A Look Back At Powell's Case For War
Four Years Ago, Then-Secretary Of State Made Dramatic U.N. Speech About WMDs In Iraq
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A Look At Powell's WMD Speech
Exactly four years ago, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the Bush administration's Iraq invasion by claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. David Martin reports.
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Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the United Nations Security Council Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003 at U.N. headquarters. (CBS/AP)
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Former U.S. Secretary of State General Colin Powell holds a news conference at the City College of New York on December 5, 2006 in New York City. (Getty Images)
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Powell's Pitch
See for yourself whether the key evidence in Colin Powell's U.N. presentation on Iraq's weapons program was misrepresented to the American public.
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That statement about the evidence Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction was made by one of the most trusted men in America, CBS News correspondent David Martin reports. Weapons inspector David Kay remembers being impressed.
"It was partly because it came with Powell's reputation as much as the individual facts," Kay recalls.
He assumed the intelligence Powell had unveiled was only the tip of the iceberg.
"We have first-hand descriptions of biological weapons factories on wheels and on rails," Powell said in that speech.
"To have detailed diagrams of what those labs looked like, seemed to me, it meant that you had pretty detailed intelligence from inside the program," Kay says.
But after the invasion, Kay was put in charge of finding the WMD, and he found out where those diagrams came from.2003 Video: Powell At The U.N.
2003 Video: 'Giant Jigsaw Puzzle'
2003 Video: Powell Interview
"It was a single source, a source that the U.S. intelligence had never, at that point, talked to. Didn't know his name," Kay says.
The person was, in fact, a fabricator.
The intelligence about Iraq was not all wrong. On the eve of the invasion, CIA analysts, including Paul Pillar, warned the aftermath could get ugly.
"It would be long. It would be turbulent. It would be filled with conflict and probably violence," Pillar had said.
But former CIA officer and now-CBS consultant John Brennan says the administration passed over that intelligence.
"I don't think there was enough attention paid to those assessments that said after the war, after the invasion, there's going to be difficulty in the streets of Iraq and in Baghdad," Brennan says.
Bad intelligence about WMD started the war, but it can't be blamed for all that has happened since.
"We would still have the same bloodshed, instability and destruction even if we did uncover those treasure troves of purported weapons," Brennan says.
Powell now says his U.N. speech will forever be a blot on his reputation.
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2003 Video: Powell At The U.N.



Colin Powell was the good soldier. He did what Bush told him to do, which was to try to scare everyone into going after a man who, according to Bush, tried to "kill his dad."
If Colin Powell had any credibility whatsoever, he would have quit long before his white powder song and dance at the UN.
Saddam was up to his eyeballs in supporting these groups whenever it was in his own best self-interest to do so.
I would invite folks to review Ray Robinson's work at FOXNEWS:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200908,00.html
Saddam was up to his eyeballs in supporting these groups whenever it was in his own best self-interest to do so.
I would invite folks to review Ray Robinson's work at FOXNEWS:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200908,00.html
If we had a good person as president, US would be using our resources to help places like Darfur rather than creating this mayhem in Iraq. Who by the way was no threat to us. I wonder if Iraq had no oil, or if war profiteering was not occuring, would Curious George have invaded Iraq? Imperialism. Why did we elect this @#%*&! Oh yeah... we didn't. Al Gore for Nobel peace prize!
oh and after the scientist report the other day about global warming... do the repub's still thing global warming was made up and used by Gore simply to get elected? Or are they still blinded by the almighty dollar? More tax cuts for the $25 million dollar a year CEO's George! Oh yeah, and cut health provision for uninsured children according to todays budget proposal.
We need to impeach this disaster of an administration! We can't wait another 2 years.
In constructing an apology for Bush invasion plans in his December, 2002, speech to the UN, Powell tossed out the raft of material offered him by Cheney's troops, considering it less than persuasive proof of the case for invasion.
Powell's own disdain for the Cheney argument further erodes the notion Iraq was simply poor CIA intelligence. Cheney's hell-bent focus on Iraq was early, amateurish and obsessive, coloring everything Bush and Cheney said and did. Cheney from the beginning rejected CIA influence, and browbeat CIA professional analysts with his insistent bias against the CIA's own product. It was abundantly clear to all-- especially CIA analyst professionals-- what the politically correct answers had to be.
http://www.foxnews.com/story
/0,2933,200908,00.html
Posted by rocketsbrain
NO THANKS!! FAUX NEWS MAKES PEOPLE STUPID!!
Posted by brendan1973
Chris Matthews reminded us late night of the irony that the Green party cost Al Gore the election. (If Nader had not taken 9000 votes away from him in Florida, Bush could not have pulled off the theft.)
What a lame statement!! Those 'treasure troves' as he called them did not exist!! We should not have invaded that country!!
They shelved every Intelligence report that contradicted what the White House wanted to say. Thats why Cheney sought revenge on that Ambassador with the CIA wife. He was just abusing his power and trying to silence a critic who knew inside info contrary to the puke Bush was spewing at us.
Founded in 1953 by Isaiah L. "Si" Kenen, AIPAC's original name was the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs. According to UCLA political science professor and author, Steven Spiegel, "the tension between the Eisenhower administration and Israeli supporters was so acute that there were rumors (unfounded as it turned out) that the administration would investigate the American Zionist Council. Therefore, an independent lobbying committee was formed, which years later was renamed [AIPAC]." [SPIEGEL, p. 52].[citation needed] Today, AIPAC has over 100,000 members.[1]
Activities and stated goals
AIPAC's stated purpose is to lobby the Congress of the United States on issues and legislation "to ensure that the U.S.-Israel relationship is strong so that both countries can work together" to meet the challenges of "stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, fighting terrorism and achieving peace".[2] It regularly meets with members of Congress and holds events where it can share its views. It also provides analysis of the voting records of U.S. federal representatives and senators with regard to how they voted on legislation related to Israel. AIPAC has been effective in gaining support for Israel among members of Congress and White House administrations.
The New York Times described AIPAC on July 6, 1987 as "a major force in shaping United States policy in the Middle East."
Truly pathetic.
Truly pathetic.
If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they can act with impunity, even in the face of a clear message from the United Nations Security Council and clear evidence of a weapons of mass destruction program."
President Clinton
Address to Joint Chiefs of Staff and Pentagon staff
February 17, 1998
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/17/transcripts/clinton.iraq/
The best way to end that threat once and for all is with a new Iraqi government -- a government ready to live in peace with its neighbors, a government that respects the rights of its people."
President Clinton
Oval Office Address to the American People
December 16, 1998
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/16/transcripts/clinton.html
Truly pathetic.
Posted by easeup at 04:33 PM : Feb 06, 2007
What are you saying? Somehow this excuses the complete and total incompetence of Sir Lies-A-Lot? This excuse's the LIES we were told in the run up to the war? This makes the invasion of a country who had NO WMD's or had nothing to do with the attack on us, okay? God how low are you fascist willing to stoop to defend this pathetic LOSER? You people make my skin crawl!!
Just shows how big a bunch of suckers we all were. Thing is, we're at a "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" moment now. We know we've been duped, the question is do we sit back and say "you got me" or do we throw the bums out?
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by skyk-2009
February 7, 2007 8:56 AM PST
- Knowing what we know now and knowing what Cheney knew then and watching the video of Powell just makes me sick! How corrupt is this Nazi, Cheney? He sent THOUSANDS of our kids off to die in a Desert looking for weapons KNOWING and being told what would happen regardless if they found them or not. Can we live with ourselves and allow this KILLER to walk amoung us? I sure hope not.
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