"this would seem more of a smoking gun than possibly even forged memos"

[understandinglife]

I urge all of you to read the following post by Jane Hamsher at firedoglake and spread this one to any Congressperson or media person whom you can:

That leaves the high-level surveillance tape, compared at the time to "something out of Beckett."

Yet in February 2003, when the U.N. presentation occurred, the local Pacifica affiliate contained an interview with a correspondent in Baqhdad, non-embedded, who watched the live broadcast of Powell's speech with a room full of Republican Guards. When the tape of the intercepted phone conversation was played, widespread laughter erupted in the room. The accents employed by the alleged Iraqi officers were so geographically inappropriate -- attributed by the actual Guards as either Saudi or Jordanian -- that the immediate effect was comical. I don't recall the reporter and can't identify him now. But with all the other pretexts for war now being identified as ill-considered at best and fraudulent at worst, this experiment is easily reproduced: Play the tape for a selection of Iraqi sources and have them identify where the speakers are from. If the result is as described, this would seem more of a smoking gun than possibly even forged memos: Somebody recorded fake audiotapes and couldn't even be bothered to cast the right nationalities -- or else couldn't tell the difference.

The clip itself is here(http://www.state.gov/p/nea/disarm), it's the third clip, labeled "Modified Vehicle." If anyone knows someone out there with a knowledge of Iraqi dialects who isn't presently in some CIA black ops prison camp and could review the tape, we'd certainly love to hear about it.

From Colin Powell, Still 1 for 6 by Jane Hamsher on November 9, 2005

Link:
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2005/11/colin-powell-still-1-for-6.html

And, do think of any way you might be able to help Jane Hamsher contact Iraqi's -- in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, France .... i.e., any where DU is read -- who'd be able to listen to the tape and offer comment as to likely dialect(s) of the speakers. They could just post their comments at the above thread or contact Ms. Hamsher directly at the email address on the firedoglake homepage.


Peace.

[obxhead]

1. kick

[Digit]

2. Wow, bookmarked and recommended n/t

[rateyes]

3. Good catch UL....

k&r

:kick:

[understandinglife]

6. Thanks. I just hope with so many DUers and folk who read DU ...

... that we may be able to get a bunch of Iraqi's to listen to that tape and comment on the dialect(s) and get that info to Jane Hamsher and to members of Congress like Conyers, Durbin, Reid, Boxer, George Miller, .... .


Peace.

[seemunkee]

4. I remember that and had it confirmed by an Arabic speaker I worked with

He was French of Algerian descent and had traveled extensively and made mention of this at the time. Not sure if I can get in touch with him now. He may be over in Iraq or Kuwait working.

[understandinglife]

7. Fantastic! Can you please either email Jane Hamsher with this info ..

... or post it as a comment to her thread at firedoglake?

Obviously, this is important.

Thank you!!


Peace.

[kitty1]

33. Probably mixed up the actors they used for the Osama Videos n/t

[jfern]

43. The Osama ones might be real

But those other ones sure weren't. Remember the one right before the election (no, not the Osama one). It had to be Karl Rove.

[DrRang]

75. Even the English transcript raised questions . . .

Right after Colin's UN dog and pony show, I got on the State Department's web site and read the English translations of the tapes Powell referenced. The difference in effect was remarkable. At the UN, Powell would read/play a segment and then "explain," saying stuff like "Okay, here we have the commanding officer telling the soldiers to get rid of all the chemical weapons."

But reading the raw transcripts, stripped of Powell's "explanations," regardless of the nationality of the accent, the voices just sounded like some NCO telling a grunt to get the place cleaned up because the brass were coming.

[hvn_nbr_2]

5. Wow. Gee, I wonder why I never heard this on U.S. news.

Oh, I know. Less important than Jacko and missing blond girls. Gotta keep priorities right.

[northamericancitizen]

8. bookmarked, kicked and will do research. (Canada)

[understandinglife]

16. Thank you!

Peace.

[progressoid]

9. Actually, this is good news for GWB and Company.

If true, they can use this as more evidence of "faulty intelligence". This can easily be blamed on the CIA's "inadequate interpreters".

Besides, the fact that it is fake is not new. Before the war, many of us read about this being a questionable piece of evidence. Big deal. How can it be tied to the White House?

[understandinglife]

12. The way it works is GWB is Commander-in-Chief and CEO of the USA ...

... irrespective of the fact that he's not likely to have ever been elected. The "faulty intelligence" spin is just that spin -- It is GWB's fault. That's what being CiC/CEO means.

But, that's not the point of the article. Yes, several of us had conversations about the veracity of that tape that Powell cited at the UN. Fact is, it is the one item that has not been robustly challenged - the other five are sufficiently documented as invalid.

Having folk with knowledge of various Arabic dialects listen to the tape and offer assessment is important, especially now that more and more Americans, and at least a few members of both houses of Congress, seem ready to be informed as comprehensively as possible that Bush and the neoconsters deceived them.

Oh, and most likely it would have been the NSA, not the CIA, to have responsibility for the intercept, but, if I had to bet, the same folk behind forging the "Niger documents" (cough, pentagon, cough) probably had some of their Saudi and/or Jordanian buddies make the tape.

Appreciate the urge for cynicism, I'm just interested in bringing as much of these lies to broad exposure as possible. Hope you will forgive my efforts to do so.


Peace.

[flyarm]

20. ahh shucks, cough, pentagon cough..it couldn't be that * lied...

no way ,no how..you are killing me!!!!!!!!lmaoooooo

why would powell lie to us, cough ,pentagon cough???

i am dying here...:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

nahhhhhhhhhh he wasn't in on it..lol.........

and *********...nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....they had to tell him snort , pentagon snort....between pretzels..and gannon!!!!

and his favorite book..goats....

fly

[understandinglife]

21. MSNBC/WSJ: Fifty-seven percent believe he deliberately misled people ...

... make the case for war, compared with 35 percent who say he gave the most accurate information he had.

From Bush, GOP mired in political quicksand: NBC/WSJ poll shows president at new lows in all job approval categories

Link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9981177

A bit more research and information and we should be able to push that number from 57 % to > 90 %. Onward, DU!!


Peace.

[Garbo 2004]

40. & State Dept is home to the US diplomatic corps. Anyone seriously think

Secty of State Powell had no access to people fluent in various languages? Also, state dept had been working on the Future of Iraq project since at least summer 2002: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Future_of_Iraq_Project

Thanks for the link and story. Hamsher & Firedoglake rocks IMO. :)

[WinkyDink]

58. No, he's not "CEO".

The United States is not a corporation or other business entity.
I used to be a public school teacher, and it drove me nuts to hear superintendents refer to themselves as "CEO'S".

IOW, "BIDNESS" IS not and SHOULD not be the standard to which PUBLIC, non-profit, non-Wall Street, citizen-controlled-by-democratic-elections entities ought to be compared or likened.

Rant over.

[slor]

10. Thanks for posting n/t

[slor]

11. Thanks for posting n/t

[Stand and Fight]

13. K&R Very interesting. n/t

[Gregorian]

14. Salam Pax- the Baghdad Blogger.

His old site is down. But he has a video that plays on LinkTV on occassions. So they have a way of contacting him.

Here's a page that is supposedly from his webblog. You can see it has his email address. I know he is fluent in both english and Iraqi.

http://www.blogger.com/profile/735733

[understandinglife]

17. Thank you. I'll email him the links.

Peace.

[Junkdrawer]

15. Those Saudis keep popping up like bad pennies, huh?

Why, some even say THEY were the ones who did 9/11.

Imagine that!

[Jacobin]

18. heh heh

so true.


and a kick.

This is very interesting....

[understandinglife]

19. At least 11 of them ... or so some say ...

Peace.

[stop the bleeding]

22. Understandinglife - I am not sure what your asking

1. are you looking for people that can speak the dialects over there to see what area of the country those other people at the meeting were from?

2. or are you looking for the reporter that was there at the meeting?

If it is number 2 have you thought about the rouge reporter that does pieces on Democracynow, his name is Dar Jamal- spelling may be off, but if is not the reporter your looking for then maybe he would be worth talking to because he has lived over there for several months at a time and has a pretty good idea of how things are networked on a local level.

Sorry if this is no help, but it is all I know.:shrug:

[understandinglife]

23. Thank you for asking for clarification. What I am requesting ...

... is that anyone who has contact with individuals who can distinguish Arabic dialects, ask that they listen to the recording and offer comment, directly to Jane Hamsher (for starters), as to the likely Nationality of those speaking in the recording.

I will send the link to Dahr Jamail, as well. Hadn't thought of that, and it is definitely worth doing.


Peace.

[stop the bleeding]

24. Thats what I thought, and I am glad that I could help. n/t

[leftchick]

41. How about Juan Cole?

Surely knows someone who could analyze this.

http://www.juancole.com/

[fooj]

25. Too bad we didn't have a way to contact the transulators

that were let go because they were gay. I bet they'd be eager to help...

peace.

[geckosfeet]

26. Impeach the lying bastards.

impeachpac.org

There are reams of evidence to support the fact that they lied to the world to start an illegal war. The case for impeachment is getting stronger every day.

What will make it happen? Your help.

Please support impeachpac.org.

[Tight_rope]

60. Amen!

[jwirr]

63. A Democrat controlled Congress in 2006.

[Independent_Liberal]

78. Yeah, impeachment hearings with HJC Chairman John Conyers.

:)

[azureblue]

27. Juan Cole

This needs to go to Juan Cole- i'll see if i can find an email for him.

[understandinglife]

28. Welcome to DU and thank you. Here's his homepage and ...

... please do send the info to him:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole

http://www.juancole.com


Peace.

[Hissyspit]

29. EVEN IF THEY WEREN'T FAKED, they were a joke as evidence...

They didn't mean anything.

Worthless as evidence.

[understandinglife]

30. Agreed. I just want to make it "Zero for 6"! -- On The Record.

Thank you.


Peace.

[Hissyspit]

38. I hope we can do that, 'life. Keep up the good work.

:beer:

[leftchick]

42. I remember that day so well on DU

these were the most prevalent emoticons while Colin spewed...

:eyes: :puke: :argh: :grr: :wtf:

[Hissyspit]

79. I didn't know about DU then. See, if I can figure out the bullshit

without the supportive insight of DU - figure it out all by myself - then why couldn't Powell?

[mmonk]

31. Or maybe the biggest smoking gun

is the fact there were already 500 metric tons of yellowcake left in sealed containers in Iraq by UNSCOM and the IAEA, as well as bush I after the previous war. Yellowcake in itself isn't very dangerous and is a long way from weapons grade uranium. That's why W's father left it there as it in itself was no imminent threat. And of course, if it was already in Iraq, they wouldn't need to purchase more, especially since they had no way to refine or enrich it further.

[understandinglife]

34. Yes. This is a fact and one that apparently is so subtle almost EVERY ...

... Member of BOTH Houses of Congress forgot it in 2002 and 2003 and, largely, have not remembered it, as of November 10, 2005.

We whom inhabit the reality portion of the universe have been repeating this factlet, over and over and over again, to no consequence.

Now, of course, it is going to take really grown up boys and girls in BOTH Houses of Congress to admit such facts -- along with having to admit that they largely allowed them self to be snookered. Let's face it, the VIPS send, in the clear, memoranda to the President of the United States of America, in Feb and Mar of 2003, crystal clear statements that what he was using to justify his illegal war of aggression was bunk.

No one has an excuse for the crimes of Bush and the neoconsters - no one.


Peace.

[mmonk]

37. Correct

All Powell was left to peddle at the UN was the "vehicle" and aluminum tubes which was piss poor "evidence" but Powell knew the yellowcake crap wouldn't fly in that body.

People in congress are dishonest about this as well as the administration. Which means almost everything is up to us through pressure and of course, Fitzgerald's investigation.

[Stephanie]

36. AND the sealed yellowcake was left unguarded after the invasion

and it was completely looted, because the U.S. did not even bother to secure the known nuclear facilities in Iraq. Instead they guarded the Oil Ministry.

[mmonk]

39. All of this is why I still have major problems

with voting for anyone who voted for the IWR unless I'm forced to vote the lesser of two evils.

[EuroObserver]

46. And looted museums... n/t

[jwirr]

64. As a history nut I always feel very bad about that.

[mistertrickster]

57. I read that the US exported it out of the country. The IAEA wasn't

very happy about that . . .

[Stephanie]

61. I don't know where you read that

Do you have a link? According to every report I've seen the materials were looted and either dumped or stolen.

[mistertrickster]

66. Well, you could be right. There's so much "gorilla dust" (Ross Perot)

on the internet these days, it's hard to keep track of what's totally faked and what's merely misleading.

Will try to get back to you if I can find where I read this . . .

[WilliamPitt]

45. Got a link for that assertion?

I'd be interested in seeing it.

[EuroObserver]

47. Try these links, Will (and there's much more):

"In May 2003, coalition forces visited the former yellowcake extraction plant at Al-Qaim and discovered 16 drums of yellowcake and radioactive waste—materials we believe were associated with the pre-1991 nuclear weapons program. These drums were transferred in late June 2003 to the yellowcake storage facility located at Tuwaitha. There is no evidence that this material had been produced after Desert Storm" - Iraq Survey Group Final Report - http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/2004/isg-final-report/isg-final-report_vol2_nuclear-03.htm

Then read here: "'Looting' at Iraq nuclear sites", BBC, Tuesday, 6 May, 2003 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3002169.stm

<snip>

Two reports over the weekend gave rise to concern:

* On Saturday, a Washington Post reporter travelling with a special US defence department team visited the Baghdad Nuclear Research Facility. US soldiers at the site told him Iraqis had been "coming in by the score" for two weeks. The team found radioactive material scattered around the site.

* Also on Saturday, a New York Times reporter with the same team visited the nearby Tuwaitha site, again finding radioactive material stored haphazardly around the site and indications that, even by Saturday, little or nothing had been done to prevent looting.

But on Monday, a State Department spokesman played down the Washington Post report, saying that none of the material involved was suitable for making nuclear weapons.

</snip>

- And this is far from being the only credible report published at the time.

... But then, a year later, came this kind of stuff:

<snip>

U.S. Removed Radioactive Materials From Iraq Facility
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32195-2004Jul6.html

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 7, 2004; Page A16

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced yesterday that almost two tons of low-enriched uranium and about 1,000 radioactive samples used for research had been removed from Iraq's Tuwaitha Nuclear Center and brought to the United States for security reasons.


The airlift of the radioactive materials was completed June 23, Abraham said in a statement, "to keep potentially dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists." Less sensitive radiological materials -- used for medical, agricultural or industrial purposes -- were left in Iraq, according to a Department of Energy statement.

</snip>

ed: add last link

[WilliamPitt]

49. Awesome

Thank you!

[mmonk]

50. Let's see

Here's one on what yellowcake is
http://www.slate.com/id/2085848
Here's one showing it was in Iraq
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040522/news_1n22uranium.html
I'll keep looking for more. Dkos had something on it.

[WilliamPitt]

51. Cool

Thanks!

[Stephanie]

52. Many links here - did I ever tell you that I'm psychic? >>>

Stephanie
Wed Jul-16-03 07:22 PM
The Iraqi Uranium Trifecta
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=52593

Stephanie
Tue Jul-22-03 05:12 PM
Tuwaitha, PROOF that Bush LIED (repost)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=63025

Stephanie
Sun Oct-05-03 06:21 PM
Traitorgate + Tuwaitha = Total WH Meltdown
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=476777

[EuroObserver]

54. More brilliant work by Stephanie there! Thanks n/t

[Stephanie]

55. Thank you! I got on a Tuwaitha jag and could not stop posting about it

I posted so many threads on it - I don't know why it was never made an issue. It is THE smoking gun IMO as to them lying about WMD as the motive for invading Iraq.

[EuroObserver]

59. More on Al Quaim (or al Qaim, etc):

On Al Quaim see here: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al_qaim.htm

"Al Qaim engaged in the production of yellow cake (refined uranium ore) from 1984 to 1990. All of the yellow cake used by nuclear program allegedly came from this site. Ore was supplied to the facility by both Iraqi and foreign sources."

Also, be aware of this kind of stuff (Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) September 10, 2002): http://www.isis-online.org/publications/iraq/alqaim.html
(... and note the same people on Tuwaitha (April 26, 1999): http://www.isis-online.org/publications/iraq/tuwaitha.html )

<snip>

High-resolution commercial satellite imagery shows an apparently operational facility at the site of Iraq's al Qaim phosphate plant and uranium extraction facility (Unit-340), located in northwest Iraq near the Syrian border. This site was where Iraq extracted uranium for its nuclear weapons program in the 1980s. The al Qaim site was thoroughly destroyed by aerial bombing during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Given the absence of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Action Team inspectors on the ground since December 1998, however, this image raises questions about whether Iraq has rebuilt a uranium extraction facility at the site, possibly even underground. Iraq could have used parts salvaged from the bombed facility or new equipment bought illegally to reestablish this capability.

Unless inspectors go to the site and investigate all activities, the international community cannot exclude the possibility that Iraq is secretly producing a stockpile of uranium in violation of its commitments under Security Council resolutions. The uranium could be used in a clandestine nuclear weapons effort.

</snip>

AND NOW, JUST LAST MONTH (Reuters Foundation / AlterNet - Alerting humantarians to emergencies): http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/b6135ee30540be0ddb85967752239fac.htm

<snip>

IRAQ: More civilians flee al-Qaim as US offensive continues
04 Oct 2005 12:46:13 GMT
Source: IRIN

BAGHDAD, 4 October (IRIN) - BAGHDAD, 4 October (IRIN) More than 900 Iraqi families have fled from the al-Qaim district near the Syrian border to escape a US military offensive against Islamic militants and the exodus is continuing, humanitarian workers in al-Qaim said.

Most of those running to escape the five day-old offensive by 1,000 US troops backed by warplanes have remained within Iraq.

However, several hundred have crossed the nearby border to seek sanctuary in Syria, according to residents in the eastern Syrian town of Deir-ez-Zour contacted by IRIN.

Aid workers with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in al-Qaim said on Monday night that large numbers of people were continuing to leave the town and nearby villages to escape the fighting.

According to medical workers, it has already caused dozens of civilian casualties.

</snip>

--> Be difficult by now to find first-person local witnesses, perhaps.

Ah, there was also this report of a massacre in Al-Qaim (north-west of Baghdad), reported 7 June 2004 by the 'Center of the Observatory of the Occupation' (Centro del Observatorio de la Ocupación), Baghdad - reporting only in Spanish as far as I can find - still researching - http://www.nodo50.org/csca/agenda2004/iraq/jamas_7-06-04_al-qaim.html

<snip>

El pasado mes de abril fue el mes de Faluya: todas las agencias de los medios de comunicación informaron sobre la batalla que tenía lugar en esa ciudad. En cambio, sólo apareció un corto subtítulo en la lista de noticias del 17 de abril que indicaba que se habían producido combates en al-Qaim, a 420 kilómetros al oeste de Bagdad, que una patrulla estadounidense había sido atacada y que habían muerto entre siete y nueve soldados. Al día siguiente hubo un breve reportaje que mostraba las calles vacías de una pequeña ciudad rural iraquí. La noticia se olvidó velozmente.

Cuando fuimos hasta al-Qaim para averiguar lo que había sucedido en la masacre de la boda del 18 de mayo , todo el mundo, incluso los funcionarios, comentaba lo que había ocurrido allí mismo el 17 de abril. La gente estaba indignada porque más de cien personas habían sido asesinadas; pero lo que más les hería era que la mayoría habían sido niños, mujeres y ancianos que podían haberse salvado si se les hubiera podido prestar ayuda médica inmediata, así como el hecho de que muchos de ellos habían sido asesinados dentro de sus casas. La amargura era el sentimiento común y compartido. El Dr. Hamdi al-Alusi, director del hospital, nos dijo que el 17 de abril había sido el día más miserable de su vida.

Testimonio de Hamdi al-Alusi, director del hospital

-Dr. Hamdi al-Alusi: Estuve recibiendo llamadas de socorro durante 24 horas, las ambulancias estaban preparadas para acudir pero las tropas estadounidenses nos lo impidieron...

.../más

</snip>

--> Rough translation:

Last April was the month of Falluja: all of the news agencies reported on the battle that took place in that city. On the other hand, there was only a very brief sub-report in the newswires from April 17th which indicated that there had been combat in Al-Quaim, to the West of Baghdad, which a US patrol had attacked with the loss of between 7 and 9 soldiers. The next day a short photo-reportage appeared which showed the empty streets of a small Iraqui rural town. The story was quickly forgotten.

When we went to al Quaim to find out what had happened at the massacre at the 18th of May wedding (in Mugrldib), everyone, including administration officials, commented on what had happened there (Al-Quaim) on the 17th April. The people were indignant because more than 100 people had been killed; but the worst of it was that the majority had been children, women and the elderly who could have been saved if immediate medical attention could have been provided, as well as the fact that very many of them had been killed inside their own homes. Bitterness was the common shared feeling. Dr. Hamdi al-Alusi, director of the hospital told us that the 17th of April had been the most miserable day of his life.

Testimony of Dr. Hamdi al-Alusi, director of the hospital

- Dr. Hamdi al-Alusi: I was receiving calls for help during 24 hours, the ambulances were ready to go but the US troops prevented it...

.../more

[understandinglife]

70. Bookmarked. Thank you.

Peace.

[Kurovski]

32. Gee, too bad the right-wingers fired all those experts in ME languages

because they were homosek'shul!

Remember that?

[understandinglife]

35. In_deed.

Peace.

[ClintonTyree]

44. Right, but we all know........

that the homosexual agenda is far more dangerous and perverse than the terrorists. This homosexuals not only want world domination but they'd want to redecorate as well! Thank god the bush white house is saving us from the homosexual agenda! And just think if there were to be homosexual terrorists! :wow: god bless you president bush! :sarcasm:

[EuroObserver]

53. homosexual terrorists?

Isn't that what those parades and street-parties are all about - to strike terror into the hearts and minds of the 'phobes? Why, one might even get an erection just thinking about it :9 ( :sarcasm: )

[deutsey]

48. I had my suspicions at the time that these were fake

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/02/03_Crank.html

February 3, 2003

Bush's New "Evidence": Just a Crank Call?

BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Dwayne Eutsey

In a Newsweek "web exclusive" Friday, the newsmagazine breathlessly reported that the Bush administration will release "supersensitive electronic intercepts" of phone conversations between Iraqi officials that the US says will prove Iraq has "repeatedly lied to United Nations inspectors."

To help build support for US plans to invade Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell will use these electronic intercepts in his speech this Wednesday to the UN.

While citing US officials who caution that there may be "some ambiguity about what the Iraqis are referring to in some of the conversations," the article gives the overall impression that the US is about to reveal the smoking gun evidence that thus far has eluded the Bush plan for taking over Iraq's oil reserves.

"Hold on to your hat," the article quotes one anonymous US intelligence official. "We've got it."

Not being privy to these supersecret recordings, of course, I can't say whether this alleged evidence is substantive or all a bunch of hype. Given the Bush regime's track record of "exaggeration", however, I have to say I lean toward the latter right now.

One reason for my skepticism -- aside from the fact that Bush's previous presentations of "evidence" have all quickly turned from "smoking gun" to " stinking dud" -- is an article Buzzflash linked to back in November.

The Asia Times article revealed an alleged campaign to discredit Saddam Hussein led by the Rendon Group, a DC-based public relations firms with close ties to the US government. According the article, the firm hired an Iraqi Harvard graduate student, known for his ability to impersonate Hussein, to "translate and dub spoofed Saddam Hussein speeches and tongue-in-cheek newscasts for broadcast throughout Iraq."

MORE...

[Octafish]

56. The Rendon Group hired to lie America into war (again).

Nice article, Dwayne.

Here's a bit on how the PR pros learned to manipulate public opinion into sacrificing their own and taking innocent life:

How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf

Topics: Iraq
Excerpted from Toxic Sludge Is Good For You, Chapter 10

"If I wanted to lie, or if we wanted to lie, if we wanted to exaggerate, I wouldn't use my daughter to do so. I could easily buy other people to do it."
--Saud Nasir al-Sabah, Kuwait's Ambassador to the United States and Canada

The Mother of All Clients

On August 2, 1990, Iraqi troops led by dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the oil-producing nation of Kuwait. Like Noriega in Panama, Hussein had been a US ally for nearly a decade. From 1980 to 1988, he had killed about 150,000 Iranians, in addition to at least 13,000 of his own citizens. Despite complaints from international human rights group, however, the Reagan and Bush administrations had treated Hussein as a valuable ally in the US confrontation with Iran. As late as July 25 - a week before the invasion of Kuwait - US Ambassador April Glaspie commiserated with Hussein over a "cheap and unjust" profile by ABC's Diane Sawyer, and wished for an "appearance in the media, even for five minutes," by Hussein that "would help explain Iraq to the American people."69

Glaspie's ill-chosen comments may have helped convince the dictator that Washington would look the other way if he "annexed" a neighboring kingdom. The invasion of Kuwait, however, crossed a line that the Bush Administration could not tolerate. This time Hussein's crime was far more serious than simply gassing to death another brood of Kurdish refugees. This time, oil was at stake.

Viewed in strictly moral terms, Kuwait hardly looked like the sort of country that deserved defending, even from a monster like Hussein. The tiny but super-rich state had been an independent nation for just a quarter century when in 1986 the ruling al-Sabah family tightened its dictatorial grip over the "black gold" fiefdom by disbanding the token National Assembly and firmly establishing all power in the be-jeweled hands of the ruling Emir. Then, as now, Kuwait's ruling oligarchy brutally suppressed the country's small democracy movement, intimidated and censored journalists, and hired desperate foreigners to supply most of the nation's physical labor under conditions of indentured servitude and near-slavery. The wealthy young men of Kuwait's ruling class were known as spoiled party boys in university cities and national capitals from Cairo to Washington.70

Unlike Grenada and Panama, Iraq had a substantial army that could not be subdued in a mere weekend of fighting. Unlike the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Hussein was too far away from US soil, too rich with oil money, and too experienced in ruling through propaganda and terror to be dislodged through the psychological-warfare techniques of low-intensity conflict. Waging a war to push Iraq's invading army from Kuwait would cost billions of dollars and require an unprecedented, massive US military mobilization. The American public was notoriously reluctant to send its young into foreign battles on behalf of any cause. Selling war in the Middle East to the American people would not be easy. Bush would need to convince Americans that former ally Saddam Hussein now embodied evil, and that the oil fiefdom of Kuwait was a struggling young democracy. How could the Bush Administration build US support for "liberating" a country so fundamentally opposed to democratic values? How could the war appear noble and necessary rather than a crass grab to save cheap oil?

"If and when a shooting war starts, reporters will begin to wonder why American soldiers are dying for oil-rich sheiks," warned Hal Steward, a retired army PR official. "The US military had better get cracking to come up with a public relations plan that will supply the answers the public can accept."71

CONTINUED...

http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html

The rest of the article and links name names...Rendon Group, Hill & Knowlton, Craig Fuller, ech!cetera.

It isn't a theory. It's a conspiracy.

[Zookeeper]

80. "Kuwait hardly looked like the sort of country that deserved...

defending..." That has always been my opinion of the first Gulf War and people are aghast when I state it. Why were my tax dollars going to defend a country where I, as a woman, wouldn't even be allowed to drive a car? It's all about OIL. Granted, Hussein was slime, but how many other tyrants were we conveniently overlooking while we protected Kuwaiti sheiks?

(Sorry for the tangent! :rant: )

[Greyskye]

62. I had an Iraqi co-worker listen to it

All I asked him before he listened to it the first time, was that I wanted his opinion on what nationality the speakers were.

His take on it: 100% Iraqi voices.

I asked him if he was sure - that I knew the language was Iraqi - could he tell the origin of the speakers from their accents?

He listened again - same results. He feels that they are native Iraqi speakers on that tape.

I really wish that I was able to say that the voices were Saudi or Jordanian. :(

[understandinglife]

68. Thank you for this information. We're seeking the truth, nothing more ...

.... nothing less.

I've already sent one update to Jane Hamsher. I will send a link to your comment, as well.


Peace.

[sojourner]

69. Thanks for trying! Even when what we find is disconfirming of hypothesis,

the effort will help lead to truth, which is still important!

[dennisnyc]

76. and so differant than freeperville and bushworld!

[Wordie]

77. Amen and kick.

(too late to recommend)

[BrklynLiberal]

65. Kicked and recommended and bookmarked..

[robertpaulsen]

67. Kicked and recommended!

:kick:

[BamaBecky]

71. kick

[Freedomfried]

72. Grasping at straws....

This argument is just plain weak. And comical.

[mmonk]

74. The intercepted phone calls

and the supposed reaction?

[fooj]

73. Kick

:kick:

[understandinglife]

81. "Raed Jarrar answers Jane's question about Iraqi accents"

<clip>

Jane added, "The clip itself is here, it's the third clip, labeled "Modified Vehicle." If anyone knows someone out there with a knowledge of Iraqi dialects who isn't presently in some CIA black ops prison camp and could review the tape, we'd certainly love to hear about it."

So, I emailed Raed Jarrar (http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com) and asked him to listen to the tape, although it seemed unlikely that such an obvious rotten trick would have gone unnoticed so long. Raed answered,

Dear Tex

I remember listening to this tape while I was in Baghdad, and we laughed too. Not because of the accent, because of the retarded content of it.

The Iraqis talking on the tape have an Iraqi accent for sure, but the way they were saying stupid things about hiding the "modified" vehicle didn't make any sense.

Believe me my friend, there are a lot of Chalabi supporters types that are more than ready to do this.

The people on that tape are unfortunately Iraqis. I hope they at least feel ashamed by now.

Maybe one day in the future we'll know their real names, and how much were they paid to act this dirty role.

best
raed

Link:

http://ancapistan.typepad.com/unfairwitness/2005/11/raed_jarrar_ans.html

Peace.