A November 19, 2003, article in The International Herald Tribune “reported that a broad reappraisal of intelligence about illicit weapons programs was being made in the U.S. It cited an official explaining the need for the action by referring to the handling of the case of Iraq: ‘The absence of evidence that Iraq had destroyed […]
11/18/2003
According to The Los Angeles Times on November 18, 2003: “In Baghdad…the newly appointed commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, told reporters that the Iraqi insurgency was ‘strategically and operationally insignificant.’ ” – Matthew M. Aid, The Secret Sentry, Page 266 […]
11/17/2003
In response to: “Did we, in fact — people have said, Mr. President, as you know, that the same meticulous planning that went into winning the war didn’t go into winning the peace, and we were a bit unprepared for some of the surprises — the unpleasant surprises — the terrorists and all of that that […]
11/17/2003
According to The Washington Post on November 17, 2003: “…a message claiming to emanate from Al-Qaeda accepted responsibility for the [November 15 Turkish] suicide bombings and warned: ‘We tell the criminal [President] Bush and his Arab and Western tails–especially Britain, Italy, Australia and Japan–that the cars of death will not stop in Baghdad, Riyadh, Istanbul, […]
11/16/2003
President George W. Bush during a press conference on the south lawn: “I haven’t seen the specifics. I suspect it’s the same old stuff. You know, it’s propaganda. We’re not leaving until the job is done, pure and simple. A free and peaceful Iraq will be a historic event. And I’m sure he would like to see […]
11/15/2003
From a list of attacks ‘believed to have been conducted by, or inspired by, al-Qaeda:’ “November 15, 2003, and November 20, 2003: Istanbul, Turkey: Four car bombs explode at Jewish synagogues, killing fifty-seven and wounding over seven hundred.” – Najwa bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, and Jean Sasson, Growing Up Bin Laden, Page 321 […]
11/15/2003
Journalist Abdel Bari Atwan wrote: “On 15 November 2003 an al Qaeda cell in Istanbul [Turkey] attacked Neve Shalom and Beth Israel synagogues, killing twenty-five people and injuring at least 350 with two suicide truck bombs. My paper, al-Quds al-Arabi, received an email communication from a group called the Abu Hafs al-Misri Brigade, the military […]
11/15/2003
On November 15, 2003, “America announced that by July 1, 2004, Iraq would become a sovereign nation, the CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] would officially dissolve, and in its place, the United States would establish a new and fully functioning embassy. Other steps on this timeline included: drafting and approving a fundamental law and a new […]
11/15/2003
“By November 2003, the security situation in Fallujah [Iraq] had become so precarious that the last remaining units of the Eighty-second [Airborne Division] had to withdraw, which allowed the insurgents and foreign fighters to control the city, to the consternation of Washington and U.S. military commanders in Baghdad.” [The 15th of the month used for […]
11/15/2003
“In November 2003, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades claimed responsibility for two sets of deadly attacks in Istanbul [Turkey] in partnership with a local suspected terrorist organization, the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders’ Front, also known as IBDA-C. In the first attack on November 15 [2003], two suicide bombers driving trucks filled with some nine hundred […]