“Before the war, it could have been a firing offense–if not a federal crime–for a government official to disclose any of the contents of the National Intelligence Estimate [NIE]. But now, with the administration under fierce attack for having manipulated intelligence, Bush was directing the vice president [Dick Cheney] to leak parts of the NIE […]
6/26/2003
On June 26, 2003, the “United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture,” President George W. Bush said: “[T]he United States declares its strong solidarity with torture victims across the world. Torture anywhere is an affront to human dignity everywhere. We are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected […]
6/26/2003
Regarding the Coalition Provisional Authority’s plan to form a council to draft a new Iraqi constitution, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani wrote, on June 26, 2003: ” ‘Those forces have no jurisdiction whatsoever to appoint members of the Constitution preparation assembly. Also there is no guarantee either that this assembly will prepare a constitution that serves […]
6/26/2003
In Iraq, on June 26, 2003, “Two weeks before [Director of the Coalition Provisional Authority L. Paul] Bremer announced the formation of the Governing Council, [Ayatollah Ali] al-Sistani made an announcement of his own. He issued a fatwa, a religious decree, stating that Iraq’s constitution had to be written by elected representatives. An American-selected drafting […]
6/19/2003
“On June 19 [2003], The New Republic posted online an article that yet again cited the unidentified former diplomat [Joseph Wilson]–and presented a muddled version of what had happened [when Wilson traveled to Niger to investigate allegations that they sold uranium to Iraq]. …The article contained yet another in-your-face quote from the still anonymous retired […]
6/18/2003
“In a small ceremony [at the White House on June 18, 2003], [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld pinned the Defense Department Medal for Distinguished Public Service [for his attempts to rebuild post-war Iraq] on [Lieutenant General Jay] Garner, who didn’t want the medal.” – Bob Woodward, State of Denial, Page 220 […]
6/18/2003
Former officer in charge of post-war Iraq, Lieutenant General Jay Garner met with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on June 18, 2003. ” ‘We’ve made three tragic decisions,’ Garner said. …Disbanding the military had been the biggest mistake. Now there were hundreds of thousands of disorganized, unemployed, armed Iraqis running around. It would take years […]
6/18/2003
Weapons inspector David Kay “left Washington for Qatar on June 18 [2003]. …Within three weeks, they had tracked down 50 to 60 [Iraqis]…including scientists, technicians, and senior bureaucrats. They questioned them, went through their offices, and dug through documents. A fairly consistent picture began to emerge. ‘The nuke story was falling apart,’ Kay recalled. ‘We […]
6/17/2003
President George W. Bush at the Bush-Cheney 2004 reception in Washington, D.C.: “I came to this office to solve problems, not to pass them on to other Presidents and other generations. (Applause.) I came to seize opportunities, and not let them slip away. We are meeting the tests of our time. Terrorists declared war on the United […]
6/16/2003
“Rand Beers, who was NSC [National Security Council] senior director for counterterrorism and, after serving in the White House of every president from Reagan to the younger Bush, one of the most respected civil servants in Washington, left his position shortly before fighting began in Iraq. Eight weeks later [on June 16, 2003], The Washington […]