Powell Regrets Saying Iraq Had Weapons Stockpiles

[Purveyor]

HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writer
Friday, October 1, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(10-01) 11:17 PDT ATLANTA (AP) --

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday he regrets the Bush administration claimed that Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in its argument for war, but he believes the world is better off without Saddam Hussein.

--snip--
"The only thing where we got it wrong and where our presentation did not hold up was the actual stockpiles," Powell said. "We've seen nothing to suggest that he had actual stockpiles. That was not right."

He added, "As we've gone back and looked through the intelligence, there are indications that we had bad sourcing that we should have caught. For that I am disappointed and regret that that information was not correct."

--snip--

Link to entire AP article

[Search Party]

1. Kerry's got them on the run

no looking back now.

[r_u_stuck2]

3. Well, He** Powell

I think the world would be better off without Bush as pResident.

[Carla in Ca]

41. The timing of the statement is as surprising

as the statement itself.

[Maddy McCall]

54. Powell might resign BEFORE the end of Bush's term...

That would be delicious!

[displacedtexan]

2. OK! My face now looks like that jaw-dropping DU smilie!

:wow:
:wow:
:wow:
:wow:
:wow:

Yeah, that one!


What is goin' on at 1600 Penn AV?

[phantom power]

4. I bet the families of everyone killed in this war 'regret' it too

I wonder what he'd have to say to them.

[BigBigBear]

5. [Don Adams]Missed it by THAT much[/Don Adams]

Kerry should consider making an overture to Powell, saying he'd welcome him staying on as SoS - Powell could then be allowed to conduct real diplomacy, without getting undercut by his SoD or NSA.

Nah. Dumb idea.

[yardwork]

17. I have to disagree. Powell needs to retire.

Maybe he can write a book or something and salvage some vestige of dignity in his career. We don't need him in Washington, that's for sure.

[truthisfreedom]

18. perhaps if they'd used the cone of silence...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

48. Right. Let's have an SoS that help cover-up My Lai, Agent Orange,...

...Gulf War Syndrome, and the Iraqi WMD fiasco.

What a GREAT idea.

NOT.

[sweetheart]

6. He's a coward, or he'd resign

He lied to the whole planet, and set about endangering the USA,
whilst killing 1000's by his "mistake".... then he should
do the honourable thing.

[reprobate]

27. Which honorable thing, Hara-Kiri?

[sweetheart]

34. Well, it ain't exactly feudal japan

A resignation. If he was a real man, he'd come clean with the
truth... he's gonna die anyways... and a warrior like him should
fear no human being... unless he's a chicken shit, and in that
case he REALLY SHOULD RESIGN.

[hadrons]

7. this is a great quote ....

"The only thing where we got it wrong and where our presentation did not hold up was the actual stockpiles," Powell said. "We've seen nothing to suggest that he had actual stockpiles. That was not right."

Yup Colon, everything was right but the facts

[LynnTheDem]

42. And that "ONLY THING" just happens to have been...

bushCartel's ENTIRE EXCUSE FOR INVASION & OCCUPATION.

[Lizzie Borden]

53. Exactly.

.

[Kikosexy2]

8. Okay..

blame it on the intelligence. For what it's worth, Powell and Co. only come off looking more stupid, more foolish than ever before. Why not come clean and just say we knew the intelligence was no good but Chimpy, Cheney et al insisted on manipulating the public to enter this "illegal" war. Until he or someone else admits that then I'll have some respect for them. Otherwise all apologies come too little, too late!

[MGKrebs]

20. What s/he said.

:thumbsup:

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. They won't get off lightly with this. This was an all time mistake

of epic proportions, this gravity of this has yet to be realized.

[Malva Zebrina]

10. Regrets? He regrets?

He has the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands and all he can say is that he "regrets" lying to us? There are 1,053 American families whose beloved son, daughter, mother father is dead because of Powell's lies, and all he has to say is that he "regrets" it? He could have left a long time ago, like some others did who actually have a conscience. No, he chose to continue to affiliate himself with the Bush crime family, and opportunism has always been his trademark.

Nothing will happen to him. Hey, just be a serial killer and say you regret it and you can go scot free in today's world. Why should he, and the rest of the criminals be allowed to get away with this slaughter ? Why?

Powell, Bush, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and every other sleezy person who surrounds Bush and his fascist White House policies have blood on their hands.

They, especially Bush will not be held accountable and that is the shame of the country. It will all be swept under the rug, indeed, Bush will go on and make up more lies to prove what a great war president he was.

[Career Prole]

38. "As we've gone back and looked through the intelligence,

there are indications that we had bad sourcing that we should have caught. For that I am disappointed and regret that that information was not correct."

I doubt very much he regrets it as much as the thousands of people his friggin' bullshit story killed...and he'd better stop drinking the koolaid and mumbling "the world's a safer place" because every relative of those thousands of dead would love dearly to see him regret a lot more and many would even die for the chance.
Way to go, General Misperception! Don't bother sending a resume to the Kerry administration...your reputation proceeds you.

[louis-t]

11. Powell resigning himself to

the fact that * has been wrong, wrong, wrong. Powell is soooo out of here.

[killbotfactory]

12. Oh, golly!

You're speech enabled Bush to go to war, asshole. You sent all your credibility down the toilet for this insane neocon pipe dream. Go fuck yourself.

[Emillereid]

13. Have these guys no shame?

I mean you take the country to war and invade a sovereign nation and kill and maim thousands of people, destroy a country because you believe that that other country possesses stockpiles of dangerous weapons that they or their surrogates might use against us -- but when that supposition is later discredited, they think it's OK to simply said Oops! we got that wrong: "The only thing where we got it wrong and where our presentation did not hold up was the actual stockpiles," but because Hussein may or may not have had some intentions, it was worth it anyway. People who think like this not only shouldn't be running a country, they should be put on funny farms for their own and our safety! Powell is such a whore!

The takeaway lesson is that the USA not only has the history and intention, but also the weapons of mass destruction, to invade other countries and cause great havoc and death so other countries around the world would be justified to preventatively attack us! I agree that the world would be much better off without Bushit, but I hope the world will permit us the time and space to get rid of the jerk ourselves and not preemptively attack us to get rid of him.

[Jacobin]

14. "only thing we got wrong was the 'actual' stockpiles"

What the fuck did they get right?

That was his whole presentation to the UN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a wanker.

BTW, what is NOT an 'actual stockepile'? An imaginary or fraudulently made up one? Oh, ok, now i get it.

[mazzarro]

22. Damn! you are much quicker to the draw tha I am...

The whole presentations by the administration and its henchmen including Bowell hinged on WMD. The war was predicated on WMD. What is there in anything they said that is not hung on WMD? And for Bowell to still assert that there is something they did right is a pure falacy. Yes, SH was bad and contemptible, but that was not the reason for the war. Disposing him would have been a matter of time; but that would have denied chimpCo of the opportunity to get their hnads onto Iraqi oil.

[Sagan]

15. Well, now.. here's the thing, Colin...

The whole misAdministration's case for war was based on the "imminent threat" that those fictitious stockpiles represented. You would have never gotten any kind of approval for war without those lies.

[Jacobin]

35. Well, just 'cause he didn't have the ACTUAL WMD's I mean

come on.......Colin gave him some imaginary ones.....won't that do?

[readmylips]

16. Kerry last night really embarrassed the Colon...

Kerry praised Colon the hero and added, how embarrassing it was for Mr. Powell to have apologized for using distorted (lies) information at the UN conference.

[yardwork]

21. Kerry got many, many zingers in last night disguised as compliments

I had a lot of respect for Kerry before. Now I have deep respect for his cool deviousness.

Last night for the first time I thought, "I'm glad that Kerry and Edwards are on my side. I would not want them as enemies."

I have a feeling that a lot of bushco criminals may be getting the same idea. What will the cornered rats do next?

[wrate]

19. Too late Mr. Powell, thanks to your irresponsible statements thousands upon

thousands of innocent persons have died. Sweet dreams!

[MGKrebs]

23. How about the link to Al Qaida, Colin?

You got that wrong too, didn't you?
Oh, and the drones.
Oh wait, I thought there were WMD laden ships MIA? Wrong.
Troop strength? Oops.
Iraqi Army resistance? Even Chimpy admits we messed up there.
Iraqi civilian response? Dang. Missed that one too.

In fact, I'm not sure I can think of anything they got right!

[NNN0LHI]

24. Is Powell lying now or was he lying before? Or Both? n/t

[snowFLAKE]

31. Was he lying Way Back Then, Back Then, or Now

Early 2001, No WsMD says Colon (remember this classic):

http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/powell-no-wmd.htm

2002/3, e.g., BIG SCARY WsMD

Now: No WsMD

Anyhow, he's come full circle, just like that memorable football coach who was hired into a long-losing program and promised to "Turn things around 360 degrees!"

:freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak: :freak:

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. Snips of Powell's statement to the UN - Least we forget

Powell didn't get just a couple of items wrong, it was the whole enchilada. Oh gee, the intelligence wasn't right, doesn't cut it when you've invaded a sovereign country and killed 1000's of their civilians. No wonder Bu$h & Co won't acknowledge an international court. They knew they would be criminals.



http://www.un.int/usa/03clp0205.htm

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
To The United Nations Security Council


February 5, 2003


<snip>

First, biological weapons. We have talked frequently here about biological weapons. By way of introduction in history, I think there are just three quick points I need to make. First, you will recall that it took UNSCOM four long and frustrating years to pry, to pry an admission out of Iraq that it had biological weapons. Second, when Iraq finally admitted having these weapons in 1995, the quantities were vast. Less than a teaspoon of dry anthrax, a little bit -- about this amount. This is just about the amount of a teaspoon. Less than a teaspoon full of dry anthrax in an envelope shut down the United States Senate in the fall of 2001.

This forced several hundred people to undergo emergency medical treatment and killed two postal workers just from an amount, just about this quantity that was inside of an envelope.

Iraq declared 8500 liters of anthrax. But UNSCOM estimates that Saddam Hussein could have produced 25,000 liters. If concentrated into this dry form, this amount would be enough to fill tens upon tens upon tens of thousands of teaspoons. And Saddam Hussein has not verifiably accounted for even one teaspoonful of this deadly material. And that is my third point. And it is key. The Iraqis have never accounted for all of the biological weapons they admitted they had and we know they had.

They have never accounted for all the organic material used to make them. And they have not accounted for many of the weapons filled with these agents such as there are 400 bombs. This is evidence, not conjecture. This is true. This is all well documented.

<snip>

We know that Iraq has at least seven of these mobile, biological agent factories. The truck-mounted ones have at least two or three trucks each. That means that the mobile production facilities are very few -- perhaps 18 trucks that we know of. There may be more. But perhaps 18 that we know of. Just imagine trying to find 18 trucks among the thousands and thousands of trucks that travel the roads of Iraq every single day.

It took the inspectors four years to find out that Iraq was making biological agents. How long do you think it will take the inspectors to find even one of these 18 trucks without Iraq coming forward as they are supposed to with the information about these kinds of capabilities.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are sophisticated facilities. For example, they can produce anthrax and botulinum toxin. In fact, they can produce enough dry, biological agent in a single month to kill thousands upon thousands of people. A dry agent of this type is the most lethal form for human beings.


<snip>

Third point, Iraq's record on chemical weapons is replete with lies. It took years for Iraq to finally admit that it had produced four tons of the deadly nerve agent VX. A single drop of VX on the skin will kill in minutes. Four tons. The admission only came out after inspectors collected documentation as a result of the defection of Hussein Kamel, Saddam Hussein's late son-in-law.

UNSCOM also gained forensic evidence that Iraq had produced VX and put it into weapons for delivery, yet to this day Iraq denies it had ever weaponized VX. And on January 27, UNMOVIC told this Council that it has information that conflicts with the Iraqi account of its VX program.

We know that Iraq has embedded key portions of its illicit chemical weapons infrastructure within its legitimate civilian industry. To all outward appearances, even to experts, the infrastructure looks like an ordinary civilian operation. Illicit and legitimate production can go on simultaneously or on a dime. This dual-use infrastructure can turn from clandestine to commercial and then back again.

<snip>

Let me turn now to nuclear weapons. We have no indication that Saddam Hussein has ever abandoned his nuclear weapons program. On the contrary, we have more than a decade of proof that he remains determined to acquire nuclear weapons.

To fully appreciate the challenge that we face today, remember that in 1991 the inspectors searched Iraq's primary nuclear weapons facilities for the first time, and they found nothing to conclude that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program. But, based on defector information, in May of 1991, Saddam Hussein's lie was exposed. In truth, Saddam Hussein had a massive clandestine nuclear weapons program that covered several different techniques to enrich uranium, including electromagnetic isotope separation, gas centrifuge and gas diffusion.

We estimate that this illicit program costs the Iraqis several billion dollars. Nonetheless, Iraq continued to tell the IAEA that it had no nuclear weapons program. If Saddam had not been stopped, Iraq could have produced a nuclear bomb by 1993, years earlier than most worst case assessments that had been made before the war.

[Owlet]

33. Outstanding post!!

Thanks.:-)

[Hokie]

51. Powell is still not telling the whole story

Not only were there no WMD stockpiles, there were no production facilities and there was no program. There may have been a desire which was effectively held in check by inspections. The only result of the war is that there is a lot more desire in the Muslim world to kill as many Americans as possible. Good going Colin, sleep well.

[DoYouEverWonder]

26. dupe

[FlemingsGhost]

28. This clown hardly knows the meaning of regret ... yet.

The General must know they are nearing the political abyss. And yet, he still plays the "good soldier."

For that alone, there should be no quarter ...

[0007]

29. Now I wanna hear Rumsfeld say he was lying and didn't

know where the WMD were. Talk about two loosers!

[NNN0LHI]

30. Waiting over 3 years now for the white paper proving bin Laden did 9/11

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2001/5012.htm

Interview on Meet the Press

Secretary Colin L. Powell
Washington, DC
September 23, 2001

<snip>QUESTION: Are you absolutely convinced that Usama bin Laden was responsible for this attack?

SECRETARY POWELL: I am absolutely convinced that the al-Qaida network, which he heads, was responsible for this attack. You know, it's sort of al-Qaida -- the Arab name for it is "the base"-- it's something like a holding company of terrorist organizations that are located in dozens of countries around the world, sometimes tightly controlled, sometimes loosely controlled. And at the head of that organization is Usama bin Laden. So what we have to do in the first phase of this campaign is to go after al-Qaida and go after Usama bin Laden. But it is not just a problem in Afghanistan; it's a problem throughout the world. That's why we are attacking it with a worldwide coalition.

QUESTION: Will you release publicly a white paper, which links him and his organization to this attack, to put people at ease?

SECRETARY POWELL: We are hard at work bringing all the information together, intelligence information, law enforcement information. And I think, in the near future, we will be able to put out a paper, a document, that will describe quite clearly the evidence that we have linking him to this attack. And also, remember, he has been linked to earlier attacks against US interests and he was already indicated for earlier attacks against the United States.

more

[Southpaw Bookworm]

32. But can he wash the blood

Off his hands, of the tends of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have died, the "detainees" in Abu Gharib who were raped in an attempt to extract information that doesn't exist, the soldiers who are missing limbs, the flag-covered coffins, the children on both sides who will grow up without parents.

He regrets?!

[Jim Sagle]

36. "I'm bailin'."

[DURHAM D]

37. This is his "McNamara Moment".

How ironical given their personal past that Powell is starting to write his mea culpas. He wants to re-write his history now.

Also, I wonder if the timing reflects his anger at being marginalized by the White House.

[leetrisck]

39. If Powell is trying to get a message out to people

not to vote for bush, he needs to come right out and say and quit beating around the bush. He's made several statements lately that haven't gotten much attention. I used to have at least an iota of respect for the man and I've lost it all - the only way I could get it back would be if he would blast bush and resign NOW

[LynnTheDem]

40. Too bad he has no regrets or "disappointment"...

...over the tens of thousands dead.

[dweller]

43. that article has been updated

not nearly as damning now, imo.


Powell can take this mushroom cloud
:nuke:
and shove it.

dp

[teryang]

44. He's a stone cold liar and murderer

"I'm sorry your loved ones are dead. I lied to kill them. But I don't do body counts. (Anything for the next corporate directorship)"

[Kimber Scott]

45. Stockpiles is the only thing they got wrong? How about mushroom

clouds, flowers and candy, Chalabi's a great guy, mobile weapons labs and bin Laden and Hussein are bossum buddies? Fuck you, Powell. I don't trust you, anymore.

[llmart]

46. Harry Belafonte was sure right about this guy.....

He bows down to the "massuh" like a true bootlicker. I used to have some respect for him, but nothing he could ever do now would bring that back. He sold his soul for Bush and he'll have to live with it 'til the day he dies. And there's a special place in hell for him right next to Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld et al.

[vajraroshana]

47. Come to the light side Powell

Come...we feel you trying...we know the darkness has its allure, and you're both under its hypnotizing effects and the dark leadership's command.

But we feel the light is strong in you. Daily your conscience grows...

[Minstrel Boy]

49. Karla Faye Tucker had regrets, too.

And she didn't have as much blood on her hands.

Fuck you, Colin Powell, and the world that won't hold you to account for your lies.

[Sugarbleus]

50. I just read this about our Pal Powell...some friend!!

Powell Wades Into Midst of Campaign Discord
By BARRY SCHWEID, Associated Press Writer

>snip
At a news conference in Atlanta, Powell disagreed with the Kerry's contention in Thursday night's presidential debate that Bush missed an opportunity to capture terrorist leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).


He also dismissed the Democratic candidate's suggestion that Powell had been compelled to apologize for asserting at the United Nations (news - web sites) that Iraq's Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had amassed hidden stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

.........more

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=3&u=/ap/20041001/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/powell_iraq

[abb9]

52. Powell Regrets

Why does Powell hate America? Saying something like this makes him an hater of America

I would like to know if Powell has told this to D.Cheney.
Cheney knows they are tons of WMD to be found in Iraq.
Why is Powell doing this now?
Next he is going to say that we dint have everything under control in Iraq,or that Saddam had nothing to do with 9 11.

[bvar22]

55. I wonder if he also regrets...

...tap dancin for his massas in the White House last month?

[WatchWhatISay]

56. I don't want to hear Powell say this

I want to hear Bush apologize for it. Do a little dance with some of that mighty accountability he always talks about.