Wilkerson on NOW: Helped play hoax on America re Iraq!

[stlsaxman]

On PBS NOW- this is incredible stuff! Tune in!

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson debunking the whole "pre-war" WMD/intelligence myth!!!

[BuyingThyme]

1. PBS what?

[stlsaxman]

2. "NOW with David Broncoccio (sp?)" is a show on PBS

Wilkerson says "Curveball was a hoax". Told Tenet not to include it in Powell's presentation to th U.N.!!!

[CatWoman]

3. unfortunately, NOW isn't on here right now.

however, you can probably watch it here: http://www.pbs.org/now/

[stlsaxman]

5. Well, DO NOT miss this when it airs! n/t

[BuyingThyme]

4. Thanks; I'll look for it. What timezone are you in?

[stlsaxman]

7. it 's on 730 pm Central here

Carl Levin all over this show, too!

[BuyingThyme]

10. Looking forward to it.

[file83]

6. Here's the link to the transcript....

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/wilkerson.html

I'm going to read it now and highlight the key points soon...

[stlsaxman]

8. Bless you, sir/ma'am!!!!

AWESOME!!!!!!

[file83]

9. Here's a key statement:

DAVID BRANCACCIO: Maybe they at the most senior level, like you, just didn't know?

LAWRENCE WILKERSON: I have to believe that. Otherwise I have to believe some rather nefarious things about some fairly highly placed people in the intelligence community and perhaps elsewhere.

"Perhaps elsewhere"? Wow. I'm still reading...

[file83]

13. Here's another KEY statement:

LAWRENCE WILKERSON:

Well, I've been a consumer, a user of intelligence at the tactical, operational and strategic level for close to 35, 36 years.
<snip>
So we have a significant problem in this nation with our intelligence community. And, by the way, I don't think it's fixed in any way. Yet. This administration has really done nothing to fix it. And-- so I-- I'm familiar with intelligence failure.


Surprise, surprise, but it's always nice to have an official confirm/testify to what the Left already knows.

[stlsaxman]

11. Carl Levin and Hans Blix interviewed!!!

[stlsaxman]

12. and David Kay!

[file83]

14. Here's the HOAX part of the conversation:

LAWRENCE WILKERSON: It makes me feel terrible. I've said in other places that it was-- constitutes the lowest point in my professional life. My participation in that presentation at the UN constitutes the lowest point in my professional life.

I participated in a hoax on the American people, the international community and the United Nations Security Council. How do you think that makes me feel? Thirty-one years in the United States Army and I more or less end my career with that kind of a blot on my record? That's not a very comforting thing.

DAVID BRANCACCIO: A hoax? That's quite a word.

LAWRENCE WILKERSON: Well, let's face it, it was. It was not a hoax that the Secretary in any way was complicit in. In fact he did his best-- I watched him work. Two AM in the morning on the DCI and the Deputy DCI, John McLaughlin.

And to try and hone the presentation down to what was, in the DCI's own words, a slam dunk. Firm. Iron clad. We threw many things out. We threw the script that Scooter Libby had given the-- Secretary of State. Forty-eight page script on WMD. We threw that out the first day.

And we turned to the National Intelligence estimate as part of the recommendation of George Tenent and my agreement with. But even that turned out to be, in its substantive parts-- that is stockpiles of chemicals, biologicals and production capability that was hot and so forth, and an active nuclear program. The three most essential parts of that presentation turned out to be absolutely false.

[Canuckistanian]

19. Scooter? Say no more.

Fitz should throw this piece of info into the mix, too. What was IN this 'script'?

[Wordie]

21. Saw it...amazing. K&R

[Nikki Stone 1]

24. So Scooter is the fall guy?

I always wonder about these kinds of revelations, especially on PBS.

[leesa]

30. Like hell Powell wasn't complicit...he knew it was BS but he did it anyway

And this guy Wilkerson, pretending he didn't know about Curveball's dubious past until 6 months ago. Even I knew about Curevball's past prior to 6 months ago.

Both these two cowards, Powell and Wilkerson, are scrambling to avoid the noose.

[leesa]

31. Interesting transcript...these guys are scared. They are still blaming it

on intelligence, following the Party line, but then he also says:

"You must-- I-- I today regret the fact that I didn't listen better to the Intelligence Bureau and the State Department. The-- the Intelligence Bureau and the State Department at this time we were preparing Secretary Powell dissented on one key issue. And they essentially said there was no active nuclear program in Iraq."

He also goes much deeper into blaming it on the WH criminals. Trying to save their own asses.

[oasis]

15. Kick for the West Coasters.

[file83]

16. Wilkerson on the American "dictatorship"....

DAVID BRANCACCIO: Well, let me get it right. You've said that Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld somehow managed to hijack the intelligence decision making process. You called it a cabal.

And said that it was done in a way that makes you think it was more akin to something you'd see in a dictatorship rather than a democracy. Now those are strong words. Why a cabal?

<snip>

LAWRENCE WILKERSON: Oh I think it's come to that. I think we've had some decisions at this administration that were more or less dictates. We've had a decision that the Constitution as read by Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo and a few other very selected administration lawyers doesn't pertain the way it has pertained for 200-plus years. A very ahistorical reading of the Constitution.

And these people marshal such stellar lights as-- Alexander Hamilton. They haven't even read Federalist Six. I'm sure they haven't. Where Alexander Hamilton lays down his markers about the dangers of a dictate-issuing chief executive. This is not the way America was intended to be run by its founders and it is not the interpretation of the Constitution that any of the founders as far as I read the Federalist Papers and other discussions about their views would have subscribed to. This is an interpretation of the constitution that is outlandish and as I said, clearly ahistorical.

DAVID BRANCACCIO: And if the system were shown to work that might be one thing. But-- in the case of recent US for--

LAWRENCE WILKERSON: Dictatorships work on occasion. You're right. Dictatorships do work but I-- I'm like Ferdinand Eberstadt. I'd prefer to see the squabble of democracy to the efficiency of dictators.

Source (http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/wilkerson.html)

[Marie26]

22. It's much scarier to actually

hear a top government official say that out loud. A secret cabal, headed by the Vice President, is falsifying intelligence & trying to turn the nation into a dictatorship. There's no arguing it now. But the question is what are we supposed to do about it.

[oasis]

17. kick

[Disturbed]

18. The case for Impeachment of Bush/Cheney is building.

Most people feel that is impossible that these two War Criminals will ever be Impeached. I continue to believe that is is possible, maybe not likely but if the case builds to a point where it becomes provable will the Rethugs in Congress all be able to push back the tidal wave of evidence?

[radfringe]

25. push back the tidal wave of evidence?

Repugs will deny the existence of evidence - therefore evidence does not exist. It's called "Intelligent Denial"

Do you really think the repugs will allow such a discussion, debate, and (perish the thought) do the right thing?

[BlueEyedSon]

26. The case but not the mechanisms.

[oasis]

27. Impeachment is required by law. Rethugs are going to look silly if they

try to opt out of the process in the face of the mounting evidence.

[Canuckistanian]

20. K&R!

This is big.

[oasis]

23. Check program for broadcast in your area. kick.

[Maraya1969]

28. I watched it last night. I am sure they will be repeating it a lot. My

head wanted to explode.

[RedEarth]

29. Darn ..... I missed it ... I sure hope it will be re-broadcast

[Generator]

32. Truly stunning

Everything I've been reading about the HOAX of the Iraq war on DU and elswhere since I was fooled for a couple months in 2003 is true. There was nothing new in the program-everything we've suspected-it's all a pack of lies, they knew it was a pack of lies-the only thing was figuring out how to sell it most effectively to the American people. What's stunning is that someone so closely connected to the whole hoax is coming clean.

Also-the bit that got me was that after 30 years or whatever it was he and Powell are no longer friends. Powell is clearly holding water for the Bushies. Screw the American people. Screw the soldiers. What a traitor.

[ellenfl]

33. did anyone catch wilkerson's statement about debate?

he said he'd rather have the debate and dissent of our democratic process than a 'dictat from a dumb strongman'. wonder if he had someone in mind? regardless of his reasons for his testimonial, we need his voice. his was a very cogent argument. great show!

ellen fl