Sen. Levin publishes documents showing Bush's war declaration was a lie
[Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) has released newly declassified documents showing that
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney lied in public
statements about Iraq's relationship to Islamic terrorism in the run-up to the
Iraq war, reports Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News.[1] -- The press release
from Sen. Levin's office, with links to .pdf files of the reports, is
reproduced below.[2] -- What neither Aftergood nor Sen. Levin's press
release point out, but which deserves emphasis, is that this evidence
demonstrates that when President George W. Bush wrote, in his March 18, 2003
letter to Congress, that "Consistent with section 3(b) of the Authorization
for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law
107-243), and based on information available to me, including that in the
enclosed document, I determine that: (1) reliance by the United States on
further diplomatic and other peaceful means alone will neither (A) adequately
protect the national security of the United States against the continuing
threat posed by Iraq nor (B) likely lead to enforcement of all relevant United
Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and (2) acting pursuant
to the Constitution and Public Law 107-243 is consistent with the United
States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against
international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations,
organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the
terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001,"[3] he was affirming
what he either knew not to be the case, or what he should have known not to be
the case, and that therefore (1) the legal basis of the Iraq war and the
subsequent occupation of Iraq is null and void, and (2) the president would
appear *prima facie* to be guilty of the high crime of waging a war of
aggression, as defined by the U.S. prosecutors in the Nuremberg Trials.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Trials) -- As James Carroll wrote on
Dec. 7, 2004, in the *Boston Globe*, (http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/1978/)
"The war itself is the American war crime." --Mark]
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2628/
1.
LEVIN: IRAQ-AL QAEDA LINK WAS EXAGGERATED
By Steven Aftergood
Secrecy News
April 18, 2005
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) last week released newly declassified documents to
support his contention that the Bush Administration exaggerated the
relationship between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda to build the case for
war against Iraq.
"These documents are additional compelling evidence that the Intelligence
Community did not believe there was a cooperative relationship between Iraq
and al Qaeda, despite public comments by the highest ranking officials in our
government to the contrary," Levin said.
See "Levin Releases Newly Declassified Intelligence Documents on Iraq-al Qaeda
Relationship," April 15:
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2005_cr/levin041505.html
A congressional investigation into possible misuse and misrepresentation of
intelligence by the Bush Administration prior to the Iraq war, promised last
year, will be completed, said Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Sen. Pat
Roberts last week on NBC Meet the Press.
2.
[Press release]
For Immediate Release
DOCUMENTS SHOW ADMINISTRATION CLAIMS WERE EXAGGERATED
Office of Senator Carl Levin
April 15, 2005
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2005_cr/levin041505.html
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., today released documents recently
declassified at his request that illustrate that some claims of a cooperative
relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda made by top administration officials in
support of the Iraq war were contrary to what U.S. intelligence officials
believed to be true.
"These documents are additional compelling evidence that the Intelligence
Community did not believe there was a cooperative relationship between Iraq
and al Qaeda, despite public comments by the highest ranking officials in our
government to the contrary," Levin said. "At a time when the Senate is
considering nominees for the newly restructured leadership of the Intelligence
Community, these documents remind us of the need to strengthen the
independence and objectivity of intelligence assessments, and to guard against
the misuse or exaggeration of intelligence by policymakers."
The documents that Levin released undermine Administration claims regarding 1)
Iraq's involvement in training al Qaeda operatives, and 2) the likelihood that
a meeting occurred between 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi
intelligence officer in Prague in April 2001.
IRAQI TRAINING OF AL QAEDA MEMBERS:
On October 7, 2002, President Bush asserted that "Iraq has trained al Qaeda
members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases."
However, according to the newly declassified excerpts of classified documents:
--A June 21, 2002 CIA report,
(http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2005_cr/CIAreport.062102.pdf) "Iraq and
al-Qa'ida: Interpreting a Murky Relationship," states that, relative to a
report that Iraq provided chemical and biological weapons assistance to al
Qaeda, "the level and extent of this is assistance is not clear." The
document notes the "many critical gaps" in the knowledge of Iraqi links to al
Qaeda because of "limited reporting" and the "questionable reliability of many
of our sources."
--The October 2, 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's Continuing WMD
Programs states: (http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2005_cr/NIE.100202.pdf) "As
with much of the information on the overall [Iraq-al Qaeda] relationship,
details on training and support are second-hand or from sources of varying
reliability." It also notes that that the Intelligence Community "cannot
determine . . . how many of the reported plans for CBW [Chemical and
Biological Warfare] were actually realized."
--A January 29, 2003 CIA report,
(http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2005_cr/CIAreport.012903.pdf) "Iraqi Support
for Terrorism," discusses the lack of "evidence of completed training," and
says most of the reports of training "do not make clear whether training" was
"actually implemented." It indicates that some number of the reports appeared
to be based on "hearsay," and that others were "simple declarative accusations
of Iraqi-al Qa'ida complicity with no substantiating detail or other
information that might help us corroborate them."
LIKELIHOOD OF ATTA MEETING WITH IRAQI OFFICIALS:
On December 9, 2001, Vice President Cheney said that the Prague meeting had
been "pretty well confirmed," and on September 8, 2002, he said, "Mohamed
Atta, who was the lead hijacker, did apparently travel to Prague on a number
of occasions. And on at least one occasion, we have reporting that places him
in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official a few months before the
attack on the World Trade Center." When asked if the CIA thought the report
of the meeting was credible, he said, "it's credible." On January 9, 2004,
Cheney further said, "We did have reporting that was public, that came out
shortly after the 9/11 attack, provided by the Czech government, suggesting
there had been a meeting in Prague between Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker,
and a man named al-Ani, who was an Iraqi intelligence official in Prague, at
the embassy there, in April of '01, prior to the 9/11 attacks. That was the
one that possibly tied the two together to 9/11."
However, according to the newly declassified documents:
--A June 21, 2002 CIA report,
(http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2005_cr/CIAreport.062102.pdf) "Iraq and
al-Qa'ida: Interpreting a Murky Relationship," states: "Reporting is
contradictory on hijacker Mohammed Atta's alleged trip to Prague and meeting
with an Iraqi intelligence officer, and we have not verified his travels."
--A January 29, 2003 CIA report,
(http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2005_cr/CIAreport.012903.pdf) "Iraqi Support
for Terrorism," states: "some information asserts that Atta met with al-Ani,
but the most reliable reporting to date casts doubt on this possibility."
Levin requested declassification of the document excerpts in April 2004 as
part of his Armed Services Committee minority inquiry into Iraq intelligence
failures. The declassified portions of the documents relate to the
Intelligence Community's analysis of Iraq's connections to al Qaeda, and
demonstrate that the Intelligence Community 1) did not conclude that Iraq had
provided training to al Qaeda in Weapons of Mass Destruction technologies, and
2) that it was skeptical of an alleged meeting between the lead 9/11 hijacker
(Mohammed Atta) and an Iraqi intelligence official in Prague five months
before the 9/11 attacks.
As a key part of its case for going to war, the Bush Administration repeatedly
suggested that Iraq had a significant cooperative relationship with the people
who attacked us on 9/11. The documents provide new, previously classified
details demonstrating that Administration statements about the Iraq-al Qaeda
relationship were not supported by the underlying intelligence.
Source: Office of Sen. Levin
(http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=236440)
3.
News & Policies
March 2003
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 19, 2003
Presidential Letter
TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE
March 18, 2003
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-1.html
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
Consistent with section 3(b) of the Authorization for Use of Military Force
Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), and based on information
available to me, including that in the enclosed document, I determine that:
(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic and other peaceful
means alone will neither (A) adequately protect the national security of the
United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq nor (B) likely lead
to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions
regarding Iraq; and
(2) acting pursuant to the Constitution and Public Law 107-243 is consistent
with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary
actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations,
including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized,
committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
Sincerely,
GEORGE W. BUSH
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