Iraq War Inquiry, Day Three

On Sept 11 2001 Condi Rice, within hours of the devestation, was already sure al Qaeda did the hijackings and attacks but was also Already Mentioning Iraq as being Involved, or hoping so! To me I keep seeing a picture forming that they weren't interested At All in seeking out bin Laden nor even al Qaeda members, but Were Hell Bent On Regime Change In Iraq, which was already being discussed and pushed prior to Sept 11 2001. They had no concern for seeking out those who were a part of this extremely destructive criminal act against our Nation and it's Citizens, nor seemingly concern or thought as to the victims of the three extremely destructive acts, Saddam was on their minds!!

Iraq inquiry hears about Blair shift on regime change

George W. Bush and Tony Blair appeared to have "converged" on regime change in Iraq after talks at the U.S. president's Texas ranch in April 2002, a former British ambassador to Washington said on Thursday.

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"I know what the Cabinet Office says were the results of the meeting but to this day I am not entirely clear what degree of convergence was, if you like, signed in blood at the Crawford ranch," Meyer told a British inquiry into the Iraq war.

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"There are clues in the speech that Tony Blair gave the next day ... To the best of my knowledge, I may be wrong, this was the first time that Tony Blair had said in public 'regime change'," Meyer said.

"What he was trying to do was to draw the lessons of 9/11 and apply them to the situation in Iraq which led -- I think not inadvertently but deliberately -- to a conflation of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein."

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Meyer said that on Sept. 11, 2001, he spoke to Condoleezza Rice, then Bush's national security adviser, who said there was no doubt the attack on America was an al Qaeda operation and agencies were looking into possible connections with Iraq.

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The former ambassador said that the "unforgiving nature" of the military timetable for an invasion of Iraq in 2003 did not give time for U.N. weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix to do their job in Iraq.

"It was impossible to see how Blix could bring the inspection process to a conclusion, for better or worse, by March," Meyer said.

"... you had to short-circuit the inspection process by finding the notorious smoking gun ... We found ourselves scrabbling for the smoking gun, which was another way of saying 'it's not that Saddam has to prove that he's innocent, we've now bloody well got to try and prove that he's guilty.'"

"And we -- the Americans, the British -- have never really recovered from that because of course there was no smoking gun."..>>>>>

From "The American Conservative":

Britain’s Iraq Inquiry

We are only two days in, and already we have “learned” that (for the benefit of the American market) there was no link to 9/11, that there were no WMD, and that Saddam Hussein would have been toppled by an internal coup anyway.

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And why doesn’t everyone on the British Right who admires the American neoconservatives ask what it is about them that makes them so attractive to Tony Blair, of all people? If he loves them so much, then why do they? Likewise, to the Bush supporters now accruing to Palin, do some digging into Blair’s domestic record. If Bush loved Blair so much, then why did and why do you love Bush?...>>>>>

Reporter's Podcast: Britain Launches Iraq War Inquiry

A British inquiry opened this week looking into the country's participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Paul Davies of Independent Television News describes testimony that the Bush Administration mentioned Iraq on the day of the 9/11 attacks...>>>>>

Iraq inquiry's game-changing evidence

Sir Christopher Meyer's evidence has surely made it impossible to claim that Iraq was about WMD and not regime change

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At the Iraq inquiry this morning, Sir Christopher Meyer has let so many cats out of the bag that it is hard to keep up with them all. He has confirmed that by the time Tony Blair met George Bush at Crawford, Texas in April 2002, Blair had already agreed to regime change. Meyer and others had told the US administration about this change of heart in March 2002. The "UN route" was a way to justify the war but the inspectors were never given the chance to do their job.

Or did we know all that already? Ever since the war, there has been a massive gulf between what various leaked documents have shown and the official version. Previous inquiries have failed to close that gap. Now Meyer, who was the UK ambassador to Washington at the time, has done exactly that.

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Meyer said that the plan initially worked perfectly, with the passing in November 2002 of UN security council resolution 1441, which put the emphasis on Saddam Hussein. The US hoped that it would provide a tripwire to justify war but it did not. As we know now, there were no WMD.

This turned 1441 on its head. The military timetable, with war slated for March 2003, did not allow the inspections to work. There was a desperate scrabble for a smoking gun and attention turned to claims of Iraqi non-co-operation. Unfortunately, in March 2003, Hans Blix reported increased co-operation.

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It looks as if Sir John Chilcot was right – in Meyer's case – to expect candour, given the mountain of evidence that the inquiry has. Meyer made clear that he was aware of these papers, none of which have yet been officially published. Unfortunately, Meyer said that many of his dispatches, warning of problems to come, are missing from the inquiry's otherwise excellent archive, which is of course dependent on disclosure by the government.

It looks as if the cover-up is continuing, but being botched this time....>>>>>

Christopher Meyer at Iraq war inquiry: Minute-by-minute coverage of Sir John Chilcot's investigation into the war in Iraq

The Downing Street Documents

Text of the Christopher Meyer Letter - March 18, 2002 memo from Christopher Meyer (UK ambassador to the US) to David Manning (UK Foreign Policy Advisor) recounting Meyer’s meeting with Paul Wolfowitz (US Deputy Secretary of Defense).

Sky News: Iraq Inquiry - Day 3

There was intrigue today from the moment it began - or didn't. Sir Christopher Meyer was late for his appearance delaying the start for some 40 minutes. He stated that it was for "reasons almost out of my control." Almost? What could he mean? He didn't elaborate.

"That George Bush was Calling the Shots"


Anyway - he got straight into a fascinating account of his time as the UK's man in Washington. And he didn't disappoint.

His task was to explain the relationship between Bush and Blair, how that relationship developed and how the stance of both America and the UK changed towards Iraq between 2001 and the invasion in March 2003...>>>>>

Iraq inquiry: stand up and be tweeted

After day three of the Iraq war inquiry, a picture is emerging of America's determination to invade - and the details are getting the Twittersphere spinning.

He is famous for being the man sent to Washington to "get up the arse of the White House and stay there".

But now Sir Christopher Meyer has told the Iraq war inquiry "there was a large chunk of time" in which no adviser was present as Tony Blair and George W Bush discussed the grounds on which to invade Iraq...>>>>>

It was all about Blair

The evidence on Iraq is now clear. The former PM was dizzied by Bush, and misled gullible MPs

The limitations of the Chilcot inquiry are obvious. It is a group of establishment trusties, evidence will not be on oath and the government is doing its best to keep key documents from the inquiry. Even yesterday, in the very first week of the inquiry, former British ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, mentioned four key documents that he knew existed but the Chilcot inquiry had not seen.

But despite everything, the truth is coming to light. One key revelation from Meyer's evidence is that Washington decided they wanted to invade Iraq and then scrabbled around for supporting evidence. As he put it: "The real problem, which I did draw several times to the attention of London, was that the contingency military timetable had been decided before the UN inspectors went in under Hans Blix." In other words, the inspections were a charade. The Americans were never much interested in the results. They had made up their minds...>>>>>

Chilcot inquiry: Tony Blair decided on Iraq war a year before invasion - envoy

Chilcot inquiry: Tony Blair's government never considered opting out or opposing George Bush's plan to invade Iraq. Photograph: Luke Frazza/EPA

Tony Blair's government decided up to a year before the Iraq invasion that it was "a complete waste of time" to resist the US drive to oust Saddam Hussein, opting instead to offer advice on how it should be done, the former British ambassador to Washington said today.

Sir Christopher Meyer, testifying to the Chilcot inquiry into Britain's role in the war, made it clear that once the Bush administration decided to take military action, the Blair government never considered opting out or opposing it...>>>>>

Britain 'had to prove Saddam was guilty'

The US had wanted to depose Saddam Hussein for years before the invasion, the war inquiry has heard. (AFP)

The Iraq war inquiry in London has been told that the United States' insistence on going to war left Britain scrabbling for evidence of dangerous weapons to justify the invasion.

The former British ambassador to the United States, Sir Christopher Meyer, has been giving evidence on the third day of hearings.

Sir Christopher arrived in Washington in 1997 and held his role as chief conduit between London and Washington until 2003.

He told the inquiry that regime change in Iraq was US policy under the Democrats led by Bill Clinton.

He recalled conversations with the former US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz during which the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was first mentioned...>>>>>

They may be still trying to coverup some of what was going on, as mentioned earlier about talk of regime change long before 9/11, but with these pieces of information being spoken that coverup will fall apart rather rapidly, too many heads were in the game of criminality of the coming terror to be wrought on the Iraqi people and continuing on the Afghans as the drums beat away from al Qaeda and bin Laden!!

Iraq Inquiry Digest Everything about the Chilcot Inquiry in one place

Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war Follow the action as inquiry into one of the most contentious decisions of modern times begins hearing evidence

Iraq War Inquiry

Lest anyone forget, even though these are being held in Britain, that the cheney/bush administration, especially rummy, were telling the Inspectors they knew Exactly where the Chem and Bio weapons were located but as the Inspectors kept calling for those locations the administration kept saying they couldn't release that information to them as it would Compromise Intelligence Gathering, and we all remember Powell at the UN, talk about intelligence?!!!!

Iraq war inquiry hears intelligence on Saddam 'patchy' in run-up to conflict

The department's officials told how ministers heard that knowledge of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes was "sporadic" in the years up to the invasion of 19-20 March 2003. In September 2002 the intelligence "remained limited", they heard. Yet Blair that month described Saddam's banned weapons programme as "active, detailed and growing" and said the picture emerging was "detailed and authoritative"...>>>>>

Nick Clegg: crying wolf in 2003 destroyed all trust in Britain's leaders

The opening of the inquiry into the Iraq war reminded me that one of the greatest tragedies of Labour’s foreign policy is that they focused on Iraq, not Afghanistan. They focused on winning the argument for an unjustified war, instead of winning a justified war....>>>>>

One point, raised the last two days and heard again at the end of the video report, is the talk of regime change in Iraq prior to 9/11 having ramped up and going from the U.S. State Department and sanctions to the Pentagon and regime change, directly after that tragic day. I'm getting the picture, already had but clearer now, the Administration wasn't concerned at all with al Qaeda and bin Laden, thus 9/11, they wanted Saddam gone, reason the Ghost Enemy has grown, al Qaeda, and bin Laden and the so called top leaders of are still out there!

Iraq wasn't the biggest threat, war inquiry hears

The Iraq war inquiry in London has heard that Britain's international security chiefs considered Iraq was not as big a threat as three other rogue states.

The Chilcot inquiry has now heard two days of evidence from the most senior Foreign Office officials who received and analyzed intelligence on Iraq for two years before the war and in the year after the invasion.

It has emerged that Britain's Foreign Office also told former prime minister Tony Blair that Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction had been dismantled, 10 days before Britain invaded Iraq.

Overnight, the head of international security in that office, Sir William Ehrman, told the inquiry that Britain had never found any evidence to substantiate claims coming from the White House that Saddam Hussein had a link to Al Qaeda.

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"After 9/11 we concluded that the Iraqis had actually stepped further back, that they didn't want to be associated with Al Qaeda," he said.

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Not only were there no nuclear or chemical weapons considered dangerous, but the UK's intelligence community ranked Iraq fourth on a list of states posing the greatest risk to Britain's national security.

Iran, North Korea and Libya were all thought to be bigger threats...>>>>>

Iran has only grown in that region, North Korea has only continued to advance as well, especially in long range rocket development, but Libya a more dangerous threat then Iraq, and now the United States and Libya are good friends according to the cheney/bush administration, Hmmmmm!!

British Officials: Little Pre-War Evidence of al-Qaida-Iraq Link

Two senior British officials say there was no evidence of serious cooperation between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida after the 2003 Iraq invasion, and only sporadic contacts in years before

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Dowes told panel members there was little new intelligence on Iraq or its capacity for weapons of mass destruction since the late 1990s. He said analysts determined those early contacts did not look like collusion, and said he believed U.S. operatives shared that assessment.

Ehrman said there was scattered evidence that Iraq may have possessed disassembled components of chemical-biological weaponry. But he described that data as inconclusive and said analysts generally doubted Baghdad had the technology to deliver such payloads...>>>>>

Britain knew Iraq destroyed weapons but proceeded to invade, inquiry told

SECRET INTELLIGENCE was received by Britain in the days before the Iraq invasion was launched in 2003, indicating Saddam Hussein had destroyed chemical weapons of mass destruction, the Iraq inquiry was told yesterday.

Sir William Ehrman, a senior foreign office figure, said: “We were getting, in the very final days before military action, some intelligence on chemical and biological weapons – that it was dismantled and that Iraq might not have the munitions to deliver it.”...>>>>>

Iraq inquiry focusing on Bush-Blair relationship

Many UK politicians criticised Tony Blair's closeness to George Bush

Tony Blair "sealed his reputation" in America by his support for the US after 9/11, the UK's former ambassador to the US has told the Iraq war inquiry.

Sir Christopher Meyer said Mr Blair and President George Bush "got on" from the moment they met in 2001 and that their relationship "warmed" after that...>>>>>

Iraq Inquiry Digest Everything about the Chilcot Inquiry in one place

Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war Follow the action as inquiry into one of the most contentious decisions of modern times begins hearing evidence

VVA, et al vs CIA, et al - Edgewood Testvets

Morrison & Foerster Files Suit Against CIA, DoD, and U.S. Army on Behalf of Troops Exposed to Testing of Chemical and Biological Weapons at Edgewood Arsenal and Other Top Secret Sites

Press Release: 01/07/2009

What: Complaint Filed—Vietnam Veterans of America, et al. v. CIA, et al.

Where: United States District Court, Northern District of California

SAN FRANCISCO (January 7, 2009) – Attorneys at Morrison & Foerster LLP have filed an unprecedented action against the Defense Department, the CIA, and other government institutions based upon failures to care for those veterans who “volunteered” in thousands of secret experiments to test toxic chemical and biological substances under code names such as MKULTRA. The new case comes on the heels of an earlier case the firm filed on behalf of veterans afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”), which is now pending in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The firm is handling both cases on a pro bono basis.

The current action was brought in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, on behalf of the Vietnam Veterans of America and six aging veterans with multiple diseases and ailments tied to a diabolical and secret testing program, whereby U.S. military personnel were deliberately exposed, by government and military agencies, to chemical and biological weapons and other toxins without informed consent. This multifaceted research program, which was launched in the early 1950s and continued through at least 1976, was conducted not only at the Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick, Maryland, but also across America by universities and hospitals under contract to Defendants.

Defendants include the CIA, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense (“DoD”), and various government officials responsible for these agencies. The CIA secretly provided financing, personnel, and direction for the experiments, which were mainly conducted or contracted by the Army.

Read Rest Here as Well as Contact Information

The complaint can be viewed at Vietnam Veterans of America, et al. v. Central Intelligence Agency, et al..

The Trial You'll Never See

Videos: Saddam’s American Allies: The Trial You'll Never See
Former “60 Minutes” producer and author Barry Lando connects the dots between Saddam Hussein and his American backers in this powerful documentary. Watch this!


PART 1



PART 2



And lets revisit Erics Thanks For The Memories, over at bushflash, for a better understand of the U.S. Saddam connections!