“On December 16, 2005, the lead article in the New York Times, by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, was titled ‘Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts.’ The article instantly became a national sensation, revealing the broad outlines of a secret eavesdropping program run by the NSA [National Security Agency] to find al Qaeda […]
Category: quotes
12/16/2005
From a New York Times article on December 16, 2005, “According to anonymous government officials quoted by the reporters [James Risen and Eric Lichtblau], NSA [National Security Agency] ‘eavesdrops without warrants on up to 500 people in the United States at any given time… Overseas, about 5,000 to 7,000 people suspected of terrorist ties are […]
12/15/2005
“According to an assessment published in December 2005 by John Mueller, an expert in wartime American opinion, ‘The only thing remarkable about the current war in Iraq is how precipitously American public support has dropped off. Casualty for casualty, support has declined far more quickly than it did during either the Korean War or the […]
12/15/2005
In December 2005, Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, who served in the Pentagon’s Near East and South Asia division from 2002-2003, said, regarding reports that documented the sale of 500 tons of yellowcake uranium per year from Niger to Iraq: ” ‘Yellowcake is unprocessed bulk ore… If Saddam wanted to make nuclear bombs, why would he […]
12/15/2005
“Since shortly after 9/11 the National Security Agency (NSA), the government entity responsible for listening in on enemy communications, had broadened its mandate to include communications in which one of the parties was in the United States. According to the [New York] Times [on December 15, 2005]: ‘Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush […]
12/15/2005
“The elections on 15 December, 2005 were a watershed in Iraq’s history and the final milestone in the political process that had begun with the transfer of sovereignty in June 2004. Unlike the earlier elections of January, which were Iraq’s first free elections after the war, the December 2005 elections were considered more representative. The […]
12/15/2005
“In several respects, the [December 15, 2005] elections [in Iraq] were an unprecedented success. Voter participation jumped dramatically, from 9.8 million in the October 15 constitutional referendum to nearly 11 million in December (about 70 percent of registered voters), despite the continued efforts of Sunni jihadist groups to deter voting.” – Larry Diamond, Squandered Victory, […]
12/15/2005
In Iraq, “The third election of the year, held in December [15, 2005], was to replace the interim assembly with a permanent legislature. Once again, Iraqis defied terrorist threats. Nearly twelve million people–a turnout of more than 70 percent–cast their ballots. This time Sunnis participated in overwhelming numbers.” – George W. Bush, Decision Points, Page […]
12/15/2005
Appearing on National Public Radio on December 15, 2005, former Deputy Chief of the Office of Legal Counsel John Yoo “admitted that ‘some of the worst possible interrogation methods we’ve heard of in the press have been reserved for the leaders of al-Qaeda that we’ve captured’ and, with remarkable candor and abandonment, ‘I’ve defended the […]
12/15/2005
“During 2005, alarmed by the course of events, [al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-] Zawahiri sent a letter to [al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi urging him to show restraint. In December of that year, when Zarqawi failed to heed such calls, [senior al Qaeda member Atiyah Abd al-] Rahman sent a much […]