Cheney: "there was never any evidence" linking Iraq to 9/11- book shows his office forged evidence

[sabra]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,524237,00.html

<snip>

D. CHENEY: Correct, but on the question of whether or not Iraq was involved in 9/11, there was never any evidence to prove that. There was some reporting early on, for example, that Mohammed Atta had met with a senior Iraqi intelligence official. But that was never borne out.

And George -- George (INAUDIBLE) he brought that information forward as it became available. And in fairness to George, it would be important to say he did say and did testify that there was an ongoing relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq, but no proof that Iraq was involved in 9/11.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080244/

Transcript for Sept. 14
Sunday, September 14, 2003 GUEST: Dick Cheney, vice president Tim Russert, moderator


...

MR. RUSSERT: The Washington Post asked the American people about Saddam Hussein, and this is what they said: 69 percent said he was involved in the September 11 attacks. Are you surprised by that?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: No. I think it’s not surprising that people make that connection.

MR. RUSSERT: But is there a connection?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: We don’t know. You and I talked about this two years ago. I can remember you asking me this question just a few days after the original attack. At the time I said no, we didn’t have any evidence of that. Subsequent to that, we’ve learned a couple of things. We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the ’90s, that it involved training, for example, on BW and CW, that al-Qaeda sent personnel to Baghdad to get trained on the systems that are involved. The Iraqis providing bomb-making expertise and advice to the al-Qaeda organization.

We know, for example, in connection with the original World Trade Center bombing in ’93 that one of the bombers was Iraqi, returned to Iraq after the attack of ’93. And we’ve learned subsequent to that, since we went into Baghdad and got into the intelligence files, that this individual probably also received financing from the Iraqi government as well as safe haven.

Now, is there a connection between the Iraqi government and the original World Trade Center bombing in ’93? We know, as I say, that one of the perpetrators of that act did, in fact, receive support from the Iraqi government after the fact. With respect to 9/11, of course, we’ve had the story that’s been public out there. The Czechs alleged that Mohamed Atta, the lead attacker, met in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official five months before the attack, but we’ve never been able to develop anymore of that yet either in terms of confirming it or discrediting it. We just don’t know.

MR. RUSSERT: We could establish a direct link between the hijackers of September 11 and Saudi Arabia.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: We know that many of the attackers were Saudi. There was also an Egyptian in the bunch. It doesn’t mean those governments had anything to do with that attack. That’s a different proposition than saying the Iraqi government and the Iraqi intelligent service has a relationship with al-Qaeda that developed throughout the decade of the ’90s. That was clearly official policy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-suskind/the-forged-iraqi-letter-w_b_117056.html


Ron Suskind

The Forged Iraqi Letter: What Just Happened?

Posted August 5, 2008 | 01:09 PM (EST)


What just happened? Evidence. A secret that has been judiciously kept for five years just spilled out. All of what follows is new, never reported in any way:

The Iraq Intelligence Chief, Tahir Jalil Habbush -- a man still carrying a $1 million reward for capture, the Jack of Diamonds in Bush's famous deck of wanted men -- has been America's secret source on Iraq. Starting in January of 2003, with Blair and Bush watching, his secret reports began to flow to officials on both sides of the Atlantic, saying that there were no WMD and that Hussein was acting so odd because of fear that the Iranians would find out he was a toothless tiger. The U.S. deep-sixed the intelligence report in February, "resettled" Habbush to a safe house in Jordan during the invasion and then paid him $5 million in what could only be considered hush money.

In the fall of 2003, after the world learned there were no WMD -- as Habbush had foretold -- the White House ordered the CIA to carry out a deception. The mission: create a handwritten letter, dated July, 2001, from Habbush to Saddam saying that Atta trained in Iraq before the attacks and the Saddam was buying yellow cake for Niger with help from a "small team from the al Qaeda organization."

The mission was carried out, the letter was created, popped up in Baghdad, and roiled the global newcycles in December, 2003 (conning even venerable journalists like Tom Brokaw). The mission is a statutory violation of the charter of the CIA, and amendments added in 1991, prohibiting the CIA from conducting disinformation campaigns on U.S. soil.

http://www.ronsuskind.com/thewayoftheworld/transcripts/

I've decided to post a partial transcript of one of a number of taped conversations in which Rob Richer and I discussed, on the record, the Habbush letter. We discussed it many times through the spring of 2008.

...

Ron: Now this is from the Vice President's Office is how you remembered it--not from the president?

Rob: No, no, no. What I remember is George saying, 'we got this from'--basically, from what George said was 'downtown.'

Ron: Which is the White House?

Rob: Yes. But he did not--in my memory--never said president, vice president, or NSC. Okay? But now--he may have hinted--just by the way he said it, it would have--cause almost all that stuff came from one place only: Scooter Libby and the shop around the vice president.

Ron: Yeah, right.

Rob: But he didn't say that specifically. I would naturally--I would probably stand on my, basically, my reputation and say it came from the vice president.

[OneGrassRoot]

1. Good grief, with this blowhard being on TV 24/7 of late.....

SURELY some brilliant person will compile a video of him contradicting himself and LYING...repeatedly?

Perhaps "The Daily Show" has already done this?

[sabra]

2. while it's hard to handle this much Cheney, I say let him speak... he's just digging the hole deeper

[OneGrassRoot]

3. So true, yet most people have such short memories....

and don't realize he is lying and contradicting his bold proclamations from years ago. Of course, the M$M won't point out such trivial things as he's being interviewed either.

Thanks for posting, Sabra. :)

[sabra]

4. no, thank you... :-) Yesterday I saw Cheney get some "harder" questions @

the National Press Club. When asked about all the "chatter" of possible attacks that Richard Clarke was warning the Bush WH about before 9/11, Cheney responded "that's not my recollection, though I didn't read his book (smirk)"

[dgibby]

9. Well, Rachel did-last night, as a matter of fact.

[OneGrassRoot]

10. Thanks. I'll look for that video! :) n/t

[bluesmail]

5. IMO I believe it's part of his plea bargain. Why the Fook would he be

spending so much time on TV? Just saying. Just in case :tinfoilhat:

[Duer 157099]

6. Which "book"?

Is there a Suskind book that talks about this?

Thanks

[sabra]

7. Suskind's latest book: "The Way of the World"

http://www.ronsuskind.com/thewayoftheworld/

[Duer 157099]

8. Thanks - yes I just looked it up

Looked it up on Amazon and the index page shows quite a few pages devoted to this topic.

Should be a good read

[myrna minx]

11. K&R n/t

[DCKit]

12. There goes Cheney, bouncing bad Czechs on his reputation again.

It's a real shame his parents didn't beat the lying out of him. Given his policy on torture, he couldn't possibly be against a little well deserved corporal punishment, right?

[leveymg]

13. Phil Giraldi, fmr head of CIA counter-terrorism, was saying same thing last year

Suskind Transcript (Iraq WMD forgery) - Suskind and Giraldi are both right.

Edited on Fri Aug-08-08 05:25 PM by leveymg

Read the transcript of Ron Suskind's taped interview with former ranking CIA officer Rob Richer, now posted at Suskin's website. http://www.ronsuskind.com/thewayoftheworld/transcripts / It reconciles what both Suskind and Phil Giraldi have been saying about the Iraq forgery letter. They agree on all main points.

The earlier media accounts emphasized Suskind's narrative that George Tenet handed the forgery down the CIA chain of command.

In a published comment, Phil Giraldi (former head of CIA counter-terrorism) said, no, the point of origin of the letter was Cheney's office, and the actual forgery was done by Feith's shop at the Pentagon, OSP. See, http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2008/08/07/suskind-revisit... /

Read the following -- the whole thing -- and what Richer clearly says is that Tenet was handed a piece of paper (the tasking order from the White House to forge the letter) - may have been the OVP on White House stationery - but, he understood the place of origin was OVP, specifically, Scooter Libby. Tenet was a go-between, and an extremely reluctant one. The excerpt is silent as to whether it was CIA or OSP that actually produced the forgery. But, everyone is in agreement, the written order came "from downtown" on cream-colored White House letterhead.

Now, read this:

I've decided to post a partial transcript of one of a number of taped conversations in which Rob Richer and I discussed, on the record, the Habbush letter. We discussed it many times through the spring of 2008.

Rob Richer received a copy of The Way of the World on Monday night, August 4, the day before publication. On Tuesday, he said he had read key portions of the book and was comfortable with what they contained. Later that day, though, he issued the following the statement:

"I never received direction from George Tenet or anyone else in my chain of command to fabricate a document from Habbash as outlined in Mr Suskind's book."

The conversation below took place in June 2008. As in all of our conversations, it shows Rob pressing to get at truth and embrace probity.

This posting is contrary to my practice across 25 years as a journalist. But the issues, in this matter, are simply too important to stand as discredited in any way.

--Ron Suskind

Interview Transcript

. . . Ron Suskind: I know we've talked through these things eight ways to Sunday, and hour after hour, but here's what I want you to ask yourself. Prior to me jogging your memory, okay--forget Habbush part one, okay.

Rob Richer: Okay.

Ron: You know, the prewar stuff, cause there's zillions of people in on that part. And there's people in on the second part, too. But here's my question to you: before I, as I said, before I jog your memory on this stuff, what do you--and I think I have a good idea, cause I've asked you this seven different ways, but I just want to make absolutely sure--what do you remember? If I just grabbed you on the street and said what do you remember of the second part, okay--with the letter and all the rest--what would be the high marks in terms of what you--memory's the best editor I think's a line from Tennyson--

Rob: Exactly.

Ron: What were the parts that you remember most vividly?

Rob: You're talking about Habbush himself, correct?

Ron: No, I'm talking about the second part, with the letter being passed from--through George and down the ranks. Cause at one point--and I know we have recollections at the top and that's fine--you have recollections, not from me but from your own memory on that--

Rob: Let me tell you what I know, just so before you color any of it. Is that when you first asked me about it I remember just really telling you that it was a non-event, and if you were to ask me today I would tell you it was a non-event. It came down from the seventh floor. It was part of--as I remember it, it wasn't so much to influence America--that's illegal--but it was kinda like a covert, a way to influence Iraqis.

. . .

Rob: To characterize it right, I would say, right: it came to us, George had a raised eyebrow, and basically we passed it on--it was to--and passed this on into the organization. You know, it was: 'Okay, we gotta do this, but make it go away.' To be honest with you, I don't want to make it sound--I for sure don't want to portray this as George jumping: 'Okay, this has gotta happen.' As I remember it--and, again, it's still vague, so I'll be very straight with you on this--is it wasn't that important. It was: 'This is unbelievable. This is just like all the other garbage we get about . . . I mean Mohammad Atta and links to al Qaeda. 'Rob,' you know, 'do something with this.' I think it was more like that than: 'Get this done.'

Ron: Do something with this, right. Get this, this is like--

Rob: It died a natural death as you know.

Ron: 'This thing stinks, take it.'

Rob: Yeah, kinda like that, yeah. But, you know, we got so much garbage that first couple—that year.

Ron: Were there other things like this where we were creating product?

Rob: You know, I don't remember that.

. . .

Ron: The intent--the basic raison d'etre of this product is to get, is to create, here's a letter with what's in it. Okay, here's what we want on the letter, we want it to be released as essentially a representation of something Habbush says. That's all it says, that's the one paragraph. And then you pass it to whomever to do it. To get it done.

Rob: It probably passed through five or six people. George probably showed it to me, but then passed it probably to Jim Pavitt, the DDO, who then passed it down to his chief of staff who passed it to me. Cause that's how--you know, so I saw the original. I got a copy of it. But it was, there probably was--

Ron: Right. You saw the original with the White House stationery, but you didn't--down the ranks, then it creates other paper.

Rob: Yeah, no, exactly. But I couldn't tell you--again: I remember it happening, I remember a terrible brief kinda joking dialogue about it, but that was it.

. . .

Ron: Now this is from the Vice President's Office is how you remembered it--not from the president?

Rob: No, no, no. What I remember is George saying, 'we got this from'--basically, from what George said was 'downtown.'

Ron: Which is the White House?

Rob: Yes. But he did not--in my memory--never said president, vice president, or NSC. Okay? But now--he may have hinted--just by the way he said it, it would have--cause almost all that stuff came from one place only: Scooter Libby and the shop around the vice president.

Ron: Yeah, right.

Rob: But he didn't say that specifically. I would naturally--I would probably stand on my, basically, my reputation and say it came from the vice president.

Ron: Right, I'm with you, I'm with you. But there wasn't anything in the writing that you remember saying the vice president.

Rob: Nope.

Ron: It just had the White House stationery.

Rob: Exactly right.

Ron: That's fine, White House stationery's fine. Everything's from there. You know, that's the center point. But not OVP's Office. It's just the White House. It comes from the White House. That's plain and simple.

Rob: And you know, if you've ever seen the vice president's stationery, it's on the White House letterhead. It may have said OVP. I don't remember that, so I don't want to mislead you. . . .

Mark