Niger Uranium Documents Forged In U.S., Says Fomer Counterterrorism Chief

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21704/
From Alternet: A former counterterrorism chief claims that the now discredited documents that showed Iraq trying to purchase uranium were fabricated right here in the United States.

Who Forged the Niger Documents?
By Ian Masters, AlterNet
Posted on April 7, 2005, Printed on April 8, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/21704/

Editor’s Note: This is an edited transcript of an interview conducted by Ian Masters with Vincent Cannistaro, the former CIA head of counterterrorism operations and intelligence director at the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan, which aired on the Los Angeles public radio KPFK on April 3, 2005.

- snip -

VINCENT CANNISTARO: The documents were fabricated by supporters of the policy in the United States. The policy being that you had to invade Iraq in order to get rid of Saddam Hussein, and you had to do it soon to avoid the catastrophe that would be produced by Saddam Hussein’s use of alleged weapons of mass destruction.

IAN MASTERS: Well, Ambassador Wilson publicly refuted the claims — particularly the 16 words in the President’s State of the Union address that the Iraqis were trying to buy significant quantities of uranium from Niger. That document, I understand, was fabricated ... it originally came out of Italian intelligence, I think SISME, or SISDE—I’m not sure which one.

It was SISME, yeah. ...

uring the two-thousands when we’re talking about acquiring information on Iraq. It isn’t that anyone had a good source on Iraq—there weren’t any good sources. The Italian intelligence service, the military intelligence service, was acquiring information that was really being hand-fed to them by very dubious sources. The Niger documents, for example, which apparently were produced in the United States, yet were funneled through the Italians.

Do we know who produced those documents? Because there’s some suspicion ...

I think I do, but I’d rather not speak about it right now, because I don’t think it’s a proven case ...

If I said “Michael Ledeen” ?

You’d be very close . . .

- snip -

MUCH MORE AT LINK

[Stephanie]

1. Whoa!

Was Ledeen at OSP?

[starroute]

8. Ledeen's involvement was discussed here last summer

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2128960

This was a long juicy thread on the Italian role in the dissemination of the forged documents that went extensively into Ledeen's connections with Italian military intelligence and his neo-fascist philosophy. It's well worth revisiting.

[montanacowboy]

2. Funny how so many forged documents

come from the US and particularly Repukes - mmmm forged Niger documents, forged AWOL documents, forged Terry Schiavo memo

do they have a little forged document machine hidden somewhere on capitol hill?

how disgusting - and what kind of coverage will the MSM give this?

[Hissyspit]

3. This interview was on April 3rd, and haven't heard much since then, so...

probably not much

[papau]

4. MSM reporters know of Langley Studios & CIA forgery factory - and never

say anything.

A CIA familiar person, saying that certain items are obviously coming out of Langley, will be countered by the fact that the CIA "will not confirm" and indeed the CIA will arrange interviews with civilian and foreign experts that will suggest that at the least it is "not proven" - and that to discuss a not proven item would be Un-American.

Overseas media will report on the controversy.

US media - a free press not controlled by the Right Wing GOP, they just act that way - will bury such stories. The children of the "bravest greatest generation" are not all that brave when it comes to losing part of the next pay increase.

[Ironpost]

10. Yea, they have a forged document machine

better known as karl "slime ball" rove.

[leesa]

17. So many from Texas. Is this what Bush does on all his vacations?

[seabeyond]

5. cheney had his own govt set up, sto keep bush seperate

cheney created the documentation he needed to give to george to go to war. powell and tenet says, oh ok this is why we need to go to war

cheney created the documents he wanted.

we know all this

[welshTerrier2]

6. Michael Ledeen ... pushing bush for more war ...

check out the article below written by Ledeen last month ... this guy does not believe in diplomacy ... he does not believe in "deep thinking" on foreign policy ... and he believes that the "ends justify the means" (i.e. it doesn't matter how you act in the world; it only matters if you "win") ... with views like that, it's not at all hard to believe that he forged the Niger document ... the guy helped push us into a war that's cost more than a hundred thousand lives, hundreds of billions of dollars, and the loss of US prestige and credibility ... he lied; soldiers died ... he was just doing "whatever was necessary" to justify invading Iraq ... and now he's pushing for military action in Iran, Syria and Lebanon ...

source: http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen200503170753.asp

All that may well be true, but even so, it (i.e. diplomacy) is the wrong thing to do. First of all, it enables the terrorists and their masters to buy time, and this is a moment of enormous risk for them. Every day they remain in power encourages them, and discourages the forces of freedom in their countries. When the people of Shiraz ask President Bush "why don’t you act?" they are reflecting this reality. Carpe Diem, Mister President.

But above all, the clever stratagem adopted by the administration ignores Machiavelli’s greatest lesson: Leadership is all about winning and losing, not about elegance and deep thinking. If we win the Europeans and lose the Middle East, we will have lost. But if we win the Middle East, the Europeans will hail us, as we see from their grudging tributes to Bush’s successful liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq. "If you are victorious," Machiavelli says in his uncompromising way, "people will always judge the means you used to have been appropriate."

Syria and Iran are tottering, and if they fall, the terror network will break into relatively impotent shards that we will be able to destroy. Forget about diplomacy, this is war. Every day we hear about plans to attack the United States directly, and every day more Americans die in Iraq. Is it not too clever by half to resort to cunning diplomacy at such a time? Is it not immoral to leave American fighting men and women in harm’s way an hour longer than is absolutely necessary?

The fires of freedom are burning all over Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. Don't stand back and admire the flames. Push the dictators in, and then cheer as free societies emerge.

Faster, confound it.

[Cocoa]

9. my favorite psycho neocon quote is Ledeen's

This little gem came in Apr 2002, just a few months before Rove rolled out the product...

http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg042302.asp

WHY IRAQ?

So how does all this, or the humble attempt at a history lesson of my last column, justify tearing down the Baghdad regime? Well, I've long been an admirer of, if not a full-fledged subscriber to, what I call the "Ledeen Doctrine." I'm not sure my friend Michael Ledeen will thank me for ascribing authorship to him and he may have only been semi-serious when he crafted it, but here is the bedrock tenet of the Ledeen Doctrine in more or less his own words: "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business." That's at least how I remember Michael phrasing it at a speech at the American Enterprise Institute about a decade ago (Ledeen is one of the most entertaining public speakers I've ever heard, by the way).

[Al-CIAda]

7. kick!

[Zhade]

11. BIG KICK

KICK

[welshTerrier2]

12. hey !!! someone nominate this thread please ...

this could be the smoking gun we've been waiting for ... bush and his little commission have convinced Americans he was given bad intelligence by the CIA ... the truth is, he was indeed given bad intelligence ... but it was done on purpose ...

[Disturbed]

13. The Intell to convince Congress and the Amerikan people was

demanded by shrub and it was provided by The Office of Special Plans. Powell delivered the manure to the UN and the Bush Junta lied and lied to the World about Iraq. Do most of the Amerikan people care?

[Hissyspit]

14. kick: Moderators, please combine with thread that is on front page

[Karenina]

15. Kick!

:kick:

[Al-CIAda]

16. kick

[leesa]

18. So where's the useless LA Times? Not interested in treason?