Religions > Atheism > Cheney Lied about Iranian Nuke Threat While Suppressing Intel That Iran Suspended Weapons Program in '03
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Michelle Malkin" |
| Date: |
07 Dec 2007 06:54:52 PM |
| Object: |
Cheney Lied about Iranian Nuke Threat While Suppressing Intel That Iran Suspended Weapons Program in '03 |
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/12/05/cheney-lied-about-iran-nie/
Cheney Lied about Iranian Nuke Threat While Suppressing Intel That Iran
Suspended Weapons Program in '03
Jon Ponder | Dec. 5, 2007 Pensito Review
Repercussions continue to shake out in the wake of the release this week of
a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that says Iran abandoned its nuclear
weapons program four years ago.
At a news conference yesterday, George Bush denied knowing that U.S.
intelligence had learned the Iranian program had been suspended when he
warned the American people last month that Iran was on the verge of
launching World War III. He was not lying, he suggested, but rather it was
his own incompetence that led him to give the false warning. He said that
when Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell told him in
August that new information about the program had come to light, Bush did
not bother to ask the DNI about the nature of the new developments.
If the muted response from reporters at the news conference to this
assertion is a guide, journalists close to the White House believe that it
while it is unacceptable for Bush to lie to them, it is perfectly okay for
him to issue false predictions about an impending apocalypse if the warnings
are based entirely on Bush's ineptitude and lack of curiosity.
Today we learn that ***** Cheney has known about - and actively suppressed -
the intelligence community's finding for over a year. In particular, Cheney
knew that Iran had suspended its weapons program in 2003 when he made this
statement on Oct. 21, 2007, in an address to a Washington think tank:
Dismissing Iran's claims that it is seeking only nuclear energy and not a
weapons program, Cheney accused Iranian leaders of pursuing a practice of
"delay and deception in an obvious effort to buy time."
"Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as a
terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions . The Iranian regime
needs to know that if it stays on its present course the international
community is prepared to impose serious consequences."
Yesterday, on CNN, New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh reminded viewers that
he'd reported on White House efforts to suppress the NIE last November:
HERSH: At the time, I wrote that there was a tremendous fight about it,
because Cheney in the White House - the vice president did not want to hear
this. So that there was a fight about that intelligence. And, actually, for
the last year, I think the vice president's office pretty much has kept -
you know, the vice president has kept his foot on the neck of that report.
That report was bottled up for a year.
The intelligence we learned about yesterday has been circulating inside
this government at the highest levels for the last year - and probably
longer.
The complete transcript of Hersh's interview on CNN follows:
BLITZER: The stunning intelligence turnaround on Iran's nuclear weapons
program comes as little surprise to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist,
Seymour Hersh. He wrote back in July of 2006 in "The New Yorker" about the
lack of evidence that Iran was trying to build a bomb.
Sy Hersh is joining us now live here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
He also wrote an article in November of last year, 2006: "The Next Act: Is
A Damaged Administration Less Likely to Attack Iran or More?," in which you
said there was a new National Intelligence Estimate circulating, suggesting
they didn't really have a nuclear weapons program that was ongoing any
longer.
SEYMOUR HERSH, "THE NEW YORKER": Exactly right.
BLITZER: So what do you think?
HERSH: Well, I.
BLITZER: I mean if you knew that a year ago, you know, what does that
mean?
HERSH: At the time, I wrote that there was a tremendous fight about it,
because Cheney in the White House - the vice president did not want to hear
this. So that there was a fight about that intelligence. And, actually, for
the last year, I think the vice president's office pretty much has kept -
you know, the vice president has kept his foot on the neck of that report.
That report was bottled up for a year.
The intelligence we learned about yesterday has been circulating inside
this government at the highest levels for the last year - and probably
longer.
BLITZER: All right. But you were suggesting that there was a real run-up
to a war developing within the administration, even as there were some in
the administration and the intelligence community suggesting, hey, hold
off - maybe they did suspend or freeze their nuclear weapons program.
HERSH: Of course. And I think it's still not over. I mean it.
BLITZER: Well, look, because I want to press you on this.
Does that mean now that this new NIE has been released publicly, it is
over, the run-up toward a potential military confrontation with Iran?
HERSH: There's always Israel.
BLITZER: What does that mean?
HERSH: Well, that means that Israel can always decide unilaterally to take
action or with us, covertly. Israel objects to this report. I am told that
Olmert had a private discussion with Bush about it during Annapolis - before
Annapolis. Bush briefed him about it. The Israelis were very upset about the
report. They think we're naive. They don't think we get it right.
And so they have a different point of view. And this is a serious breach
(INAUDIBLE).
BLITZER: Well, let me ask you this, is it possible that this new NIE -
because we know that the 2005 NIE was wrong, the 2002 NIE on Iraq's weapons
of mass destruction was wrong.
Is it possible this new one that has just been made public, declassified,
is it possible they got it wrong again?
HERSH: It's been four years since we've had any positive evidence of a
parallel secret program to build a bomb. And we've been all over the
country. One of the things that that NIE, that they finished last year,
actually, that they were working on last year, it was a result of a lot of
covert operations. I also was writing about the fact that we had people on
the ground inside. We checked every place we thought there was some secret
activity and we found nada - nothing.
So, sure, it's possible. Everything's possible. But this is - this is a
pretty remarkable document, given the hostility to it inside the White House
that it's been made public.
BLITZER: It's pretty amazing when you look at, from many respects, and
certainly from your respect. You probably feel vindicated. You know, you
were hammered - and we were hammered for giving you some air time on "LATE
EDITION," our Sunday show.
I want to play for you a clip of what the White House press secretary,
Dana Perino, said the last time you were interviewed by me.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Every two months or so, Sy Hersh
writes an article in "The New Yorker" magazine and CNN provides him a forum
in which to talk about his article and all the anonymous sources that are
quoted in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. So you heard that from the White House press
secretary. And, you know, we went back and took a look at what you wrote
more than a year ago. And you had some pretty good information in there.
HERSH: Well, you know, they also criticized me - if you remember, I went
on your show repeatedly about Abu Ghraib. We did long interviews about it.
And they were saying, oh - literally, senior officials said he's throwing,
you know, crap against the wall to see what sticks. So this has been
consistent.
What's interesting here is the president's position. As you know, today in
his news conference, he said he only learned about this the other week.
BLITZER: He said he only got the word from Mike McConnell, the national
intelligence director, last week, that there was, in fact, now a new
National Intelligence Estimate, although last August he was told there's
some new information. We haven't vetted it. It's not yet confirmed. There
may be some new information. He only says he learned about the new NIE last
week.
HERSH: Look, it's a lose-lose for them. Either he didn't know what was
going on at the highest levels - the fight I'm talking about began last
year. I was writing about something in November and also, you mentioned
earlier, they were aware of a big dispute inside the community - that is,
between the White House and the community about this. Now, maybe he didn't
know what was going on at the vice presidential level about something that
serious. If so, I mean we pay him to know these things and not to make
statements based on information that turned out not to be accurate. Or else
he's misrepresenting what he knows. I don't think there's any question, this
is going to pose a serious credibility problem. I assume people are going to
be asking more and more questions about what did he know when. And his
statement that McConnell comes to him - the head of the intelligence
services of the United States - and says I have something serious to say to
you and he says great, let me know when I want to hear it, is, you know - it's
his words and we can only say that if that's true, you know, that's - that's
not what we pay the guy to do.
BLITZER: The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton,
was here in THE SITUATION ROOM in the last hour. He's a hard- liner, as you
know, when it comes to Iran. He says maybe this new NIE has been politicized
and says they may get it wrong still. And he told me this.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: I think there is a very
real risk here that the intelligence community is like generals fighting a
last war - they got Iraq wrong and they're overcompensating by understating
the potential threat from Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: What do you think?
Because, you know, he reflects a view that's still pretty prevalent out
there, especially within the administration.
[HERSH]: Particularly within the vice president's office.
And, also, now - you would have to say also within Israel. The Israelis
think we're very naive about this. They say you guys don't know, you know,
you're thinking about it the way Americans think - not about how Middle
Eastern people think.
And so this is literally, what I understand one of their arguments has
been to the White House. Look, the bottom line is that we haven't been able
to find evidence. And we need evidence. We deal with evidence. We can't find
evidence of any ongoing secret parallel weapons program - period. And we
know that the program they have now has gone nowhere - period.
We report that the NIE was careful to say it's possible that they may get
some fissile material from a third country. It's possible they may solve
their problems.
But I can tell you, John Negroponte was telling Congress privately in the
last few months, it could be as long as 10 years before they really are in a
position to get a bomb.
BLITZER: And in the report, the NIE, they said maybe 2015, if they were to
reactivate that program. But under the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty,
they are entitled to enrich uranium, which they say they're doing for
peaceful purposes.
HERSH: Tell that to the president. The president's view on this, I think,
is pretty tough. His view is simply - his negotiating position, as I
understand it from inside, they have to stop everything, not just - end it.
Destroy it. Get rid of all the centrifuges. Inspectors have to come in that
we pick, that we recognize as rational, go inside Iran and verify that they
have gotten rid of the program. That's his standard. He's not saying that
publicly, but that's the private standard
Cheney Lied about Iranian Nuke Threat While Suppressing Intel That Iran
Suspended Weapons Program in '03
Jon Ponder | Dec. 5, 2007
Repercussions continue to shake out in the wake of the release this week
of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that says Iran abandoned its
nuclear weapons program four years ago.
At a news conference yesterday, George Bush denied knowing that U.S.
intelligence had learned the Iranian program had been suspended when he
warned the American people last month that Iran was on the verge of
launching World War III. He was not lying, he suggested, but rather it was
his own incompetence that led him to give the false warning. He said that
when Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell told him in
August that new information about the program had come to light, Bush did
not bother to ask the DNI about the nature of the new developments.
If the muted response from reporters at the news conference to this
assertion is a guide, journalists close to the White House believe that it
while it is unacceptable for Bush to lie to them, it is perfectly okay for
him to issue false predictions about an impending apocalypse if the warnings
are based entirely on Bush's ineptitude and lack of curiosity.
Today we learn that ***** Cheney has known about - and actively
suppressed - the intelligence community's finding for over a year. In
particular, Cheney knew that Iran had suspended its weapons program in 2003
when he made this statement on Oct. 21, 2007, in an address to a Washington
think tank:
Dismissing Iran's claims that it is seeking only nuclear energy and not
a weapons program, Cheney accused Iranian leaders of pursuing a practice of
"delay and deception in an obvious effort to buy time."
"Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as
a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions . The Iranian
regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course the
international community is prepared to impose serious consequences."
Yesterday, on CNN, New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh reminded viewers that
he'd reported on White House efforts to suppress the NIE last November:
HERSH: At the time, I wrote that there was a tremendous fight about it,
because Cheney in the White House - the vice president did not want to hear
this. So that there was a fight about that intelligence. And, actually, for
the last year, I think the vice president's office pretty much has kept -
you know, the vice president has kept his foot on the neck of that report.
That report was bottled up for a year.
The intelligence we learned about yesterday has been circulating inside
this government at the highest levels for the last year - and probably
longer.
The complete transcript of Hersh's interview on CNN follows:
BLITZER: The stunning intelligence turnaround on Iran's nuclear weapons
program comes as little surprise to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist,
Seymour Hersh. He wrote back in July of 2006 in "The New Yorker" about the
lack of evidence that Iran was trying to build a bomb.
Sy Hersh is joining us now live here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
He also wrote an article in November of last year, 2006: "The Next Act:
Is A Damaged Administration Less Likely to Attack Iran or More?," in which
you said there was a new National Intelligence Estimate circulating,
suggesting they didn't really have a nuclear weapons program that was
ongoing any longer.
SEYMOUR HERSH, "THE NEW YORKER": Exactly right.
BLITZER: So what do you think?
HERSH: Well, I.
BLITZER: I mean if you knew that a year ago, you know, what does that
mean?
HERSH: At the time, I wrote that there was a tremendous fight about it,
because Cheney in the White House - the vice president did not want to hear
this. So that there was a fight about that intelligence. And, actually, for
the last year, I think the vice president's office pretty much has kept -
you know, the vice president has kept his foot on the neck of that report.
That report was bottled up for a year.
The intelligence we learned about yesterday has been circulating inside
this government at the highest levels for the last year - and probably
longer.
BLITZER: All right. But you were suggesting that there was a real run-up
to a war developing within the administration, even as there were some in
the administration and the intelligence community suggesting, hey, hold
off - maybe they did suspend or freeze their nuclear weapons program.
HERSH: Of course. And I think it's still not over. I mean it.
BLITZER: Well, look, because I want to press you on this.
Does that mean now that this new NIE has been released publicly, it is
over, the run-up toward a potential military confrontation with Iran?
HERSH: There's always Israel.
BLITZER: What does that mean?
HERSH: Well, that means that Israel can always decide unilaterally to
take action or with us, covertly. Israel objects to this report. I am told
that Olmert had a private discussion with Bush about it during Annapolis -
before Annapolis. Bush briefed him about it. The Israelis were very upset
about the report. They think we're naive. They don't think we get it right.
And so they have a different point of view. And this is a serious breach
(INAUDIBLE).
BLITZER: Well, let me ask you this, is it possible that this new NIE -
because we know that the 2005 NIE was wrong, the 2002 NIE on Iraq's weapons
of mass destruction was wrong.
Is it possible this new one that has just been made public,
declassified, is it possible they got it wrong again?
HERSH: It's been four years since we've had any positive evidence of a
parallel secret program to build a bomb. And we've been all over the
country. One of the things that that NIE, that they finished last year,
actually, that they were working on last year, it was a result of a lot of
covert operations. I also was writing about the fact that we had people on
the ground inside. We checked every place we thought there was some secret
activity and we found nada - nothing.
So, sure, it's possible. Everything's possible. But this is - this is a
pretty remarkable document, given the hostility to it inside the White House
that it's been made public.
BLITZER: It's pretty amazing when you look at, from many respects, and
certainly from your respect. You probably feel vindicated. You know, you
were hammered - and we were hammered for giving you some air time on "LATE
EDITION," our Sunday show.
I want to play for you a clip of what the White House press secretary,
Dana Perino, said the last time you were interviewed by me.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Every two months or so, Sy
Hersh writes an article in "The New Yorker" magazine and CNN provides him a
forum in which to talk about his article and all the anonymous sources that
are quoted in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. So you heard that from the White House press
secretary. And, you know, we went back and took a look at what you wrote
more than a year ago. And you had some pretty good information in there.
HERSH: Well, you know, they also criticized me - if you remember, I went
on your show repeatedly about Abu Ghraib. We did long interviews about it.
And they were saying, oh - literally, senior officials said he's throwing,
you know, crap against the wall to see what sticks. So this has been
consistent.
What's interesting here is the president's position. As you know, today
in his news conference, he said he only learned about this the other week.
BLITZER: He said he only got the word from Mike McConnell, the national
intelligence director, last week, that there was, in fact, now a new
National Intelligence Estimate, although last August he was told there's
some new information. We haven't vetted it. It's not yet confirmed. There
may be some new information. He only says he learned about the new NIE last
week.
HERSH: Look, it's a lose-lose for them. Either he didn't know what was
going on at the highest levels - the fight I'm talking about began last
year. I was writing about something in November and also, you mentioned
earlier, they were aware of a big dispute inside the community - that is,
between the White House and the community about this. Now, maybe he didn't
know what was going on at the vice presidential level about something that
serious. If so, I mean we pay him to know these things and not to make
statements based on information that turned out not to be accurate. Or else
he's misrepresenting what he knows. I don't think there's any question, this
is going to pose a serious credibility problem. I assume people are going to
be asking more and more questions about what did he know when. And his
statement that McConnell comes to him - the head of the intelligence
services of the United States - and says I have something serious to say to
you and he says great, let me know when I want to hear it, is, you know - it's
his words and we can only say that if that's true, you know, that's - that's
not what we pay the guy to do.
BLITZER: The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton,
was here in THE SITUATION ROOM in the last hour. He's a hard- liner, as you
know, when it comes to Iran. He says maybe this new NIE has been politicized
and says they may get it wrong still. And he told me this.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: I think there is a very
real risk here that the intelligence community is like generals fighting a
last war - they got Iraq wrong and they're overcompensating by understating
the potential threat from Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: What do you think?
Because, you know, he reflects a view that's still pretty prevalent out
there, especially within the administration.
[HERSH]: Particularly within the vice president's office.
And, also, now - you would have to say also within Israel. The Israelis
think we're very naive about this. They say you guys don't know, you know,
you're thinking about it the way Americans think - not about how Middle
Eastern people think.
And so this is literally, what I understand one of their arguments has
been to the White House. Look, the bottom line is that we haven't been able
to find evidence. And we need evidence. We deal with evidence. We can't find
evidence of any ongoing secret parallel weapons program - period. And we
know that the program they have now has gone nowhere - period.
We report that the NIE was careful to say it's possible that they may
get some fissile material from a third country. It's possible they may solve
their problems.
But I can tell you, John Negroponte was telling Congress privately in
the last few months, it could be as long as 10 years before they really are
in a position to get a bomb.
BLITZER: And in the report, the NIE, they said maybe 2015, if they were
to reactivate that program. But under the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty,
they are entitled to enrich uranium, which they say they're doing for
peaceful purposes.
HERSH: Tell that to the president. The president's view on this, I
think, is pretty tough. His view is simply - his negotiating position, as I
understand it from inside, they have to stop everything, not just - end it.
Destroy it. Get rid of all the centrifuges. Inspectors have to come in that
we pick, that we recognize as rational, go inside Iran and verify that they
have gotten rid of the program. That's his standard. He's not saying that
publicly, but that's the private standard
.
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| User: "johac" |
|
| Title: Re: Cheney Lied about Iranian Nuke Threat While Suppressing Intel That Iran Suspended Weapons Program in '03 |
08 Dec 2007 01:32:42 AM |
|
|
In article <f-qdnSsyJ7DBdsTanZ2dnUVZ_o-mnZ2d@comcast.com>,
"Michelle Malkin" <hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote:
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/12/05/cheney-lied-about-iran-nie/
Cheney Lied about Iranian Nuke Threat While Suppressing Intel That Iran
Suspended Weapons Program in '03
Jon Ponder | Dec. 5, 2007 Pensito Review
Repercussions continue to shake out in the wake of the release this week of
a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that says Iran abandoned its nuclear
weapons program four years ago.
At a news conference yesterday, George Bush denied knowing that U.S.
intelligence had learned the Iranian program had been suspended when he
warned the American people last month that Iran was on the verge of
launching World War III. He was not lying, he suggested, but rather it was
his own incompetence that led him to give the false warning. He said that
when Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell told him in
August that new information about the program had come to light, Bush did
not bother to ask the DNI about the nature of the new developments.
If the muted response from reporters at the news conference to this
assertion is a guide, journalists close to the White House believe that it
while it is unacceptable for Bush to lie to them, it is perfectly okay for
him to issue false predictions about an impending apocalypse if the warnings
are based entirely on Bush's ineptitude and lack of curiosity.
How stupid do these people believe that the American people are? These
are the same kind of lies that got us into Iraq.
To quote the saying that Bush messed up a few years ago: "Fool me once,
shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
Except I and many others weren't even fooled the forst tie.
Time for Dubya, Cheney, and the rest of the lying warmongers to go. Way
past time.
--
John #1782
.
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