1/8/2002

“According to top State Department officials, [President] Bush decided to nullify the Geneva Conventions on January 8, 2002.”  – Jane Mayer, The Dark Side, Page 123 […]

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1/7/2002

Journalist Jason Burke wrote, in India Today on January 7, 2002: ” ‘Bin Laden does not exist at the moment. But he dominates everything. He may have gone off our screens. …But he is everywhere. …That is his greatest achievement.’ “  – Rohan Gunaratna, Inside al Qaeda, Page 167 […]

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1/7/2002

In a letter dated Jan. 7, 2002, from Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, she notes that the “hooding and blindfolding” of suspects is in violation of the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Torture and Punishment.  – Amnesty International, “Letter dated 7 January 2002 […]

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1/2/2002

On January 2, 2002, “First troops of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from 15 countries arrives in Kabul [Afghanistan]. Britain leads force.”  – Ahmed Rashid, Taliban, Page 266 […]

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1/2/2002

In a Washington Post article on January 2, 2002, Philippines police Captain Aida Fariscal discussed her reaction to 9/11, and the fact that evidence of the plot was passed on to the FBI. ” ‘It’s so chilling… Those kamikaze pilots trained in America just like [bomber Ramzi Yousef’s cohort Abdul Hakim] Murad. The FBI knew […]

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12/28/2001

“The morning of Friday, December 28 [2001, President Bush] rose at 5:00 am at his Crawford, Texas ranch…and then went to a special building on his ranch called SCIF–Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility…The intelligence briefing that morning included the Top Secret/codeword Threat Matrix, …Item 8 of 19 in the 14-page document described an intercepted communication from […]

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12/28/2001

Speaking to the National Security Council on December 28, 2001, Central Command leader General Tommy “Franks turned to the principal reason for the meeting that day, the Iraq war planning.” He presented an elaborate plan called Top Secret/Polo Step, which aimed to influence the Iraqi people to rise up against Saddam. “To be effective with […]

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12/28/2001

On December 28, 2001, Central Command leader General Tommy “Franks presented [President] Bush with the Iraq war planning that the president had requested: a twenty-six-page paper… It called for 400,000 U.S. military personnel for an invasion and close to six months for buildup.”  – Elisabeth Bumiller, Condoleezza Rice: An American Life, Page 172 […]

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12/28/2001

“The subject [of invading Iraq] was not formally brought before the National Security Council until December 28 [2001], when [Central Command leader General Tommy] Franks traveled to Bush’s Crawford [Texas] ranch to update the vacationing president on his progress. The others sat in via videoconference…”  – Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Page […]

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12/28/2001

President “Bush ended the December 28 [2001] Crawford [Texas] session [of the National Security Council meeting] by telling the entire group to ‘remain optimistic that diplomacy and international pressure will succeed in disarming the [Iraqi] regime.’ His request for invasion plans was precautionary, he said, in case other means failed. ‘We cannot allow weapons of […]

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