< HOME  Saturday, May 13, 2006

Iraq WMD: The LIE That Won't Go Away

From the minute it was conceived, the lie about Iraqi WMD had no legs. But, that didn’t stop the Bush administration from carrying it to term and parading it around long enough to invade a country that never posed an imminent threat to America.

But now, they rely on a dutiful media and America’s short-term memory to forever bury the TRUTH about the biggest LIE of the century.

A year after [US claims] about Iraqi "bioweapons trailers" were discredited by American experts, U.S. officials were still suppressing the findings, says a senior member of the CIA-led Iraq inspection team.

At one point, former U.N. arms inspector Rod Barton says, a CIA officer told him it was "politically not possible" to report that the White House claims were untrue. In the end, Barton says, he felt "complicit in deceit."

Barton, an Australian biological weapons specialist, discusses the 2004 events in "The Weapons Detective," a memoir of his years as an arms inspector, being published Monday in Australia by Black Inc. Agenda.

* * *

The Washington Post reported last month that a U.S. fact-finding mission confidentially advised Washington on May 27, 2003, that two truck trailers found in Iraq were NOT mobile units for manufacturing bioweapons, as had been suspected.

Two days later, President Bush still asserted the trailers were bioweapons labs, and other administration officials repeated that line for months afterward.

Barton's memoir says that well into 2004, pressure from Washington kept the U.S. public uninformed about the true nature of these alleged WMD systems.

Former senior CIA officials denied such information was stifled.

The debunking of the "mobile biolabs" claim began in classified reports long before the U.S. invasion, when German intelligence in 2001 and 2002 told U.S. officials that the story's source, an Iraqi defector code-named "Curveball," was unreliable . . . U.N. inspectors determined in early 2003, before the war, that parts of Curveball's story were false.

In April 2003, however, two unusually equipped trailers were found in Iraq and the CIA declared they were the mobile biolabs described by the defector.

This story quickly fell apart behind the scenes, it has since emerged. Testing the equipment in early May 2003, U.S. experts found no traces of biological agents, and later that month the U.S. fact-finders filed their negative report from Baghdad.

But on May 29, Bush assured Polish television: "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories." Then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell later made similar statements. As late as January 2004, Vice President Dick Cheney called the trailers "conclusive evidence" of Iraqi WMD, one of the reasons given for invading Iraq.

The experts' findings were classified, never to be released, The Washington Post reported last month.

Meanwhile, in Australia in mid-2003, Barton writes, he viewed photos of the trailers at a CIA Web site and determined that the suspected biological "fermenter" was no such thing, and warned Australian government officials against the story.

Returning to Baghdad in late 2003 to join the CIA-commissioned Iraq Survey Group in a senior role, Barton found that specialists had dismissed the "biotrailer" suspicions. Strong evidence showed the units were instead designed to make hydrogen for weather balloons, as Iraqis claimed.

David Kay, then chief inspector, has since said that in December 2003 George J. Tenet, then CIA director, wouldn't accept this finding.

[NEVERTHELESS,] That February, Tenet claimed in a Washington speech that the trailers could be used to make bioweapons.

Barton says he, too, ran into roadblocks in early 2004 when he sought to include the trailer analysis in a report.

Barton quotes the American head of the biological team, whom Barton doesn't name, as telling him, "You don't understand how difficult it is to say anything different" from the public CIA line.

In the second half of February 2004, the book says, the newly arrived senior CIA officer in the Iraq Survey Group - also unidentified - told Barton he couldn't mention the trailers in a report scheduled for March.

"I don't care that they are not biological trailers. It's politically not possible," Barton recalls him saying.

The Australian says he wrote in his diary afterward, "The only reason we are going down this route is the politics in Washington."

When the Iraq Survey Group's progress report was filed in March 2004, and new chief inspector Duelfer testified to Congress, the trailers were not mentioned.

For this and other reasons, "remaining in the ISG was to be complicit in deceit," Barton writes. He and other British and Australian experts quit the inspectors group during this period.

Asked for comment on Barton's account, Duelfer said he decided not to report issues piecemeal, but in a final comprehensive report.

"I did not think those were mobile biological weapons labs," he said, but "I wanted to understand the issue of mobile BW production, whether it (the trailers) was part of a larger thing or not." He said he was not pressured by Washington.

Tenet declined to comment. But former CIA spokesman and Tenet associate Bill Harlow told The Associated Press, "There was no effort to stifle any reporting from the field by David Kay or anyone else."

Ultimately the truth about the trailers was disclosed in the Iraq Survey Group's final report in October 2004, more than 16 months after the first conclusive findings were made.

And long after “mission accomplished.”

Now, we know what "mission" they were referring to.

11 Comments:

At Saturday, May 13, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The British not only early on identified them as being used for weather balloons, but admitted that they had sold them to Iraq. So, who were we to listen to? Bush or the British?

 
At Saturday, May 13, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought the mission was converting Iraq oil sales back to dollars (from euros), if the mission was to lie to the American people, that started a long time ago.

 
At Saturday, May 13, 2006, Blogger xxxevilgrinxxx said...

and yet....the same crap will be trotted out against Iran, Venezuela, and who knows after that...and people will line up to eat it with a spoon
EG:)

 
At Saturday, May 13, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, "xxxevilgrinxxx," but note we must continue to not "...give up the ship."

Note in USA one of greatest Judeo-oligarchal assets are the "Judeo-Christians" (JCs, see Whtt.org). We patriots can well work against these JCs by reminding them of simplest facts: Christianity is necessarily and absolutely antisemitic, and Judaism is anti-human according to its basic document, the Talmud. Honest elections and death to the Fed. Thor

 
At Saturday, May 13, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bush admin is already lying about Iran. Go and do this search at google.com put in Iran's Oil Exchange. There you will read an article that most of the world does not know about, because the Bush Admin made sure it was never to be KNOWN in the news and newspapers This was dated Jan.23,2006. The Bush Admin. will never allow the Iranian government to open an oil exchange (bourse) that trades petroleum in EUROS. If that were to happen 100's of billions of dollars would come flooding back to the U.S.A. crushing the greenbacks and destroying our economy. This is why Bush and company are planning to lead the nation into war against IRAN. Iran keeps telling them they are building a POWER STATION for more electricity so they can produce more OIL. But you see BUSH GOONS are lying again, just the way they lied about Iraq. So by telling all this garbage they keep putting on the news every single day that they building a weapon, it NOT TRUE, but most of the world is SO BRAINWASHED and beleiving that lying idiot! So this is their PRETEXT for WAR... LYING AGAIN. Israel is making up stories about Iran also they say they wont to attack Iran too. WHY murder innocent people. Iran keeps telling USA it is a POWERS STATION, but BUSH GOONS, want to attack them because IRAN is selling their OIL in EUROS. Now the other foolishness is saying they found more URANIUM... ha ha ha! Another lie to make it sound like they are going to build a bomb... I wonder what other lies they will tell. You can read the article it is very long. Another website you should read more articles at I will be on soon, have to find the article

 
At Saturday, May 13, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

U.S and UK's Total hypocrisy on Nuclear Energy this was dated March 10,2006, http://www.twf.org/News/Y2006/0311-Benn.html Well you see US and UK are in total breach of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Non-Proflieration Treaty says 3 things. 1.) The Nuclear Powers will agree to disarm collectively. 2.) That other countries can develop technology. 3.) That nuclear powers will give absolute assurances they will never use nuclear weapons against a Non-Nuclear state and both US & UK have now said that if their security was at stake they would use nuclear weapons. What Bush has done I don't think you realize it -that makes the case for spread of Nuclear weapons. Because if IRAN had Nuclear weapons now, BUSH would NOT dare to attack. So actually Bush is encouraging the spread and when he went to India the other day, this article was written March 10, 2006, and I am quoting from the writer of this article, which isnt a signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty he signed an agreement. So it is mere hyprocisy. Read the article. More follows this letter

 
At Saturday, May 13, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Iran is acting with in INTERNATIONAL LAW, BUT U.S.( Bush admin IS NOT. Remember GWBUSH BROKE the TREATY first , by demanding that IRAN cease building and fueling a POWER STATION activities. Which are ALLOWED under THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY. Both IRAN & U.S. signed that TREATY. ISRAEL HAS NOT SIGNED THE TREATY. Article 6 of the CONSTITUTION makes TREATY obligation the highest law of the land. If Bush wants out of TREATY there was ( as this artilce points out) a LEGAL PROCESS to follow to remove oneself from the TREATY. Bush DID NOT FOLLOW that PROCEDURE. He simply BROKE the TREATY and with it both U.S. and INTERNATIONAL LAW. REMEMBER SO FAR he has BROKE 750 LAWS!!! Given U.S. and Israel belligernence, Iran has AMPLE JUSTIFICATION to LEAVE the NNPT and pursue a nuclear deterrent capability. IRAQ TAUGHT teh WORLD what the U.S. will do to NATIONS that do NOT HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS. IRAN IS ACTING WITH IN INTERNATIONAL LAW BUT THE BUSH ADMIN IS NOT. dated May 7, 2006 http://www.whatreallyhappened.com

 
At Sunday, May 14, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Iranian officials Note the IAEA the U.N. Nuclear watchdog. Has NOT found a weapon program after 3 years of scrutiny and does NOT conside Iran a Imminent security threat. Bush ADMIN are bloody liars and so corrupt they are the threat and you must remember WAR IS BIG BUSINESS AND BIRD FLU IS A HOAX one of the BIGGEST SCAMS GOING WAKE DO YOU HOMEWORK

 
At Sunday, May 14, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bird Flu is a hoax, read all about the hoax at http://www.nomorefakenews.com Jon is a famous writer, he interviewed a man who knows all about chicken farms. They are overly doses with antibiotics and this weakens their immune system they live in dirty conditons and are abused the way they live and over dosed with antibiotics.. scroll down to ARCHIVES and read 2005-10-10 then 2005-10-13 and Making HOnest Judgment on BIRD FLU, read all that.. no one has ever died from bird flu no documents to prove this and the people would have to be tested for the millions and millions of germs. I read the people were sick had other illnesses, but they have to say BIRD FLU, to spread their propaganda their scare tactics read the other letters on bird flu and make sure you read the last article that Jon wrote 2006-04-08 See how corrupt the WHO< CDC, FDA and GOV is, and remember RUM, BUsh And 36 senators and who knows who else has INVESTED THOUSANDS into this toxic drug TAMIFLU, all vaccines are full of toxic chemicals that do NOT BELONG in the body. Read how bad vaccines are, they induce cancers and erode the myelin shealth where do you think MS, Parkinson, Lupus, Autism, Alzheimer comes from too many vaccines.... BIRD FLU is a hoax and it was never n 1918 Put in your search for Eleanor McBean...she lived in that era, the drs were so bored they invented these vaccines and put all types of things in so that the people died. It was never bird flu as the scientist are paid to tell us bird flu. Thank goodness for Eleanor McBean she wrote books on what happened. This BUSH admin is totally evil and so corrupt dont beleive their lies on the BIRD FLU... they want to bring in the New world order and get rid of as many people as possible. SCARS is a HOAX and they had scientist invent the HIV/AIDS to get rid of gays. THis gov rotttttsssss

 
At Sunday, May 14, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

“When I saw this map,(u gotta scroll down a bit) reality reached up and smacked me in the face! The distribution of SARS cases certainly seemed to indicate that it was a genetic disease targeting only Asians.(I would say Chinese)” ?

this is also the same region which is plagued by the “bird flu virus” recently,
are we witnessing the so called “advanced forms of biological warfare that can target specific genotypes " envisged in that pnac manual for world domination ?

 
At Monday, June 26, 2006, Blogger Mark Prime (tpm/Confession Zero) said...

Fine post my friend.

 

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