News and Politics | August 05, 2008 | 37 comments

Did the White House order forgery?

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Tori
According to a new book out from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ron Suskind (formerly of the Wall Street Journal), the CIA, at the request of the White House, forged a backdated letter "from" the head of Iraqi intelligence "to" Saddam Hussein that discusses Mohammad Atta training for the 9/11 mission in Iraq...thus making a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq.

The letter itself has been written about before - it was passed to a journalist in 2003 and was written about as a genuine letter, discussed on the news show circuit etc.

The White House and then-CIA director George Tenet are adamantly denying the claims.

Ron Suskind is a pretty well-respected journalist and author, and Journalism 101 teaches you not to make claims like these unless you trust your sources. But they are huge allegations... Thoughts?
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    News and Politics,   Current News US,   9/11
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    News and Politics Iraq Current News US Iraq War 10 more
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37 comments // Did the White House order forgery?

  • Logos51891
    • 0
      Logos51891  
    • At this point, it doesn't matter what happens. A few Americans will complain, but the rest of us will go on with our daily lives, consuming every good and service in sight and continue to trust this administration to do the right thing.

    • 3 years ago
  • Wreyeter
  • kennymotown
    • 0
      kennymotown  
    • Don't forget John McCain going on the letterman and telling telling Dave that the Anthrax came from Iraq to help beat the drums of. GOGGLE IT, if you don't believe me.

    • 3 years ago
  • oreo4sho
  • whocontrolstheworld
    • 0
      whocontrolstheworld  
    • Why aren't we doing anything about this?

      How can this man/administration still be in power with so many blatant falsities slapping us in the face?

      When is the time to cause a change? We can't just wait for it because that will set the low bar for all those who come next.

      This is really ridiculous.

    • 3 years ago
  • Marilynn_Murray
  • iloveravi
    • 0
      iloveravi  
    • It doesn't matter what they did or didn't do at this point.

      Really, what would it take for americans to rise up against their evil administration?

      Face it, bush could start eating babies, alive, on national television and you'd still all be standing around debating if impeachment was right for the country or not.

      I hear alot about supporting the troops but does that mean supporting them into death and dismemberment to earn money for Haliburton?

      Fuck, to make it all worse, you ditched a president for lying about a blowjob!!!!

      Your country is officially a lost cause.

    • 3 years ago
  • intelligenceisacurse
  • sonnydenbow
    • 0
      sonnydenbow  
    • iloveravi:

      As an American I can tell you, there is little people can do to change our government's policies. Vote them out of office, you say? Sure, but the next guy will be just as bad. The line between Republican and Democrat is quickly fading. And if you think anyone from another party is going to get elected, think again. No, only a revolution or a civil war will stop our politicians. And with the Patriot Act firmly in place you can rest assured that will never happen. So my advice to you? Stay away from the good old U.S. of A. and plan for another world war, with my country picking up where Germany left off.

    • 3 years ago
  • extblues
    • 0
      extblues  
    • There is an historical corollary to all of this: go to Wikipedia and look up "The Gulf of Tonkin Incident."

      As for the current situation, all I can say is that it doesn't come as a complete surprise. Before the "start of combat operations" in '03 there was plenty of circumstantial evidence from declassified sources (...like from the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, to give only two examples) that disproved the Bush Administration's claims of the Iraq/Al Qaeda connection and of WMD's.

      Also, pre-invasion Iraq wasn't exactly the place were aa WMD program of the scale claimed by Bush and his cronies could exactly thrive. With the UN sanctions crippling it's economy, the widespread corruption of Saddam Hussein's Baath party regime (...which included the infamous "Oil For Food" program), and a military that was still trying to recover from the first Gulf War, Iraq wasn't much of a threat to anyone, except for perhaps its own citizens.

      So, even if it can be proven beyond a doubt that Bush "cooked the books" in order to to go to war, the blame for swallowing such flimsy excuses lies with the Republicans, Democrats and those who served them.

    • 3 years ago
  • gnorimo
  • hollowman218
  • enum_Bossman
  • cheakywillie
  • Dmitri_Molotov
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  
    • Good question Conniepae.

      The Dems wanna win. They just don't want to risk anything until after all the elections are over and it's "safe" for them to take actions.

      The second phase of their plan is that (fingers crossed!) by the time THAT future date rolls around we'll have forgotten all about this and there will be no pressure on them to do anything and then that can safely....forget the whole thing.

      THe Dems aren't so much a party of starry-eyed idealists but rather a bunch of aging career politicans that really don't care about much....except holding on to their cushy jobs and health benefits.

      Bringing criminals to justice is not even on their radar screen. Well, except for Dennis.

    • 3 years ago
  • Conniepae
    • 0
      Conniepae  
    • A big question, when did Congress learn of Ron Suskinds charges? Did they know before they left Washington and choose to just move along?

    • 3 years ago
  • jkw077
    • 0
      jkw077  
    • I don't think a White House that would pursue a war leading to the deaths of over 500,000 people and American soldiers would think twice about having a letter forged.

    • 3 years ago
  • Conniepae
    • 0
      Conniepae  
    • jkw077:

      They had done it in the past and America just moved along. Joe Wilson exposed their forged yellow cake document and they exposed his wife, a covert agent. They were not held accountable then, they won't be held accountable now. Congress just moves along!

      By the way, is Ron Suskind married? Will his wife and children be fair game? Tit-for-tat, minus accountability and shame. SAD! SAD! SAD!

    • 3 years ago
  • Conniepae
    • 0
      Conniepae  
    • John McCain and the Republicans are grandstanding, trying to demand Congress come back and authorize offshore drilling.

      I think John McCain and the Republicans are correct. Congress should come back. They should come back and address the charges in Ron Suskinds book. Get answers to the questions. DID THE WHITE HOUSE ORDER ANOTHER FORGERY, WHICH WAS USED TO MISLEAD AMERICANS TO WAR?

      The energy crisis can't be solved by Congress returning to Washington to give oil companies the right to offshore drilling, but questions could be answered about Ron Suskinds charges. I think they should call special hearings to address the forgery charges. Wouldn't that be something to watch. The Democrats wouldn't have to campaign, they could do their jobs to get votes. Talk is cheap! Arent we tired of lip service. All bark and no bite. No wonder CNN mocks them.

      But alas, they are on vacation. Yee ha! Living a dream, aint it great?

    • 3 years ago
  • Dmitri_Molotov
  • Conniepae
  • bansheewail
    • 0
      bansheewail  
    • When is Nancy Pelosi going to borrow John Conyers' pair of balls, or the other way around. I don't care as long as somebody grows a pair. I understand why Republicans hate liberals so much. Is there a Progrssive in the house? Is there a Liberatarian in the house? Is there a doctor in the house? 'cause I'm going to have a heart attack if some action isn't taken, and soon!

      I think the Democrats may be afraid of being framed by history as the party that lost the war in Iraq, because they went after the Commander and chief during wartime. It's awfully weak leadership if you ask me.

    • 3 years ago
  • rube
    • 0
      rube  
    • Theres a place in hell for the GOP...
      Right next to all other extremists!

      and Mccain is "W"s blood brother?
      That’s the rumor?

    • 3 years ago
  • fuhleesha
  • Bigdog_mike
  • MeganMcKenzie
  • lovelydacey
  • jdimino
  • Tori
  • geneonlbk
    • 0
      geneonlbk  
    • Let's see. First this past week we have Chaney plotting to fool the American people once again and nuke Iran.

      Now we find out that Bushit lied to America yet again about "his" reasons to slaughter thousands of American boys and girls and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis.

      Are you sick yet?

    • 3 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  
    • I heard Ron discussing his book on NPR this morning and one of the interesting aspects that makes me a believer is that our government paid $5 million dollars to the director of the Iraqi intelligence service in the last years of Hussein’s regime, Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti.

      The book alleges that Habbush, Saddam's intelligence chief, was in CIA protective custody after the 2003 invasion, that the White House ordered CIA officials to have Habbush write and backdate the letter, and paid him $5 million. The author quotes two former CIA officials who claim to have seen a draft of the letter on White House stationery.

      Is the reporter credible? Yes. Pulitzer prizes generally imply high journalistic standards.

      Is he quoting first hand credible witnesses to the event? Yes (I'd say the sworn statements of two CIA officials claiming to have personally seen the draft letter ranks as credible -- as well as numerous individuals who agreed only to speak off the record who corroborate the same details given by the two CIA officals)

      Is allegation consistent with other "honest mistakes" of the Bush's Administration? Yes. (The Nigerian Yellow Cake lie repeated in the State of the Union Address was not "accidentally" left in the speech -- it was proof read and vetted by numerous people. It was left in specifically to be "evidence" to justify our invasion)

      So, yeah, I think they did try to bribe the guy to write a "magic letter" that would corroborate and prove every single claim that had made prior to the invasion.

    • 3 years ago
  • Swiyyah
  • MeganMcKenzie
    • 0
      MeganMcKenzie  
    • I am sure the White House, Bush et al, did order a forgery. There is too much evidence to think otherwise. He should have been impeached years ago and yet our "elected officials" have let him get away with murder and I mean that literally.

    • 3 years ago
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