“In a statement posted to the Internet December 16, 2004, bin Laden emphasized the importance of disrupting Iraq’s vital oil industry. ‘Targeting America in Iraq in terms of economy and losses in life is a golden and unique opportunity. Do not waste the opportunity only to regret it later. One of the most important reasons […]
12/15/2004
In December 2004, the Justice Department issued revised opinions of their August 1, 2002, definition of torture. It “withdrew the 2002 discussion of defenses on the grounds that ‘[c]onsideration of the bounds of any such authority would be inconsistent with the President’s [Bush’s] unequivocal directive that United States personnel not engage in torture.’ “ It […]
12/15/2004
In December 2004, Osama bin Laden wrote another letter to Muslims in Saudi Arabia attacking the Saudi monarchy. “He complains of their royal family’s corruption–one of their royal palaces he charges is larger than the country of Bahrain–and he accuses the Saudi leadership of having colluded with the Bush administration to invade Iraq, particularly in […]
12/14/2004
“At a lavish East Room ceremony on December 14 [2004], he [President Bush] awarded Presidential Medals of Freedom to [former CIA Director] George Tenet, [former Coalition Provisional Authority leader] Jerry Bremer, and [former head of Central Command] Tommy Franks. ‘These three men symbolize the nobility of public service, the good character of our country and […]
12/14/2004
“On December 14, 2004, [President] Bush staged an extraordinary ceremony at the White House to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, to three architects of the Iraq enterprise: [former CIA Director George] Tenet, [former Central Command leader General Tommy] Franks, and [former Coalition Provisional Authority leader Paul] Bremer. …He credited […]
12/14/2004
George “Tenet’s CIA was 100 percent wrong in assessing Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction before the Iraq war. But [President] Bush not only didn’t fire Tenet…he never even showed any irritation with him. Instead, Bush vigorously defended Tenet and ended up giving Tenet the Presidential Medal of Freedom on December 14, 2004, the highest civil […]
12/13/2004
In an interview with Paris Match on December 13, 2004, Secretary of State Colin Powell said: ” ‘If I had known there were no stockpiles [of WMD in Iraq], I never would have said there were stockpiles.’ ” – Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Page 485 […]
12/10/2004
“In his [December 10, 2004] farewell speech [Attorney General John] Ashcroft did say…that ‘more than 375 people have been charged in terror-related prosecutions in the United States since the 2001 attacks, with 195 either convicted or entering guilty pleas.’ This represents a bold and important claim and was repeated regularly by President Bush. …Six months […]
12/8/2004
In a photo op with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at an aircraft hangar in Kuwait on December 8, 2004, “Specialist Thomas Wilson, a scout with a Tennessee Army National Guard unit about to head into Iraq, spoke of troops having to search through landfills for so-called ‘hillbilly armor’ to protect their trucks. ‘Why don’t […]
12/8/2004
While Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was speaking to soldiers in Iraq on December 8, 2004, National Guard Specialist Thomas Wilson “stood up and publicly complained about the lack of protection the Humvees were providing them… He asked Rumsfeld…why they had ‘to dig through local landfills’ for their armor. Rumsfeld…blithely brushed the soldier off, saying, […]