Pentagon cancels release of controversial Iraq report

Pentagon cancels release of controversial Iraq report

www.mcclatchydc.com

— The Pentagon on Wednesday canceled plans for broad public release of a study that found no pre-Iraq war link between late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al Qaida terrorist network.

Rather than posting the report online and making officials available to discuss it, as had been planned, the U.S. Joint Forces Command said it would mail copies of the document to reporters — if they asked for it. The report won't be posted on the Internet.

The reversal highlighted the politically sensitive nature of its conclusions, which were first reported Monday by McClatchy.

In making their case for invading Iraq in 2002 and 2003, President Bush and his top national security aides claimed that Saddam's regime had ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.

But the study, based on more than 600,000 captured documents, including audio and video files, found that while Saddam sponsored terrorism, particularly against opponents of his regime and against Israel, there was no evidence of an al Qaida link.

The study comes at a difficult time for the Bush administration. The fifth anniversary of the Iraq war is approaching on March 19, and Bush is attempting to hold support for a continued large U.S. troop presence there following a report from his on-the-ground commander, Army Gen. David Petraeus, in early April.

Navy Capt. Dennis Moynihan, a spokesman for the Norfolk, Va.-based Joint Forces Command, said, "We're making the report available to anyone who wishes to have it, and we'll send it out via CD in the mail."

Moynihan declined further comment.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, referred questions to Joint Forces Command.

An executive summary of the study says that Saddam's regime had interaction with terrorist groups, including Palestinian terror organizations and some pan-Islamic groups.

But "the predominant targets of Iraqi state terror operations were Iraqi citizens, both inside and outside of Iraq," says the summary, posted online by ABC News.

That confirms what many experts on Saddam's Iraq have long argued: that his security services were dedicated mainly to fighting threats to his rule.

The summary says that Saddam's secular regime increased cooperation with — and attempts to manipulate — Islamic fundamentalists after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, despite being leery of the Islamists. Iraqi leaders "concluded that in some cases, the benefits of associations outweighed the risks," it says.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This puts the "Saddam was involved with al Qaida" lie/theory to rest once and for all. When put alongside the now accepted (by sane individuals) truth that there were no WMDs either, I think we can say that the war served no purpose other than to destroy a country and murder hundreds of thousands.

www.mcclatchydc.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 13-3-2008 by Silenceisall]

That is this administration's approach to things... don't like what reports says, stop publishing them and prevent their release or easy access to them.

I wonder how many reporters in the corporate media will ask for this report and share it with the public.

Further, I wonder how many reporters working for independant outfits will ask for this report and actually recieve it.

Go figure, It will hurt them politically so everyone around them is going to insulate their thin skins from public back lash..What a bunch of cowards.

reply to post by InSpiteOf


Probably not too many. Luckily, though, the Internet bypasses what is basically a sheepish, corporate cheerleader media.

reply to post by Silenceisall


Thats the issue I see here. If the MSM doesnt ask for copies, and somehow, the independant media isnt able to get any, will the public ever see this report? Most independant outlets would probably (IMO) release the report, in full, to the public. That is the only way I see it getting out there.

Send it to whoever asks that's typical when you want to cover up the evidence. That right there sounds like a guilty conscience to me. I wonder how much of the report will be blacked out like mj12 docs was? Here you go heres the report with 90% black out pages. Then they say oh we're not hiding anything!

reply to post by sean


I think the amount of "black out" in the text will indicate how in line the Pentagon now is with the Bush Administration. The more blackout in the text, the less the Pentagon is falling into line. ...my theory

[edit on 13-3-2008 by Silenceisall]

Open question to the Pentagon:

If you guys are the commanders of our military, then how come you shake in your boots when it comes to public discourse? Shouldn't you guys be a little less pussyfied?

They don't make it public because they know they are liars. Liars whom lost their souls and dignity.

If military people don't rise up against this corrupt administration full of corporate criminals to make a change who will? The Media? Same # , same corporate criminals.

We have some brave social hackers here . We just need to call on the mass medias behalf. Start calling and claiming ot be a reporter of your choice . And request the report sent to them, Maybe one of them will read it and see whats going on and write up a report ..

One of us has to know a reporter that would be willing to do this .. My aunt is one of the editors for the wallstreet journal . Wonder if she could possibly help..

Originally posted by oLDWoRLDDiSoRDeR
We have some brave social hackers here . We just need to call on the mass medias behalf. Start calling and claiming ot be a reporter of your choice . And request the report sent to them, Maybe one of them will read it and see whats going on and write up a report ..

One of us has to know a reporter that would be willing to do this .. My aunt is one of the editors for the wallstreet journal . Wonder if she could possibly help..

I'll get this passed on to the Reno Gazette Journal. I'll get back to this thread as soon as I do.