“On January 15, 2003, Secretary [of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld rescinded his general approval of these [enhanced interrogation] tactics [which he originally approved for use at Guantanamo on December 2, 2002], leaving open the possibility of specific approval in specific instances, and directed DOD [Department of Defense] General Counsel William Haynes to set up a Department […]
Category: quotes
1/15/2003
In January 2003, an unnamed official in the CIA was told, ” ‘if [President] Bush wants to go to war, it’s your job to give him a reason to do so,’ according to the official. It was the first time the official had ever heard anyone order employees to slant their analysis for political purposes.” […]
1/15/2003
“The BBC received a Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) document which showed that British intelligence believes there are no current links between the Iraqi regime and the al-Qa’ida network. The classified document, written last month [January 2003], said there had been contact between the two in the past, but it assessed that any fledgling relationship foundered […]
1/15/2003
“By January 2003, when the Bush administration was ratcheting up its claims of Iraq’s imminent threat, the intelligence reports were continuing to say the exact opposite–that Saddam Hussein had no intention of attacking the United States, unless he was about to be attacked first. The intelligence assessment found that ‘Saddam probably will not initiate hostilities […]
1/15/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “627. Mr Blair told the Chiefs of Staff on 15 January 2003 that ‘the *Issue* was aftermath – the Coalition must prevent anarchy and internecine fighting breaking out’.” – Commissioned by the Prime Minister The Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP, “The Report of the […]
1/15/2003
“By January 2003, NSA [National Security Agency] was turning its giant ears toward the undecided members of the UN Security Council. Three months earlier, largely as a result of its avalanche of phony intelligence, the Bush administration won the support of both houses of Congress for a war with Iraq. With the Country largely convinced, […]
1/15/2003
“In a letter intercepted in January 2003 and later released by the CIA, [future al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi called the Shia ‘the lurking snake, the crafty and malicious scorpion, the spying enemy, and the penetrating venom.’ Quoting from [Kurdish Sunni scholar] Ibin Taymiyya, he warned: ‘Beware of the Shia, fight […]
1/15/2003
” ‘We know that the president [Bush] wants to keep North Korea out of the way so he can concentrate on Iraq,’ a senior British official in close consultations with the White House noted in January 2003. ‘They have remitted the issue to State [Department]…so that it does not get in the way’ of the […]
1/15/2003
“A joint study [in January 2003] by the Council on Foreign Relations and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University warned of possible anarchy and the need for the U.S. military to quickly turn to humanitarian efforts and law enforcement [following an invasion of Iraq].” [The 15th of the month […]
1/15/2003
“A declassified CIA report from January 2003, called ‘Iraqi Support for Terrorism,’ concluded: ‘Iraq continues to be a safe haven, transit point, or operational node for groups and individuals who direct violence against the United States, Israel, and other allies. Iraq has a long history of supporting terrorism. During the last four decades, it has […]