Congressman: 'Fake Photos Helped Lead U.S. to Invade Iraq'

[kpete]

September 1, 2007 at 23:27:22

Fake Photos Helped Lead U.S. to Invade Iraq

by Walter Brasch Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com


Add faked photos to the list of lies told by the Bush–Cheney Administration before its invasion of Iraq.


In a town hall meeting in Bloomsburg, Pa., this week, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a 12-term congressman, said that shortly before Congress was scheduled to vote on authorizing military force against Iraq, top officials of the CIA showed select members of Congress three photographs it alleged were Iraqi Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones. Kanjorski said he was told that the drones were capable of carrying nuclear, biological, or chemical agents, and could strike 1,000 miles inland of east coast or west coast cities.



Kanjorski said he and four or five other congressmen in the room were told there were 1,000 drones on freighters headed to the U.S. Both secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and President Bush wandered into and out of the briefing room, Kanjorski said.

Kanjorski said it was the second time he was called to the White House for a briefing. He had opposed giving the President the powers to go to war, and said that he hadn’t changed his mind after a first meeting. Until he saw the pictures, Kanjorski said, “I hadn’t thought that Iraq was a threat.” That second meeting changed everything. After he left that meeting, said Kanjorski, he was willing to give the President the authorization he wanted since the drones “represented an imminent danger

.......

Several years later, Kanjorski said he learned that the pictures were “a god-damned lie,” apparently taken by CIA photographers in the desert in the southwest of the U.S. The drone story itself had already been disproved, although not many major media carried that story.

more at:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_walter_b_070901_fake_photos_helped_l.htm

[Richard Steele]

1. K&R

[yasmina27]

2. Why does nothing surprise me any more? n/t

[cutlassmama]

59. I'm with you. Nothing surprises me anymore. eom

[cali]

3. What an idiot

I knew better than to believe such shit and so did the majority of the House dems, and 23 Senators. Maybe he should have listened to my Senator who was warning against a Tonkin Gulf Resolution. \

[Buzz Clik]

26. Idiot? Maybe. But consider the mindset about Iraq just a few years before.

Clinton had taken more than one aggressive action against Iraq due to their activities. Just about everyone was nervous that we no longer had UN inspectors on the ground and that Iraq had made multiple attempts to obtain WMD.

Fast forward a few years. 9/11 is still fresh, and Bush's aggressive approach has put his popularity through the roof. You're presented with physical evidence of Iraq's supposed intentions in a top-secret meeting. Would you really be able to shake your head and claim bullshit? Can you really condemn those who were unable to call bullshit?

I'm with you -- with what I knew, I believe I would have been highly skeptical. But I cannot condemn those who, at that time, trusted the President not to lie to them.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

37. I didn't fall for it.

When I sat and listened to the senate vote I was horrified to hear Marie Cantwell vote for the war. Our other Senator Pattie Murray did not vote for it. The first time Marie ran (2000) we supported her and my son who was about 11 at the time was in a TV ad with her. When they called for for support in 2006 I hung up on them because my oldest son was going to be deployed and I felt used. Like I'd used one son to put the other one at risk. We still voted for the stupid bitch though. She's stupid because she fell for that cock and bull story.

[peacetalksforall]

77. No wonder Dick and George are contemptuous of Congress and

all of us - we believe their sxxx lies.

What was the timeline anyway (before we knew there weren't any drones)
And why wasn't there a BIG DEAL made of the LIES.

Those congrespeople have so much death and maiming on their heads.
Raw massacres.

They're supposed to be IN THE KNOW and we KNOW more than they do and we don't ignore it away.

I haven't said this yet this month:

Wellman first and last vote in the Senate against Iraq War 1 and Iraq War II.
Feingold - only Senator to vote against the Patriot Act.

They and a few others are the heroes of humanity.

[glitch]

87. I've noticed Patty and Marie always split the collaboration votes. One Patty takes, the next Marie

It's rare that they'll both vote progressive on high profile or controversial bills. Marie lost the luck of the draw on the IWR.
I don't think she's stupid, I think they both calculate what they can do. It's a symptom of our broken system, and it makes me sick.

[davekriss]

101. I didn't fall for it either

Imagine my shock and bewilderment when Bush reached 90% positive in the polls ater 9-11, this man who signed more than twice the death warrants in the state of Texas than all other state governers combined, this man who raised his voice like an immature 7 year old and ridiculed another human being who was about to be killed by the state, this man who would've been in jail for insider trading at Harken if his then Vice President father didn't put a stop to the investigation, and of course this man who probably was golfing with white powder dripping from his nose rather than fulfilling his obligations to the National Guard, a plum assignment he received because of his father and that kept him from serving on the front lines during the Vietnam War. George Walker Bush was and still is a spoiled, raging monster.

I was immensely let down when the Democrats failed to vote unaminously against the IWR. It was so blatant, the lies so obvious, there was/is no excuse.

(Now that doesn't mean I won't continue to vote straight line Democratic, there simply is no choice in our thoroughly duopolic state.)

[frogcycle]

44. I was skeptical, but

like this congressman, I was buffaloed by their willingness to just plain flat-out lie. No nuance, no "stretching things a bit." When Rummy and Powell said things like "we know exactly where x is" I interpreted it as "we are 60% sure" not "we're just making shit up"

Had I been shown those pictures at the White House, with the pres "wandering in and out" of the briefing room, and then tolD flat-out that there were 1000 of them enroute right now, I would have been hard pressed to just suspend belief. Oh, NOW I would, but back then he had not yet proven himself. I thought he was an incompetant boob, to be sure, and I suspected they had their eye on the oil, but I don't think my instinct would have been to demand the hull numbers of the freighters and video of their being loaded. Now, of course, I'd demand to be flown to the damned freighters, and inspect them myself before I'd believe a word.

[Buzz Clik]

48. Excellent post.

[frogcycle]

54. thanks

I often wonder if I'm rationalizing out of guilt now for ever having fallen for (some of)their crap.

I do know that Powell convinced me that at the very least "where there's smoke there's fire." I really thought he'd have done due diligence, and if it was good enough for him...

[Buzz Clik]

56. Powell was the one who rattled my skepticism as well.

Rice was clearly peddling the administrations wares. Rummy assumed we're all idiots, and Cheney always lies.

But Powell -- I had great faith in him. Although I remained skeptical, I became uncertain after his UN lecture.

[DrRang]

63. It was the opposite for me.

I had assumed Saddam has some chemical weapons lying around, probably long past their shelf life and certainly no threat to the U.S. But there was also the possibility that * and Cheney et al were setting a trap, trying to get war opponents to say it was all BS and then producing some actual, hard evidence and spin it to portray Iraq as a threat and Dems as stupid dupes.

It wasn't until I watched Powell that it dawned on me that they didn't have one damned piece of real evidence. Powell lied with the very construction of his sentences. Pulling out the little vial of white powder at the UN (an incredibly stupid stunt if it was actually anthrax) and then making the basically unrelated statement that thousand pounds of anthrax were unaccounted for. Thus Saddam had bio weapons. Not!
I checked the tapes that were supposed to show an officer telling a grunt to clean a site of chemical weapons. Powell "explained" all the way through the tapes, for example, "Here's where the officer is telling the men to clean up and hide the chemical weapons before the inspectors arrive." But the actual State Dept. transcripts sounded like nothing of the kind. They just sounded like an officer telling men to clean up the post before the brass arrived.

The renderings of the "mobile chemical weapons" trucks? How stupid is it to create a "bio-hazard facility" with roll-up canvas sides? I've done a lot of computer modeling and rendering, and there's two things to remember about it--It's very convincing to the lay person, and it's a lot of trouble so you never use if for something that actually exists that can be photographed.

Then there's the deadly drones, which actually look like balsa wood toy airplanes. Or the satellite photo of a building with a truck in front of it, then a picture of the same building with the truck gone, which Powell insisted proved that Saddam was moving his chemical weapons. Hunh?
Sorry to rant, but the whole Powell dog-and-pony show still pisses me off totally.

[jmowreader]

92. What those transcripts looked like to me

I've been through an Army inspection or two.

On any inspection, but ESPECIALLY on a very important one--and an inspection that, if you fail, would cause an army to invade your country to try to kill you, seems very important to me--you make pre-inspection checks. That's what I saw on the transcripts: "go around and MAKE SURE you're squared away."

[frogcycle]

103. In hindsight i agree with you

I thought at the time some of it was amateurish, but I thought he just had amateurish people assembling the props for what I (stupidly) thought must have been a reasonably well-vetted pitch

[Chemical Bill]

64. Powell was the one who said...

that Saddam was contained, and not a threat (in Egypt, pre-9/11). Plus, we already knew how he tried to cover up My Lai. Meanwhile, Hans Blix was saying that there were no WMDs, and Molly Ivans (among others) was exposing all of the lies told by * as Texas governor. Sorry, I would expect an elected representative to have better sources, and shit detection. I'm sorry for your loss (of skepticism).

Bill

[peacetalksforall]

79. The disrespect they showed Ritter, Blix, Baradei (Sp) and the U.N.

Do you remember the campaign they went on to take down the reputation of the UN.

Anan. Character assassination of Ritter?
All timed.

How does Tony Blair sleep at night now? And all the other partners?

[Chemical Bill]

100. How could congress overlook that? n/t

[TankLV]

68. Not me - I KNEW they were lying their asses off AS THEY WERE SPEAKING!!!

You could have found out the TRUTH if you wanted too...

[othermeans]

72. You can always tell-their lips are moving nt

[glitch]

88. Anybody who had done even the most superficial research on Bush Cheney et al knew they were lying.

PNAC was well known by 2003.

[PurpleChez]

84. Uncertain? Powell can rot in hell.

He knew he was lying. How many 100s of 1000s of people would still be alive and whole today if that...so and so...had tapped into his much-vaunted integrity and told the effing truth.

[frogcycle]

104. oh, believe me, I agree with you 1000% NOW

I just had not come to the realization that Powell, whom I had respected fairly well years earlier, had "turned." So I trusted him and got burned. I think a lot of people did. I don't know how he lives with himself. Hell, I have trouble living with my self just for believing (some of) what he said.

[PurpleChez]

105. In a way, I think Powell is WORSE than many of the other Cheney/Bushies,

because he KNEW. He wasn't a neo-con cultist with some ideologically narrow world view. He didn't think that Gee Dumbya spoke the words of Christ. I'm sure he knew that W was NOT Churchill and Charlemagne combined. He knew that a lot of the data was fabricated or was being presented dishonestly. YET HE DID NOTHING. 100s of 1000s of people are dead, or their lives wrecked, because Colin Powell didn't want to disappoint our Amazing Retarded President. I wouldn't piss in his face if his head were on fire.

[frogcycle]

106. pretty much my sentiments exactly n/t

[TankLV]

67. YES - BUSH and REPUKES LIE - ALWAYS!

I almost put my foot thru the TV when they did their bullshit LIES!!!

Don't you dare tell us that "everyone could not have known". BULLSHIT!!!

[sce56]

73. The Inspectors got tossed out despite their success in proving there were no WMD!

Inspectors Call U.S. Tips 'SHIT'
U.N. Sources Complain About Quality Of U.S. Intelligence On Iraq
Feb. 20, 2003 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/18/iraq/main537096.shtml

U.N. weapons inspectors prepare to investigate a private battery acid plant outside of Baghdad. (AP)

(CBS) While diplomatic maneuvering continues over Turkish bases and a new United Nations resolution, inside Iraq, U.N. arms inspectors are privately complaining about the quality of U.S. intelligence and accusing the United States of sending them on wild-goose chases.

CBS News Correspondent Mark Phillips reports the U.N. has been taking a precise inventory of Iraq's al-Samoud 2 missile arsenal, determining how many there are and where they are.

Discovering that the al-Samoud 2 has been flying too far in tests has been one of the inspectors' major successes. But the missile has only been exceeding its 93-mile limit by about 15 miles and that, the Iraqis say, is because it isn't yet loaded down with its guidance system. The al-Samoud 2 is not the 800-mile-plus range missile that Secretary of State Colin Powell insists Iraq is developing.

In fact, the U.S. claim that Iraq is developing missiles that could hit its neighbors – or U.S. troops in the region, or even Israel – is just one of the claims coming from Washington that inspectors here are finding increasingly unbelievable. The inspectors have become so frustrated trying to chase down unspecific or ambiguous U.S. leads that they've begun to express that anger privately in no uncertain terms.

U.N. sources have told CBS News that American tips have lead to one dead end after another.

# Example: satellite photographs purporting to show new research buildings at Iraqi nuclear sites. When the U.N. went into the new buildings they found "nothing."

# Example: Saddam's presidential palaces, where the inspectors went with specific coordinates supplied by the U.S. on where to look for incriminating evidence. Again, they found "nothing."

# Example: Interviews with scientists about the aluminum tubes the U.S. says Iraq has imported for enriching uranium, but which the Iraqis say are for making rockets. Given the size and specification of the tubes, the U.N. calls the "Iraqi alibi air tight."

The inspectors do acknowledge, however, that they would not be here at all if not for the threat of U.S. military action.

So frustrated have the inspectors become that one source has referred to the U.S. intelligence they've been getting as "garbage after garbage after garbage." In fact, Phillips says the source used another cruder word. The inspectors find themselves caught between the Iraqis, who are masters at the weapons-hiding shell game, and the United States, whose intelligence they've found to be circumstantial, outdated or just plain wrong.

[iaviate1]

90. Cessnas and UAVs can be intercepted...

And if there is some Iraqi boat off our shore big enough to launch a Cessna that can reach 1000 miles into our shorelines, we'd know about it to. You have to be a complete moron to sit in that room and believe these UAVs were a threat.

[ronnie624]

95. Anyone who chose to stay informed

found no difficulty in doing so, even before the invasion of Iraq. In some cases, the Bush administration's lies were being debunked within hours of their utterance.

This doesn't mean that I 'condemn' anyone for their ignorance, naivety and apathy, but there are in fact, those of us who have never, even once, been bamboozled by these criminals.

I do love the internets.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. Do we have to pay for this sort of behavior in any way or is this a

perfectly good example to send to the rest of the civilized world. One that says, do what you want, get what you want by any means necessary. They complain about the crime rate in the U.S. good grief.

[NNN0LHI]

5. How long until someone tells us the truth that the fat Osama video was a scam too?

Because we all know it was.

Don

[L. Coyote]

31. My prediction on when they would drag Osama out before the election was off by 1 day!

Every time a new revelation comes out, the brush in Crawford grows more fearful.

[leftchick]

6. so does he want to impeach

the GD LIAR??

[bbgrunt]

50. well now, that's the question, isn't it? Lies = impeachment.

[OzarkDem]

76. Of course not

enforcing the law is not important to them.

[Perry Logan]

7. Remember this the next time someone wants to bash Dems who "voted for the war." THEY WERE LIED TO.

Bashing Democrats who "voted for the war" just helps the Administration get more mileage from its lies.

[cali]

9. I will never stop "bashing" dems who voted for this war

Five years on, it still brings me to a boil. Those lies were so transparent, a bright 10 year old could see through them, and there was plenty of contradictory evidence. The majority of dems in the House and approx. half in the Senate, didn't buy it. Those who voted for it, don't get to skate. Ever.

[izzie]

14. I can not understand a Congress giving one man war powers.

They must have heard of King George the third and that war we had. The little paper they pledge every day also should be a hint.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Me too Cali

They had to know.

[lligrd]

25. Exactly - Being Stupid Is Not An Excuse nt

[acmavm]

51. Chimpy told the UN Inspectors they had something like four days to

get the hell out of Iraq and then he says that he has no choice but to start bombing the hell out of that defenseless country because Saddam wouldn't COMPLY WITH UN MANDATED INSPECTIONS. You know, the same Saddam who had sent a message that he would do whatever it takes to avoid war.

So, next time they try to say they were lied to maybe someone should point out those facts

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

60. To this day, * and Cheney say "Saddam kicked the inspectors out..."

Lies, lies, lies.

[TankLV]

69. There was no excuse - the Dems were LAZY and SPINELESS...

If WE average joes and janes could figure it all out - and damn well we did - then they should have been able to, too...

If that makes us SMUG, so be it - we EDUCATED ourselves - we PAID ATTENTION to the details.

These congress people were LAZY COWARDS. Period.

[Richard D]

74. Were??????

Damn fools are letting * parade the US right into Iran.

[peacetalksforall]

81. Into? Like over ... and dropping death like it was one wide toilet.

[Hissyspit]

13. Remember that they believed what they wanted to believe instead of using their critical thinking

skills?

Sorry, I always vote straight-ticket Dem, and will support and vote for Dems next year but I WILL NOT whitewash what happened; indeed, as a scholar and teacher, I have an obligation not to. It was a travesty and violation of American conscience of historical and devastating consequences.

I was being lied to, too, and I didn't fall for it.

[robinlynne]

34. You say it perfectly.

[Pierzin]

85. kudos, hissyspit. We must choose between the evil and the less evil

But when push comes to shove, any Democrat is better than any Republican. It is straight up maddening that all these powerful people were so manipulated.

[slipslidingaway]

33. Kucinich's Message to Texas Voters

43 seconds

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4pQCjh9UrGs

[bbgrunt]

52. if they were so blantantly lied to, why are they so reticent to use IMPEACHMENT?

[chill_wind]

98. EXACTLY. And Hell will freeze over before we will ever have a rational answer. n/t

[Jacobin]

57. About 70% of DUers KNEW they were lying because

We were relying on information from news sources around the world. The next time I want to bash Democrats who voted for the war, I will be reminded of how gullible, stupid, and uninformed MANY were, but NOT ALL, by any means.

[Solly Mack]

8. and yet....

[skip fox]

10. Lying to congressmen doing official duty? Federal offence!

Congress should investigate and someone should go to jail.

[LiberalFighter]

46. Absolutely!! Condi, Bush, Rumsfeld, the effing CIA should all be charged and executed!!

[TankLV]

70. I agree with you whole heartedly - EVERY WORD especially the last one...

[proud2BlibKansan]

91. I agree but I don't believe in capital punishment

I prefer putting them all in the Hague for the rest of their miserable lives.

[Vinca]

11. I guess it's a waste of breath to say "impeachment" again. nt

[DeSwiss]

12. K&R!

Treason.

[FreakinDJ]

15. So Why reauthorize the Patriot Act

if you knew the administration used dis=information why have they reauthorized the trampling of our rights

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Yes! How did this guy vote on FISA?

[FreakinDJ]

29. EXACTLY

If you have a corrupt manipulative regime you don't give them more - you impeach the SOBs

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. ITMFA!!

Good grief. Why isn't this story on the front page of every newspaper in the US?

[RC]

18. Because the Media is complicit and sleeping in the same bed as the bu$h administration?

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Amen to that

[NewJeffCT]

27. The media excuse will be

it's old news, everybody knows that Bush lied.

Just like when Cheney said something outrageous a while back and there was hardly a stir in the media... the "media" excuse was that Cheney had little credibility, so there was no reason to report in outrage.

Not excusing it, just saying what the media will say. Of course, every time somebody opened a door in the Clinton White House, the media reported on it to no end.

[FormerOstrich]

19. CYA BS...CYA BS...CYA BS...CYA BS...

The 12-term Congressman would like to have you believe that he was duped.

The original members of DU, not only knew the drones were a lie and had been disproved. We knew the photos faked. We posted pictures of the actual balsa wood remote control airplane that might or might not actually fly a few feet right here.

Had the 12-term Congressman, himself or an aide, invested even a small amount time on due dilligence, he probably could have became as well informed as this (at the time) Underemployed Software Engineer and the other members of DU.

Yet, if he didn't even really want to exert that much energy, maybe he could have picked up and read one of the gazillion letters this (at the time) Underemployed Software Engineer and the other members of DU wrote (I can't imagine we missed any member of Congress) asking them to STOP!!

Alas, NO, he would much prefered/prefers to go ahead and now (a million deaths later) stake the claim that GawdDammit he was lied to and shown fake photos.

Well Mr. 12-term Congressman I can tell you that I consider the day your sorry asses voted to give * the authority was the darkest day I have ever known. I remember that entire day and everything I did in the excruciating slow motion detail I experienced that very day.

I don't think voting against Bush would have stopped him then, but it sure to HELL would have allowed us to have STOPPED HIM BY NOW.


Mr. 12-term Congressman...NO FREE PASS TO YOU OR ANY OTHER THAT VOTED YES ON THAT TERRIBLE DAY.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

20. What you said, x10.

A computer and Google would have given you all the information you needed to disprove or at least seriously question the shit Bush was trying to pass off as "evidence".

Nice try, Congresscritter...

[FormerOstrich]

23. Thank you Hell Hath No Fury...

I really get upset when I hear them make excuses...(as you can probably tell)...

I really want to have a discussion with them...face to face...and have them start telling me that BS....

I seem to be really edgy this weekend...I think I'm growing very concerned...

[Kolesar]

36. Any skeptic could read through bush's weasel-wording and half statements

(well stated thesis, FormerOstrich.) That expresses my feelings.

[stop the bleeding]

24. I know it is moot, but isn't there some kind of law(s)

about lying in front of Congress? Call me naive but for fuck-sakes.

[NewJeffCT]

28. Yes, there are

but, you'll see charges for lying to Congress right after we see Harriet Miers and others in jail for contempt.

[BlackVelvet04]

30. Actually it was the fake president that lead us

into the Iraq War. Fake photos were just a bonus.

[Pawel K]

32. Has a strongly worded letter already been sent about this?

[flyarm]

35. one of the heads of the methodist church *hes church wrote a press release Aug 31st 2002 saying

*sh was taking us to war no matter what..he had just met with * and this admin and he said there was no way to stop * and cheney from war in iraq..this was long enough before congress gave * a green light..i made copies of the Head of the Methodist church's press release and i passed it out everywhere for months..there entire group of leaders of the methodist church met with the entire * admin and they were so upset and concerned they sent the letter out to all methodist congregation and to the media...and did a press release...

and it was a very upset church leadership..that said nothing would stop the * administration from going to war..

so now for any congress person to fake their complicity in this war ..is nothing but CYA and more lies.

and when Colin Powell went in front of the cameras at the UN..everyone of the foreigners in that room knew Powell was lying up his ass..

in fact he got almost no applause and yet when the French diplomat spoke and basically called all of Powell's evidence bullshit ..he got huge applause and at the time it was uncharacteristic for anyone to applaud in a UN general meeting

and the shit Powell showed as proof of wmd..was totally proved lies 2 days later in all the british and european news..as being from a college guys dissertation paper and was totally plagiarized by Powell and our government..

anyone that didn't know that..didn't want to know it..or is lying that they didn't know it.

fly

[peacetalksforall]

83. I remember the signs against war in the Methodist Church yards.

I thought about converting. I was so thrilled I kept choking up when I went by. And some signs are still there.

Some smart people in church.

[spanone]

38. every soldier and civilian death is a crime....

[Just-plain-Kathy]

39. To get back to kpete's topic....

Papa Bush did a little fibbing of his own to start his Middle Eastern war.

Here’s an interesting article from the Christen Science Monitor.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0906/p01s02-wosc.html

snip...

When George H. W. Bush ordered American forces to the Persian Gulf – to reverse Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait – part of the administration case was that an Iraqi juggernaut was also threatening to roll into Saudi Arabia. Citing top-secret satellite images, Pentagon officials estimated in mid–September that up to 250,000 Iraqi troops and 1,500 tanks stood on the border, threatening the key US oil supplier.


But when the St. Petersburg Times in Florida acquired two commercial Soviet satellite images of the same area, taken at the same time, no Iraqi troops were visible near the Saudi border – just empty desert.
"It was a pretty serious fib," says Jean Heller, the Times journalist who broke the story.

...end snip

...Shame on anyone who voted yes to the IRW, especially John Edwards -because he co-sponsored it.

[wellst0nev0ter]

40. You Mean THESE Drones, Congressman?

LINK

resign, and soon.

[Amonester]

71. "could strike 1,000 miles inland of east coast or west coast cities"

And that ignoramus(?) never thought of asking this simple question: "And HOW would these drones ever REACH the continent? By flying across TWO OCEANS??" and if so... "Who KNEW Iraq had NAVIGATION SATELLITES ORBITING THE EARTH to GUIDE THOSE THOUSAND DRONES??" because, it's pretty obvious to any 12 year-old the fact that there are a LOT of DIFFERENT WINDS of ALL DIRECTIONS over these oceans... you know... big and small WINDS, not to mention... a GD lot of WATER below them... into which drifting remotes would DROWN INTO after having been CARRIED AWAY by BIG WINDS to the NORTH, then BIG WINDS in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION!!

Either they R completely IGNORANT of everything "GEO-PHYSICS" or they Really think we're all idiots like they R...

Because that "story" doesn't fly... at all!

[jmowreader]

93. They got that out of Model Airplane News, right?

You KNOW the jig's up when you see a picture like that.

You are looking at your basic radio controlled model airplane. It wouldn't surprise me to find out this is an antiaircraft target--the Bushites called the trailers that generate hydrogen for weather balloons "biological warfare labs."

I've got more of a "biological weapons lab" growing in the bottom of my refrigerator.

[emulatorloo]

41. kick n/t

[ThomWV]

42. Let's at least get the language right - the photos were "Faked", they are quite real

And the real question is who faked them.

[Imagevision]

43. Tell me the msm hasn't been told to NOT to report on stories like this,

Even after the MSM failed to get it right on invading/attacking Iraq - now they turn their backs on stories that went wrongly reported or unreported until this very day!!!

[upi402]

45. ouch! (yet again) k/r n/t

[frogcycle]

47. How many people has this congressman told this to

before this reporter? When? Why did he not call a press conference the day "Several years later,,, (that) he learned that the pictures were “a god-damned lie,” apparently taken by CIA photographers in the desert in the southwest of the U.S. "

Something about this smells. Where has been this guy's sense of duty, of patriotism? Why did he not introduce articles of impeachment the next day? Whatever his excuse, why is he now willing to talk? Did he learn the pictures they had of him got lost?

[Quantess]

49. Here's your 50th rec.

and a little kick.

[progressoid]

53. Remember the Cuban missile crisis?

Why weren't these "damning" photos of Saddam's' supposed missiles shown to the American public like the images of the Soviet missiles in Cuba? If Iraq was such a big threat, why all of the cloak and dagger shit? Why only show a few people in congress?

Golly, maybe the WH only needed to persuade a few congress persons to OK the war. The truth and the American public be damned.

[seemslikeadream]

55. “a god-damned lie,”

“a god-damned lie,”

[scarface2004]

58. even zippy the pinhead knew it was all bullshit!

vote zippy for president...he won't invade new jersey!

[Preening Fop]

61. Obviously, our Imperial Empire has Committed Murder Upon the Iraqi People.

How about, Premeditated 1st Degree Murder.

[tblue37]

62. They were not fooled. They were scared that the Rovian Party

would use a vote aginst the IWR to paint them as weak on defense and thus deeat them in the election. They considered it more important to protect their own perks and power than to protect the American people or the Constitution they swore to uphold.

[JPettus]

65. he's just as guilty as the rest of them

unless he's willing to lead a groundswell in Congress to remove this President and VP.

[TankLV]

66. DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING THE REPUKES SAY!!!!

After all these years - even in 2000 - I and many others knew that.

REPUKES LIE.

PERIOD.

If Kennedy could show us actual photos of Cuba, then the MINIMUM would be a repeat of the quality of evidence. But when they showed CARTOONS, DRAWINGS, SKETCHES and ANYTHING BUT ACTUAL PHOTOS I KNEW they were LYING!!!! Why couldn't these LEADERS privy to all sorts of CLASSIFIED information do the same?!?!

[RufusTFirefly]

75. OT, but...

What if you were part of a commission investigating an assassination, and I told you the perpetrator was a Caribbean country with Soviet missiles and that we obviously couldn't let this go public, so it would be best to accept young lawyer Specter's theory instead of confronting the "true culprit" and starting World War III?

You might just shut up and willingly except all sorts of BS, even though the evidence pointing to the perpetrator was a lie. (And if you didn't, you would probably be treated to a plane crash). I have a hunch it was the same with the drones. Kanjorski and others were shown classified information that was actually "a god-damned lie" and were suitably impressed enough to keep their mouths shut. That might explain the "conspiracy" to go to war against a country that was no longer a threat to us, as well as the "conspiracy" to overlook government complicity in a presidential assassination. Most people are scared, gullible, lazy, selfish, and, above all, very, very human.

[windoe]

78. no confidence

The thousands of people in DC (I was there) plus the millions around the world March 19th 03 were sure that the reasons for the invasion were bogus. We knew then much of the info that is 'coming out' now. But we were dismissed as a 'focus group' and the bombing commensed. It was mindboggling to experience how so many people around the world could be ignored so completely.
I too have wondered how people in the government could have just 'gone along' with such a violent agenda. Could they have feared character assassination, ridicule or were they paid? But there have been endless chances to turn back from this invasion that they have not taken. I have by degrees lost my confidence in government officials to be able to defend our Constitution, and their excuses do not matter anymore.

[HughBeaumont]

82. "Could they have feared character assassination, ridicule or were they paid?"

D. All of the above.

[ArbustoBuster]

80. Flat out, this is treason.

Going to war in Iraq based on lies gave aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States. Anyone who had anything to do with these faked photos and this false briefing in even the smallest way needs to be tried, convicted, and executed for treason against the United States. Period. The Constitution demands no less.

[jmowreader]

94. Let's choose a slightly lesser charge, though

I can think of a couple reasons why I wouldn't try a treason charge against any of these people:

you have to jump through hoops to get this to treason
and even if it was, a treason charge is nearly impossible to get a conviction on.

"Treason" is reserved only for people who directly aid the enemy--oh, like giving chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein (Donald Rumsfeld), HAWK missiles to the Ayatollah Khomeini (Oliver North, Richard Secord, John Poindexter...) or the entire National SIGINT Requirements List* to Soviet military intelligence (James Hall, one of the most damaging spies America has ever produced).

You know all the spies we ferreted out during the Cold War? Guys like James Hall, Clayton Lonetree, Jonathan Pollard? All of them were traitors, but none were convicted of treason. It's much easier to lock someone up if you charge him with espionage.

I really like "conspiracy to commit serial murder."

* Very few SIGINTers have ever seen the entire NSRL for two reasons--need to know, and it is huge. Imagine two stacks of paper that come up to your armpits--printed single-spaced on both sides of the sheet. That's how large I've been told it was during the Cold War. I don't know how James Hall got a complete copy of it.

[madeline_con]

86. "President Bush wandered into and out of the briefing room..."

drooling and babbling.

[spag68]

89. Iraq's weapons

You know as well as I do that Iraq sent all those nuke and bio weapons to Syria, and probably all those drones were sent to Iran, Bomb bomb bomb Iran.

[Major Hogwash]

96. President Bush . . . worst person in the world, according to me.

I think Keith said he had to retire Bush to the Worst Person Hall of Fame because he had been nominated so many days in a row, something like 2000 days in a row.

[Jeroen]

97. K&R

[TomClash]

99. One word

IMPEACHMENT

[spindoctor]

102. I'm not buying

Kanjorski waited FOUR years to open his mouth and the four or five other unnamed congressmen still dont care enough to say a damn?

The best a bambusheled Kanjorski can come up with is keeping his fucking mouth shut about how the White House lied him into approval??? Yea, we all know how good our representatives are in keeping their mouths shut.

My bullshit detector is going off the scale here.