Monday, July 12, 2004

 

Muhammad Al-Zubaidi a particularly absurd ex-INC leader who briefly declared himself to be mayor of Baghdad is talking about INC efforts to pump up stories about Iraqi WMD and alleged ties to al Qaeda. He is, shall we say, not a very credible source although he is sharing his handwritten notes. The bit in the NYT article which I found most interesing, has nothing to do with Al-Zubaidi

On Sept. 20, 2001, with the Pentagon hallways still reeking of smoke and disaster, Mr. Chalabi met with the Defense Policy Board, a group of private citizens that advises the secretary of defense. The clear consensus was that Mr. Hussein had to be removed from power in Iraq, in the interests of stabilizing the region and thwarting his support for terrorists, according to Mr. Brooke, who accompanied Mr. Chalabi to the Pentagon.

So, over at the Pentagon, minds were made up by September 20 2001. This is obviously true, but had been denied when Clarke made the claim. Notice the odd attitude towards evidence. It is not that they are trying to decide what to do, so they need evidence. It is that they have decided what to do, so they need evidence to convince others.

I also like "Their purpose, Mr. Brooke said, was to put the defector at ease before interviews with a reporter from The Times and a freelance television journalist who had worked occasionally for the I.N.C. but was filming Mr. Saeed for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation." I wonder if Judith Miller is now the reporter who must not be named. Noticed that l'inominato/a is interviewing along with a "reporter" who had worked for the INC.

posted by Robert permalink and comments4:56 PM