Impeach This

[fireman]

Iraq Archive Document Describes Bin Laden Meeting
U.S. Government Releases Papers From Saddam's Reign
March 22, 2006 — - Following are the ABC News Investigative Unit's summaries of five documents from Saddam Hussein's government, which have been released by the U.S. government.

The documents discuss Osama bin Laden, weapons of mass destruction, al Qaeda and more.

The full documents can be found on the U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Office Web site: http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products-docex.htm.

Note: Document titles were added by ABC News.


"Osama Bin Laden Contact With Iraq"
A newly released pre-war Iraqi document indicates that an official representative of Saddam Hussein's government met with Osama bin Laden in Sudan on February 19, 1995 after approval by Saddam Hussein. Bin Laden asked that Iraq broadcast the lectures of Suleiman al Ouda, a radical Saudi preacher, and suggested "carrying out joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. According to the document, Saddam's presidency was informed of the details of the meeting on March 4, 1995 and Saddam agreed to dedicate a program for them on the radio. The document states that further "development of the relationship and cooperation between the two parties to be left according to what's open (in the future) based on dialogue and agreement on other ways of cooperation." The Sudanese were informed about the agreement to dedicate the program on the radio.

The report then states that "Saudi opposition figure" bin Laden had to leave Sudan in July 1996 after it was accused of harboring terrorists. It says information indicated he was in Afghanistan. "The relationship with him is still through the Sudanese. We're currently working on activating this relationship through a new channel in light of his current location," it states.

(Editor's Note: This document is handwritten and has no official seal. Although contacts between bin Laden and the Iraqis have been reported in the 9/11 Commission report and elsewhere, (e.g. the 9/11 report states "Bin Laden himself met with a senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Khartoum in late 1994 or early 1995) this document indicates the contacts were approved personally by Saddam Hussein.

It also indicates the discussions were substantive, in particular that bin Laden was proposing an operational relationship, and that the Iraqis were, at a minimum, interested in exploring a potential relationship and prepared to show good faith by broadcasting the speeches of al Ouda, the radical cleric who was also a bin Laden mentor.

The document does not establish that the two parties did in fact enter into an operational relationship. Given that the document claims bin Laden was proposing to the Iraqis that they conduct "joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia, it is interesting to note that eight months after the meeting -- on November 13, 1995 -- terrorists attacked Saudi National Guard Headquarters in Riyadh, killing 5 U.S. military advisors. The militants later confessed on Saudi TV to having been trained by Osama bin Laden.)


"Osama bin Laden and the Taliban"
Document dated Sept. 15, 2001

An Iraqi intelligence service document saying that their Afghani informant, who's only identified by a number, told them that the Afghani Consul Ahmed Dahastani claimed the following in front of him:

That OBL and the Taliban are in contact with Iraq and that a group of Taliban and bin Laden group members visited Iraq.
That the U.S. has proof the Iraqi government and "bin Laden's group" agreed to cooperate to attack targets inside America.
That in case the Taliban and bin Laden's group turn out to be involved in "these destructive operations," the U.S. may strike Iraq and Afghanistan.
That the Afghani consul heard about the issue of Iraq's relationship with "bin Laden's group" while he was in Iran.

At the end, the writer recommends informing "the committee of intentions" about the above-mentioned items. The signature on the document is unclear.

(Editor's Note: The controversial claim that Osama bin Laden was cooperating with Saddam Hussein is an ongoing matter of intense debate. While the assertions contained in this document clearly support the claim, the sourcing is questionable -- i.e. an unnamed Afghan "informant" reporting on a conversation with another Afghan "consul." The date of the document -- four days after 9/11 -- is worth noting but without further corroboration, this document is of limited evidentiary value.)


"Election Campaign Laws in France"
Documents dated July-August 1999

Correspondence regarding election campaigns in France. This includes a document from the Iraqi intelligence service classified as "secret," ordering the translation of important parts of a 1997 report about campaign financing laws in France. It also includes a document from the foreign minister's office indicating the report was attached. The attached translated report included very detailed information about all the regulations regarding financing of election campaigns in France. Translation was done by someone called "Salam Abdul Karim Mohammed."

(Editor's Note: This is an intriguing document which suggests Saddam Hussein's regime had a strong interest in the mechanics and legalities of financial contributions to French politicians. Several former French politicians are implicated in receiving oil vouchers from Iraq under the U.N. Oil for Food program.)


"Hiding Docs from the U.N. Team"
Document dated March 23, 1997

A letter from the Iraqi intelligence service to directors and managers advising them to follow certain procedures in case of a search by the U.N. team, including:

Removing correspondence with the atomic energy and military industry departments concerning the prohibited weapons (proposals, research, studies, catalogs, etc.).
Removing prohibited materials and equipment, including documents and catalogs and making sure to clear labs and storages of any traces of chemical or biological materials that were previously used or stored.
Doing so through a committee which will decide whether to destroy the documents.
Removing files from computers.

The letter also advises them on how they should answer questions by U.N. team members. It says the intelligence service should be informed within one week about the progress made in discarding the documents.

(Editor's Note: This document is consistent with the Report of the Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence, which described a pattern of deception and concealment on the part of Saddam Hussein's government towards the U.N. inspectors in the mid to late 90's. Hussein halted all cooperation with those inspectors and expelled them in October 1998.)


"Al Qaeda Presence in Iraq"
Document dated August 2002

A number of correspondences to check rumors that some members of al Qaeda organization have entered Iraq. Three letters say this information cannot be confirmed. The letter on page seven, however, says that information coming from "a trustworthy source" indicates that subjects who are interested in dealing with al Qaeda are in Iraq and have several passports.

The letter seems to be coming from or going to Trebil, a town on the Iraqi-Jordanian border. Follow up on the presence of those subjects is ordered, as well as comparison of their pictures with those of Jordanian subjects living in Iraq. (This may be referring to pictures of Abu Musaab al Zarqawi and another man on pages 4-6) The letter also says tourist areas, including hotels and rented apartments, should be searched.

(Editor's note: This document indicates that the Iraqis were aware of and interested in reports that members of al Qaeda were present in Iraq in 2002. The document does not support allegations that Iraq was colluding with al Qaeda.)

Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures

[avet]

HOW DOES IT GO?

WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE,.......

"under CIA supervision Bin Laden was trained by American special forces in guerilla warfare"

"The accounts of some journalists and investigators, however, do suggest that CIA money and weapons reached the Afghan Arabs and bin Laden indirectly through the ISI"

"According to Ahmed Rashid, Central Intelligence Agency Chief William Casey in 1986 "committed CIA support to a long-standing ISI initiative to recruit radical Muslims from around the world to come to Pakistan and fight with the Afghan Mujaheddin."

_______________________________________________

The Four Reasons why "We the People" must uphold the Constitution of The United States of America and hold those who violate it accountable
http://www.thefourreasons.org/
____________________________________________

Letter from Ramsey Clark: Impeachment Means the People Still Have the Power

http://www.impeachbush.org/site/News...s_iv_ctrl=1041

Only Impeachment will warn the next Presidents that the American people will hold them accountable if they lawlessly lead us into wars, aggression and criminal acts to control foreign government and exploit their peoples.

Only Impeachment will assure governments and peoples around the world that the American people understand what their government has done, that the American people are strong and good, and have impeached and removed their lawless leaders from office for violating all the principles America has always espoused, and that We, the People of the United States will remain vigilant and see to it that the government of the United States will hereafter seek peace, friendship, equality of nations and peoples, and respect for the human dignity of every child, woman, and man on Earth.
______________________________________________

[avet]

Who is this guy, shaking his hand?

[DR_GONZO]

Remember Ahmad Chalabi, the once a favored Iraqi exile of the Bush administration??? Remember how he had introduced defectors who made a strong case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction? Remember how fast he and his defectors were not only proven wrong, but how fast they fell out of the Bush circle? These documents from this post are about as proven as they were.

[fireman]

Remember Ahmad Chalabi, the once a favored Iraqi exile of the Bush administration??? Remember how he had introduced defectors who made a strong case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction? Remember how fast he and his defectors were not only proven wrong, but how fast they fell out of the Bush circle? These documents from this post are about as proven as they were.

If you click your heels three times and say, "There were no wmds or terror links" maybe your wish will come true like it did for Dorothy.

[DR_GONZO]

I hate to sound like a broken record but no one seems to dare answer this question. Why were Dr. Germ, Rihab Rashid Taha, and Mrs. Anthrax(five of hearts) Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash released from prison? Seriously?

[atotaltotalfan2001]

Fireman,

The U.S. military has already concluded, based on its own investigation, that Saddam had no WMD when the U.S. invaded, and hadn't had them for a while.

Here are some excerpts from a story earlier this month in the NY Times based on the classified military findings:



1. The Iraqi dictator was so secretive and kept information so compartmentalized that his top military leaders were stunned when he told them three months before the war that he had no weapons of mass destruction, and they were demoralized because they had counted on hidden stocks of poison gas or germ weapons for the nation's defense.



2. In December 2002, he told his top commanders that Iraq did not possess unconventional arms, like nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, according to the Iraq Survey Group, a task force established by the C.I.A. to investigate what happened to Iraq's weapons programs. Mr. Hussein wanted his officers to know they could not rely on poison gas or germ weapons if war broke out. The disclosure that the cupboard was bare, Mr. Aziz said, sent morale plummeting.

Much of this material is included in a secret history prepared by the American military of how Mr. Hussein and his commanders fought their war. Posing as military historians, American analysts interrogated more than 110 Iraqi officials and military officers, treating some to lavish dinners to pry loose their secrets and questioning others in a detention center at the Baghdad airport or the Abu Ghraib prison. United States military officials view the accounts as credible because many were similar. In addition, more than 600 captured Iraqi documents were reviewed.

Overseen by the Joint Forces Command, an unclassified version of the study is to be made public soon. A classified version was prepared in April 2005. Titled ''Iraqi Perspectives on Operation Iraqi Freedom, Major Combat Operations,'' the study shows that Mr. Hussein discounted the possibility of a full-scale American invasion.

*****

Overall, it's a fascinating article, with main focus being on Hussein's own paranoia and ineptness, and how those qualities played into the U.S. insistence that Iraq had WMD.

[mikewrona]

[QUOTE=avet]HOW DOES IT GO?

WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE,....... [QUOTE]



_______________________________________________


Did you know about this one?

"He was a 27-year-old Saudi. Tim Osman (Ossman) has recently become better known as Osama Bin Ladin. "Tim Osman" was the name assigned to him by the CIA for his tour of the U.S. and U.S. military bases, in search of political support and armaments."

[avet]

Nope. Unbelievable, they fund him, give him protection, weapons, the keys to the city, then it takes trillions, and many lives, to undo what they done.

This secracy sh** has to stop, before it wipes us out as a nation.

[avet]

Earlier today, I was watching a special about the Robert Kennedy assination, and I thought, they nearly wiped out the entire Kennedy family. Why? Cause they were going to shatter the CIA.

Way too much secracy, power, and top secret funding. I believe a lot of it is actually in the drug trade.

Due to persistent problems with the CIA and their continual involve- ment in matters which were not their concern, Kennedy declared that he was going to shatter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter them to the winds. Even former president Truman, who had created the CIA, expressed concerns about their behavior. Kennedy was apparently going to leave their destruction until after the next election but did start withdrawing troops from Vietnam, much to the dislike of the CIA.

Although he denies it, there is a growing body of evidence that George Bush was working for the CIA as early as 1961. Many feel he was actually recruited during his college days (which is when he joined the Skull and Bones Society, a front for the Illuminati).

The various biographies of Bush are all sketchy on this phase of his life.

When Bush was picked to be director of the CIA in 1976, he testified to Congress that he had never worked for the CIA before. Of course, it did not make much sense to appoint a director who had no such back- ground but Congress approved him anyway. Now it would seem that Bush committed perjury in his congressional testimony.

[colossus27]

Fireman,

The U.S. military has already concluded, based on its own investigation, that Saddam had no WMD when the U.S. invaded, and hadn't had them for a while.

I've a question about this...why was Hussein ducking the UN demands?

[mikewrona]

I've a question about this...why was Hussein ducking the UN demands?

What demands are you referring to?

UN weapons inspectors found no Weapons of Mass Destruction.

[atotaltotalfan2001]

I've a question about this...why was Hussein ducking the UN demands?

According to the article, he was trying to be coy on purpose. He didn't want his other enemies, Iran but also his internal enemies, to know he didn't have WMD anymore -- that would have left him totally vulnerable. And he really didn't think the US would invade.

For some reason, I'm having trouble sending a link of the entire article and, if I remember correctly, the NYT has a fit if you put up an entire article. I'll keep trying. Whether you agreed with the war or not, the article (actually there is a series) are interesting for the inside view of what Iraq was doing.....

[fireman]

The Iraqi dictator was so secretive and kept information so compartmentalized that his top military leaders were stunned when he told them three months before the war that he had no weapons of mass destruction, and they were demoralized because they had counted on hidden stocks of poison gas or germ weapons for the nation's defense.


In December 2002, he told his top commanders that Iraq did not possess unconventional arms, like nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, according to the Iraq Survey Group, a task force established by the C.I.A. to investigate what happened to Iraq's weapons programs. Mr. Hussein wanted his officers to know they could not rely on poison gas or germ weapons if war broke out. The disclosure that the cupboard was bare, Mr. Aziz said, sent morale plummeting.

Assuming arguendo that the Iraqi generals' are credible, it was certainly reasonable for the western intelligence agencies to conclude Iraq had wmds, wasn't it?

[atotaltotalfan2001]

Assuming arguendo that the Iraqi generals' are credible, it was certainly reasonable for the western intelligence agencies to conclude Iraq had wmds, wasn't it?

I don't know. We all know the U.S. intelligence sucked in Iraq. But the same article notes that Saddam's own paranoia and ineptitude played into Bush's insistence from the very beginning that Saddam had WMD and was ready to use them on us.

Apparently, Saddam was more worried about Iran and his multitudes of internal enemies discovering he had no WMD than he was about the U.S. finding out. He didn't think the US would invade, so he figured, the article says, it was easier to be coy -- keeping the US guessing but also fooling those whom he considered the real threat.

That, IMO, doesn't excuse Bush rushing into war with nothing but flimsy, cobbled together "intelligence" that was incredibly far off base. Whatever he says, I believe Bush wanted to invade Iraq even before he won election. He and his neocon buddies were determined, and that helped them turn a blind eye to whatever they didn't want to see about the crediblity of their intelligence on Iraq.

Be that as it may, the article is still fascinating as a look at one element of how the Iraq mess evolved.