people, while slow to rile, are not complete morons. My prediction: If things aren't under control in Iraq by the end of the summer, it's going to be a very hot September.

[newyawker99]

43. Hi bermudat!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Beetwasher]

31. Simple: They don't have a choice

The NYT OP Ed forced their hand and they had to comment on it and they're spinning it the best way they can, which is terribly. There's no way to spin it. Once again, I find myself believing they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar, and once again, I won't be surprised if they skate...We'll see, I'm keeping my fingers crossed this time for several reasons: their distraction of Liberia, doesn't have as much teeth, hopefully, the press is fed up, and people are a bit fatigued I think from the nonsense, finally...It might all be catching up, we'll see...

[Virginian]

33. NYTimes printed this by the "unnamed source" himself.

This report was given to the administration a good 10 months before the SOTU speech. March 2002!

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/opinion/06WILS.html

"What I Didn't Find in Africa"

July 6, 2003
By JOSEPH C. WILSON 4th

WASHINGTON

Did the Bush administration manipulate intelligence about
Saddam Hussein's weapons programs to justify an invasion of
Iraq?

Based on my experience with the administration in the
months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to
conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's
nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi
threat.

<snip>
Those news stories about that unnamed former envoy who went
to Niger? That's me.

In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the
Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick
Cheney's office had questions about a particular
intelligence report. While I never saw the report, I was
told that it referred to a memorandum of agreement that
documented the sale of uranium yellowcake - a form of
lightly processed ore - by Niger to Iraq in the late
1990's. The agency officials asked if I would travel to
Niger to check out the story so they could provide a
response to the vice president's office.

<snip>
The next morning, I met with Ambassador Owens-Kirkpatrick
at the embassy. For reasons that are understandable, the
embassy staff has always kept a close eye on Niger's
uranium business. I was not surprised, then, when the
ambassador told me that she knew about the allegations of
uranium sales to Iraq - and that she felt she had already
debunked them in her reports to Washington. Nevertheless,
she and I agreed that my time would be best spent
interviewing people who had been in government when the
deal supposedly took place, which was before her arrival.

I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and
meeting with dozens of people: current government
officials, former government officials, people associated
with the country's uranium business. It did not take long
to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such
transaction had ever taken place.

<There's more>

[LibertyorDeath]

36. Why am i so happy today... could it be this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=11286&mesg_id=11286&page=

[Dover]

38. Are the Dems concerned that Bushco will draw their criticism and then

miraculously "find" the WMD? It still wouldn't excuse their lies, but it would drown out a lot of the Dems fire and perhaps leave them looking like the bad guys for doubting Bush's reasons. It's the only sane reason I can imagine, though it wouldn't explain the general impotence of the Dem leadership for over two years...or more.

[kentuck]

39. Excellent question!

We must first understand that these folks are masterful psychological manipulators. Why indeed?

They might say, "when we're wrong, we admit we're wrong, but we're not going to give up all executive privilege in some partisan witch hunt..."

They might think by throwing a small bones to the dogs, it may satisfy their appetite for getting the truth and they might back off. It makes one think there is plenty to hide.

[linazelle]

40. It Drowns Out the 911 Issue

Both are damning and this story is drowning out the serious allegations by the commission that several agencies won't release info. WMD is one of two very important issues which we must keep track of. If the voting blackbox issues come out, that's three. Too much info and everybody either loses interest or is simply confused.

[opihimoimoi]

42. Its called limit the damage.

Arrogance is included. They feel the sheep out there will forget/forgive

then they will find some low level guy to take the sword.

That is all

[robbedvoter]

45. Fessing up? What did I miss? They are still covering for *

Capitol Blue changed the title - "Bush Lied" became "White House was wrong". Even BBC avoids bush - it's "The White House" that was told, not bush. From South Africa the Chimp dodged the question - not masterfully, but definitely dodged it. Where's the confession here? Where's the "I'm sorry for deliberately lying to the American people to get my way? The war lie was used exactly twice yesterday - watch it get whitewashed.
During summer, Karl is on vacation. This is last summer's Harken. A new product will be launced in September and there'll be no more talk of this.