Saddam WMD Tapes to air on ABC Nightline

[centristo]

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200602\NAT20060215a.html

(CNSNews.com) - Reportedly armed with 12 hours of Saddam Hussein's audio recordings, the organizers of an upcoming "Intelligence Summit" are describing the tapes as the "smoking gun evidence" that the Iraqi dictator possessed weapons of mass destruction in the period leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which according to the New York Sun has already authenticated the Saddam tapes, has reopened its investigation into the possible existence and location of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). But some long-time liberal skeptics are showing no inclination to change their minds.

In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003, the Bush administration argued that the war was necessary as a preemptive strike because the Iraqi president had WMD and there was a danger that he would use them against the United States.

ALSO

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200602\NAT20060215c.html

CNSNews.com) - Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein discussing ways to attack America with weapons of mass destruction will be the subject of an ABC "Nightline" program Wednesday night, a former federal prosecutor told Cybercast News Service.

The tapes are being called the "smoking gun" of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. The New York Sun reported that the tapes have been authenticated and currently are being reviewed by the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

The panel's chairman, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), declined to give the Sun details of the content or context of the recordings, saying only that they were provided to his committee by former federal prosecutor John Loftus.


CNSNews appears to be a right wing site. However, these tapes, if they exist could be explosive. I went to Nightline's website and don't see anything about this. Is this just more PR? Does anyone know anything about these tapes?

[AlCzervik]

1. CNS "News" is owned by Brent "Bozo" Bozell, i'll beleive when i see it.

[dufrenne]

This part

is true I think....

"Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein discussing ways to attack America with weapons of mass destruction will be the subject of an ABC "Nightline" program Wednesday night"

[AlCzervik]

3. you mean with his balsa wood predators?

[dufrenne]

2. This part

is true I think....

"Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein discussing ways to attack America with weapons of mass destruction will be the subject of an ABC "Nightline" program Wednesday night"

[Tim Johnson]

4. Hmmm...could WMD have gone to Syria?

Wow. Could Bushco have been right?

[Coexist]

7. sure - all the satellite imagery that we collected - tracked the

number of trucks in parking lots, but missed the transport of all those WMDs over foreign borders.

Yep, thats the ticket.

[AlCzervik]

8. exactly.

[acmavm]

11. NO. Haven't you been paying attention? n/t

[agincourt]

27. If usable weapons went to Syria,

Saddam didn't seem to want to kill us to bad, while we're bombing the shit out of him. Must've been getting soft in his old age.

[cantstandbush]

30. Only the tapes that make Bush look good will be aired. The rest will

never be made public. I wish Saddam would take the stand and tell the world how many tapes he really had and what was on some of them.

[zulchzulu]

5. I'm sure the "proof" will be as viable as the original "proof"

We've seen this movie before. And it has Rove all over it. Look for this ruse to be a main tool for the Repugs in 2006.

LIE! LIE! LIE!

[Coexist]

6. Newsweek: Saddam Tapes: What They Don't Prove

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11299205/site/newsweek
<snip>
At one point Saddam muses how vulnerable D.C. would be to a "biological" attack, but adds that Iraq wouldn't do it.

Thanks to LynntheDem for the find.

[centristo]

19. good link

thanks for the info. I do want to watch that Nightline episode though.

[Armstead]

9. Hell Sadaam talked OPENLY about all this

Jeezus, Sadaam was a meglomaniac and was always spouting off publicly about how he was going to teach Anerica a lesson, blah.blah,blah.

That's not the point. The point is not his crazy daydreams and posturing, but whether he either could have done anything about it or was stupid enough to believe his own bullshit and actually try anthing....Even Sadaam knew that one or two pushed buttons in the US would wipe him and his nation off the map within a half-hour.

[NYCGirl]

10. You mean THESE Saddam tapes?:

Saddam Tapes: What They Don't Prove
Newsweek

Feb. 20, 2006 issue - Government investigators are trying to determine how 12 hours of tape recordings of Saddam Hussein and his aides, acquired by U.S. personnel in Iraq, got into the hands of the organizers of a private "intelligence summit" to be held in D.C. next weekend. John Loftus, a former government prosecutor and self-described whistle-blower, claims the tapes "will be able to provide a few definitive answers to some very important—and controversial—weapons-of-mass-destruction questions." At one point Saddam muses how vulnerable D.C. would be to a "biological" attack, but adds that Iraq wouldn't do it.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Pete Hoekstra is reviewing transcripts to determine if U.S. officials missed WMD evidence after the war. But intel agencies are skeptical. The tapes were taken without permission from an FBI-run translation center, officials say, and are years old. Two government officials, requesting anonymity because of the sensitive subject, say the tapes in no way prove that WMD stockpiles or programs existed at the time of the U.S. invasion or were moved to another country before U.S. troops arrived.

—Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11299205/site/newsweek

[acmavm]

12. Anyone who believes the WMD rerun doesn't even qualify

to be a doofus.

Your padded cell is ready and waiting somewhere.

[NYCGirl]

13. That perfectly describes

the people who read CNSNews.

[AlCzervik]

14. how pathetic is it that they are still trying to sell this war?

[NYCGirl]

15. How pathetic can it get? Wherever the bottom of the barrel is, they'll

reach it.

[AlCzervik]

16. they are paving the way in new lows. Can you imagine "the private intel"

summit in that article you posted? I really hate these people.

[NYCGirl]

17. I feel the same way you do. They are the lowest form of life.

And their contempt for the American people is unbelievable.

[Wordie]

24. The freepers LOVE John Loftus...that outta tell us something!

The far-RW supporters of Israel apparently love him, too. He wrote a book called "The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People," which claims that the US has worked against Israel's interests for decades. Sheesh.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/653248/posts

[centristo]

18. and of course it begs the question:

if these tapes are for real, then why the hell didn't the Administration release them a LONG time ago?

[NYCGirl]

20. These tapes may indeed be real, but the fact is, according to Newsweek,

they prove nothing. To address your question, the Administration wasn't this DESPERATE a long time ago.
;-)

[applegrove]

21. See - Saddam was likely spreading myths. That is what sociopaths

do. One lie after another.

So too the WH is spreading "myths".

So why y'all run around killing people and starting wars based on MYTH - i can be disgusted - no?

[Wordie]

29. The Duelfer Report acknowledged that Saddam did *want* wmd,

but said he just didn't have the ability. And there were many mentions of how his followers may have lied to him, telling him he had programs to produce wmd, even when he didn't. And given his behavior in the current trial, it's easy to imagine Saddam ranting and raving about dreams of glory, and including boastful threats as well. How ridiculous to make a big deal about such a thing. This new wmd story is nonsense, imho.

Here is a reminder of the Duelfer report, from Slate in October 2004:

Actually, the Duelfer report states that Saddam Hussein did not have the means. It concludes that, after the 1991 war, "Iraq's ability to reconstitute a nuclear weapon program progressively decayed." Iraq destroyed its chemical-weapons stockpile in '91, and "there is no credible indication that Baghdad resumed production." The biological-weapons program was "put on the shelf" after the last facility was destroyed by U.N. inspectors in 1996.

"… and the intent to produce weapons of mass destruction."

This part is right. On the basis of interviews with Iraqi scientists, Duelfer concludes that Saddam intended to resume his WMD program if the sanctions were ever lifted. Even here, though, Duelfer makes clear that there was no nascent program ready to take off once the gate was lifted. "The regime had no formal written strategy or plan for the revival of WMD after sanctions," the report says. As for nukes, Duelfer's team "found no evidence to suggest concerted efforts to restart the program." As for biological weapons, the report notes "a complete absence of discussion or even interest in BW at the presidential level."

...Here's the key point. Imagine it's the fall of 2002. President Bush goes before the Congress and makes the following case: Saddam Hussein is trying to break the sanctions. If he succeeds, he might try to resume his program to develop weapons of mass destruction. Therefore, I ask for your authority to invade Iraq now. Would anyone have signed on?

http://www.slate.com/id/2108000/

[Wordie]

22. Loftus may be a bit of a conspiracy theorist...

Look at this:

...Seige Heil: the Bush-Rove-Schwarzenegger Nazi Nexus and the Destabilization of California
06-Oct-03
Bush Hitler Comparison

Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman write, "George W. Bush's grandfather helped finance the Nazi Party. Karl Rove's grandfather allegedly helped run the Nazi Party, and helped build the Birkenau Death Camp. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian father volunteered for the infamous Nazi SA and became a ranking officer. Together, they have destabilized California and are on the brink of bringing it a new Reich. With the Schwarzenegger candidacy they have laid siege to America's largest state, lining it up for the 2004 election. The Bush family ties to the Nazi party are well known. In their 1994 Secret War Against the Jews, Mark Aarons and John Loftus use official US documents to establish that George Herbert Walker, George W. Bush's maternal great-grandfather, was one of Hitler's most important early backers. He funneled money to the rising young fascist through the Union Banking Corporation." (Dems.com note: We haven't seen anything to confirm the allegations about Karl Rove's grandfather)

http://archive.democrats.com/preview.cfm?term=Bush%20Hitler%20Comparison

I've read a number of things that suggest that Loftus' scholarship is sloppy and some that the just wants to sell books. I've also read some stuff on other sites about other serious problems he seems to have, but none of that seems to come from any reliable source so far, so I haven't posted any of it yet.

The really weird thing is that if Loftus is making these claims about the Bush family, why would he also be in effect supporting Bush with these Iraq claims? Maybe he's just an equal opportunity conspiracy theorist?

[mikeanike]

23. kick

it deserves more attention

[Wordie]

25. I found a link to Michael Ledeen! Perle, too! (not really that surprising)

I was looking through the Intelligence Summit site (they're the ones who are putting on the conference, and announcing this newly found wmd evidence), and guess what I found???

This is on their "Speakers & Organizers" page.

SPEAKERS
Bruce Aitken
Alex Alexiev
Luis Gil Armendariz
Maj. Eitan Arusy
Jed L. Babbin
Dr. Shmuel Bar
Zeyno Baran
Marshall Beddoe
Grant Begley
Ilan Berman
Jean-Charles Brisard
Dr. Parris Chang
Saber H. Chowdhury
Peter Clegg
Kevin G. Coleman
Victor Comras
Dr. Michael H. Corcoran
Col. Bill Cowan
Col. Gordon Cucullu
Michael W. Cutler
Nonie Darwish
Olavo de Carvalho
Bill DeGenaro
Dr. Jill Dekker
Andre DeMarce
Simon Deng
Robert M. Eisenberg
Dr. David H. Ellis
Beatrice Fernando
Brigitte Gabriel
Lance Gaines
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Dave Gaubatz
Mike German
Rebecca Givner-Forbes
Andy Green
Alain Grignard
Kim Guevara
Olivier Guitta
Wesley O. Hagood
Col. Jonathan Halevi
R. Mark Halligan, Esq.
Dr. Tawfik Hamid
David Hamon
Tom Harb
David Hardingham
Selina Hayes
Cptn. Richard Horowitz
Maneeza Hossain
G. Ken Hunter
Art Hutchinson
Alireza Jafarzadeh
Sunil James
Avi Jorisch
Shaykh Kabbani
Joe Kaufman
Hari H.S. Khalsa
Evan F. Kohlmann
Ali M. Koknar
Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser
Kenneth Kurtz
Dr. Michael A. Ledeen
Col. Juan C.F. Linares
Clare Lopez
Steven Lutz
Cdr. Richard Marcinko
Ryan Mauro
Linda McCarthy
Dr. James E. Miller, Jr.
Richard Miniter
Dan Moniz
Laurent Murawiec
Malcolm W. Nance
GySgt. Bob Newman
Kevin O'Connell
Sheikh Palazzi
Dr. Richard Parton
Joseph P. Payne
Richard Perle
Dr. Walid Phares
Walter Purdy
Entifadh Qanbar
Jamie Reid
Dr. Richard Reiner
Dr. Angel Ribasa
Billy Robinson
Rev. Keith Roderick
Ted Russell
Jesse Sage
Saleem Samad
Frank J. Sauer
Ken Sawka
Michael Scheuer
Stephen Schwartz
Brian Seymour
Dr. Hanan Shai
Eric Shawn
Walid Shoebat
Michael Shrimpton
Wayne Simmons
Erick Stakelbeck
Clark Staten
Joseph J. Stephanides
Alon Stivi
Hollice Stone
Mark A. Tanner
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow
Joseph Tenaglia
Tamar Tesler
Kenneth R. Timmerman
Dennis Treece
Maria Velez de Berliner
Lorenzo Vidino
Dr. Marta Weber
Christopher Westphal
Ira Winkler
Alexandre Winter, Ph.D.
Mark Zaid, Esq.
Jeremy Zakis

ORGANIZERS
Dr. Robert Katz
John J. Loftus
Steven Lutz
Lee Mason
Adam Shaneson
Scott Swanson

...We are especially grateful to our International Advisory Council
whose leadership will ensure that we maintain the highest standards.

Yossef Bodansky, former Director, Congressional Task Force on Terrorism Brent Budowsky, former Senior Staff Democratic Leadership
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, Director, American Center for Democracy
Yoram Hessel, former Senior Mossad Officer, Israel
John Loftus, President, The Intelligence Summit
Lt. General Tom McInerney, US Air Force, (Ret.)
Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, former Chair, Joint Intelligence Committee, UK Steve Pomerantz, former Deputy Director and Director of Counterterrorism, FBI
Col. Oded Shoham, IDF (Res.), Israel
Major General Paul Vallely, US Army, (Ret.)
B. Raman, former Chief of the Counter-Terrorism Division of the Research & Analysis Wing (India)
http://www.intelligencesummit.org/speakers/

[allemand]

28. Loftus: "Regime-Change the Answer in Iran"

16:52 Dec 13, '05 / 12 Kislev 5766
By Ezra HaLevi

Former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor and intelligence expert John Loftus says that Israel is unable to thwart Iran's nuclear projects through military action – but that there is an alternative. (...)

Loftus stressed, however, that there are other options that are likely to succeed and are already being put into effect. "The Bush administration is hoping that, ironically with Chirac's help, UN pressure will cause a regime-change in Syria. That the Mehlis investigation is going to come down hard and heavy. The US military is chomping at the bit to go across the border and take out the terror bases in Syria that Assad claims are not there. Once Syria is gone, Iran is isolated, with US troops on both their borders, in Afghanistan and in Iraq."

The intelligence expert, who has contacts in the Pentagon, says that the strategy is not for the US to actually invade Iran, but to affect a regime-change. "One of the intelligence agencies, which shall remain nameless, asked me to hold a conference of dissident groups in Iran. We are holding that conference and getting ready for regime-change."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=94732

[Proud Liberal Dem]

26. HOW Would This Justify The Iraq Invasion????

Assuming these tapes ARE authentic, we STILL haven't found any PHYSICAL evidence of WMD, have we (or did I miss something)? Even if Saddam was shooting his mouth off about attacking us with WMD, it's clear that he didn't actually HAVE anything to attack us with nor did he have any alliances with Al-Queda. Also, if we had clear and convincing evidence that the WMDs were SOMEHOW being shipped to Syria prior to our invasion, shouldn't we have been destroying and/or finding some way to intercept the trucks transporting them into Syria and/or threating Syria with military action if they don't hand them back over to us after we invaded Iraq? Sounds like Bushco (or whoever is fooling around with these tapes) are getting DESPERATE to wring the last drop of support for our military effort in Iraq out of the public.