Third-rate Forgery Echo Third-Rate Burglary?
You may not recall but investigations into what has come to be known as Watergate - which uncovered government corruption to a previously unprecedented extent, including the use of government resources like the IRS to “screw” people on an enemies list or spy or plant incriminating evidence or even to intervene in the Democratic primary process to basically help pick their opponent in ’72 (they succeeded in “ratfucking” candidates perceived to be more difficult than McGovern, like Edmund Muskie) – were kicked off by the investigation of a “third-rate” burglary attempt of DNC chair Larry O’Brien’s office in the Watergate complex.
Could this be the beginning of a similar unraveling?
I doubt it, because the only reason all the anti-democratic stuff involved in Watergate ever came to light was due to diligent investigative reporting, something we surely don’t have right now – particularly when it comes to the GOP and the boy-emperor.
Plus, even with the different make-up of the media in the 70s it still required a Deepthroat on the inside who was willing to blow the whistle on the active Nixonian subversion of democracy.
Still, despite all the factors that seem arrayed against any attempt to pierce the veil of government secrecy concerning the “workings” of the present regime, any and all opportunities should be pursued vigorously. That is why an investigation of the sort called for below by senator Jay Rockerfeller (D) is important. His shouldn’t be the only voice, and this should not be the only issue. More needs to be done to halt the ongoing “screwing” we are all receiving from this - the worst (and possibly most anti-democratic) regime in US history.
Senator wants FBI to investigate fake Iraq documents
Associated Press
March 14, 2003 | WASHINGTON -- The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee asked the FBI on Friday to investigate forged documents the Bush administration used as evidence against Saddam Hussein and his military ambitions in Iraq.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia said he was uneasy about a possible campaign to deceive the public about the status of Iraq's nuclear program.
An investigation should "at a minimum help to allay any concerns" that the government was involved in the creation of the documents to build support for administration policies, Rockefeller wrote in a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has denied the U.S. government had any hand in creating the false documents.
"It came from other sources," Powell told a House committee Thursday. "We were aware of this piece of evidence, and it was provided in good faith to the inspectors."
Rockefeller asked the FBI to determine the source of the documents, the sophistication of the forgeries, the motivation of those responsible, why intelligence agencies didn't recognize them as forgeries and whether they are part of a larger disinformation campaign.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sarah Ross, a spokeswoman for Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Pat Roberts, said the committee will look into the forgery, but Roberts believes it is inappropriate for the FBI to investigate at this point.
The documents indicated that Iraq tried to by uranium from Niger, the West African nation that is the third-largest producer of mined uranium, Niger's largest export. The documents had been provided to U.S. officials by a third country, which has not been identified.
A U.S. government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it was unclear who first created the documents. The official said American suspicions remain about an Iraq-Niger uranium connection because of other, still-credible evidence that the official refused to specify.
In December, the State Department used the information to support its case that Iraq was lying about its weapons programs. But on March 7, Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the U.N. Security Council that the documents were forgeries.
Rockefeller said U.S. worries about Iraqi nuclear weapons were not based primarily on the documents, but "there is a possibility that the fabrication of these documents may be part of a larger deception campaign aimed at manipulating public opinion and foreign policy regarding Iraq."
At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing Thursday, Powell said the State Department had not participated "any way in any falsification."
Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, the committee's top Democrat, noted a Washington Post report that said a foreign government might have been conducting a deception campaign to win support for military action against Iraq. When Obey asked Powell if he could say which country that was, Powell replied, "I can't with confidence."
The Niger documents marked the second time that ElBaradei has challenged evidence presented by the United States meant to illustrate Iraq's nuclear weapons program. He also rejected the U.S. position that aluminum tubes imported by Iraq were intended to make nuclear bombs.
ElBaradei has said his inspectors have found no evidence that Saddam has revived its nuclear weapons program.
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