Game Over - These thugs are going down! Must-Read

[caledesi]

PREWAR INTELLIGENCE
Insulating Bush
By Murray Waas, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Thursday, March 30, 2006

Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush's 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged if it was publicly disclosed that he had been personally warned that a key rationale for going to war had been challenged within the administration. Rove expressed his concerns shortly after an informal review of classified government records by then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley determined that Bush had been specifically advised that claims he later made in his 2003 State of the Union address -- that Iraq was procuring high-strength aluminum tubes to build a nuclear weapon -- might not be true, according to government records and interviews.

Hadley was particularly concerned that the public might learn of a classified one-page summary of a National Intelligence Estimate, specifically written for Bush in October 2002. The summary said that although "most agencies judge" that the aluminum tubes were "related to a uranium enrichment effort," the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Energy Department's intelligence branch "believe that the tubes more likely are intended for conventional weapons."

Three months after receiving that assessment, the president stated without qualification in his January 28, 2003, State of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."

<snip>
But Hadley and other administration officials realized that it would be much more difficult to shield Bush from criticism for his statements regarding the aluminum tubes, for several reasons.
For one, Hadley's review concluded that Bush had been directly and repeatedly apprised of the deep rift within the intelligence community over whether Iraq wanted the high-strength aluminum tubes for a nuclear weapons program or for conventional weapons.



----------WHOA...sounds like info was NOT declassified when Libby told Miller-------------

<snip>

LINK: http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0330nj1.htm


Rove
Hadley
Bush
Cheney
Rice
Tenet

This article is juicy. Tells the whole story and now I understand why Ron Reagan (on Hardball) last night said the Plame leaking was not really the issue, it was the reasons to go to war in Iraq! And now I know why Powell, Ari and Card left.

I hope this hasn't been posted before.

Edit: forgot stuff

EDIT: COPYRIGHT...PLEASE POST ONLY FOUR PARAGRAPHS
FROM THE COPYRIGHTED NEWS SOURCE PER DU RULES.

[Trevelyan]

1. Go to Rep. Hinchey's site. On the front page he has a press release which

states that he has received a letter from Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald about Hinchey's and 39 Democrats request to Fitz last autumn to investigate the Niger forgeries. Hinchey does not say what is in Fitz's letter, only that Hinchey is presently drafting a response to it.

[caledesi]

3. Will do. Thanks Trev. nt

[Trevelyan]

4. K&R Please leave a message on the front page thread about Hinchey, Maybe

he will tell us what is in Fitz's letter about Fitz's response to the 40 Dems who requested that he investigate the Niger forgeries and I think, if memory serves, that Fitz was asked formally by these dems in the House to help with the impeachment investigation based on bush's lies to go to war on Iraq.

[C_U_L8R]

2. KKKarl has swept so much stuff under the carpet

it's beginning to look like a mountain (of shit)
Pretty hard to ignore any longer (by either republicans or democrats)
If congress doesn't jetizen this administration... it may likely take them down with it.

[Trevelyan]

5. Here is a particularly juicy bit from the Waas article you cite about Fitz

"The special prosecutor in the CIA leak case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, has said that he considers the selective disclosure of elements of the NIE to be "inextricably intertwined" with the outing of Plame. Papers filed in federal court by Libby's attorneys on March 17 stated that Libby "believed his actions were authorized" and that he had "testified before the grand jury that this disclosure was authorized," a reference to the NIE details he gave to Miller.

In the same filings, Libby's attorneys said that Hadley played a key role in attempting to have the NIE declassified and made available to reporters: "Mr. Hadley was active in discussions about the need to declassify and disseminate the NIE and had numerous conversations during critical early-July period with Mr. Tenet about the 16 words and Mr. Tenet's public statements about that issue." "

Tenet is one of the 3 (rove and hadley also) that Fitz said in his filing he would not call as witness in the Libby trial and FireDogLake speculates that since prosecutors do not like to call as witness those that will be charged it may or may not be significant.

http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0330nj1.htm

[caledesi]

6. Thanks. Not good at editing. nt

[Boo Boo]

7. Another reason might be that they are cooperating

:shrug:

[LisaLynne]

8. caledesi, please remember that DU copy-right rules ...

only allow four paragraphs to be posted. Thank you.

[caledesi]

9. Sorry! I screwed up. nt

[cliss]

10. Yes, I believe these thugs have figured out

the inevitable: they're caught. They're trapped. Their nefarious plans are out in the open. They can't even quit!

Rumsfailed said he had given his resignation twice, and Bush refused to accept it.

Here's the worst part: they have to get up there, and face the cameras. Again. And again. AGAIN, face the people. Stand up there, with the sweat pouring under their arm pits, trying to look sincere, concerned, honest, innocent.

[checks-n-balances]

11. Yes, it's pitiful isn't it? My heart bleeds for these poor criminals

However, I don't think that's the worst part. They're so used to lying publicly and now maybe it is harder, but serving some real time behind bars would probably be worse. IMHO that's not nearly enough for these people who have laid waste our democracy and thousands of lives here and around the globe. They should be shaking in their boots about the eternal punishment that may be awaiting them in the afterlife - when they come to grips with what they've done, maybe they'll get a taste of the hell they've been making here on earth just to feed their egos, their delusions of grandeur, and their personal fortunes.

[Octafish]

12. What checks-n-balances said well...

If the Bush Mafia really believed in God: "They (w)ould be shaking in their boots about the eternal punishment that may be awaiting them."

[caledesi]

13. cliss - you sure put it in perspective...made me sweat! nt