Iraq: How did we get here?
John Anast
Al-Jazeerah, 11/7/03
As the battle rages in Iraq what do we really know about the reasons for the war? The weapons of mass destruction "WMD" have become harder to identify and as mysterious as UFO sightings. In fact a disturbing aspect of the hunt for WMD was the admission by Mr. Kay, who has no academic background in any scientific discipline, was that no "program" could be found supporting the claim that Iraq had attempted to reconstitute a nuclear capability. As investigations continue within the US Congress as to the nature and quality of intelligence provided to decision makers within the Bush Administration, a few well placed leaks and a few scant news articles are beginning to identify what actually happened. It seems that a small group of Zionists created and operated their own intelligence service within the Pentagon which came to be known as the Office of Special Plans "OSP" run by Douglas Feith, Mr. Shulski and Mr. Luti, under the supervision of Mr. Wolfowitz. According to a July 17, 2003 story in the Guardian by Julian Borge which is an expose on OSP, Israeli's were admitted to the Pentagon on occasion without having to show identification or sign-in, allegedly as directly authorized by Mr. Feith. The now defunct OSP is at the center of the storm. It is suspected of rewriting Intelligence as well as providing information known to be false directly to decision makers in the Bush Administration without being vetted or reviewed by seasoned intelligence analysts at CIA.
The Guardian in the same article also reported that OSP had "parallel ad hoc" sister organization within Sharon's office in Israel -- a separate function from " Mossad " . It was later leaned from sources in the UK that a similar office was operating out of 10 Downing Street. The speculation is that Zionist agents in the US, Israel and the United Kingdom under the direction of Israel, directly and through surrogates, planted false intelligence in official Pentagon channels for use by the Bush Administration as a means to deceive the US Congress and the American people. There is further speculation that the Zionist agents were all too eager to circumvent US law and had no hesitation to provide false information to the US Congress. One may note that last statement is not surprising given some of these very same Zionist agents were convicted in the United States of that very offense in the past. It does not take much to assert that they placed the interests of Israel well above the interests of America. CIA reports resolving that Iraq would become a quagmire fuelled by Iraqi resistance to occupation were promptly discarded by the Bush Administration in favor of the ridiculous notion that the US Army would be welcomed as liberators. There is currently an effort emanating from the Vice President's office and from within the Pentagon to wholly blame CIA for faulty intelligence, as the "perpetrators" are attempting to find solace in another lie for the ghastly loss of American lives in Iraq and the economic toll yet to be felt in America. Sources mentioned that the task of rationalizing the intelligence product was well beyond the capability of Dr. Rice at the National Security Council "NSC" who could not handle the task. It may well be that Rice, et al seem more interested in covering-up their errors than in setting forth exactly how their Zionist mentors subverted and co-opted their work.
Some were surprised that these same Zionist fanatics went as far as to out a CIA operative in the press as an alleged slap against her husband Ambassador Wilson. More likely it was a salvo meant to stop similar leaks in an effort to cover-up the connections between prominent members of the Bush Administration, NSC staff and the Israeli operation to deceive the President of the United States, the Congress and the American people, which was apparently not that difficult. It should be no surprise to anyone that Israeli agents in America would disclose information harmful to American interests when their actions are directly responsible for the deaths of over 350 (and rising) US military personnel in Iraq (as well as 1,000 wounded) and have thus far cost the US over $150 Billion (and counting). I have heard it said that within the Administration there is a strategy to wait until after the 2004 presidential election to take action quietly against some people at Pentagon and within the White House itself. It seems that they do not wish to appear "stupid" before the American people.
As to the real reason for the war in Iraq, well that is all too easy to answer. The Iraq war which is spiraling out of control was actually about oil, but not oil destined for the United States. Israel, through deception, instigated the conflict in an attempt to gain access to Iraqi oil. I am sure that many are familiar with the pipeline which runs from Iraq into Jordan and at one time continued on to Haifa. While the pipeline was used to ship oil to Jordan the flow to Palestine was cutoff in 1948. Israel actually had military plans to attack Iraq on its own and steal the oil as outlined in an extensive 17 April article, updated 06 May 2003, by Joe Vialls entitled "Israel's Blitzkrieg on Middle East Oil" That said, Israel lacks the military resources for an extended campaign and direct ground access as well as the manpower to be able to hold a position in Southern Iraq, especially with the continued intafada and the likelihood that Syria and Iran would oppose such a move and attack Israeli positions in Iraq and Israel as well. So with few operational options to implement Israel did the next best thing it instigated a proxy war to be fought by the United States.
The ultimate goal of the Israeli failed plan was to create a "Rotterdam" type export operation at Haifa -- as brilliantly reported by Joe Vialls . A very strange idea considering that the pipeline traverses several Arab countries and is opposed by Iran. But the Israeli's figured that the cost benefit was well worth the effort and cost to America. According to Mr. Vialls' article the Israeli's estimated that the port of Haifa as an oil export terminal would generate $45 billion in annual fees. So Israel used its Zionist agents in America to dupe the Bush Administration (obviously not too hard) into attacking Iraq. While Americans are being killed in Iraq by the dozens, a faint echo of laughter may be heard in Tel Aviv. The Israeli plan also called for the US to attack Syria and Iran (and Saudi Arabia if necessary) as a means of quashing any meaningful opposition to reopening the pipeline.
It took surprisingly little additional effort for the Zionist agents of Israel in the United States to mirror the Israeli plan into official US plans, without attribution, so that they seemed complimentary and in strategic harmony. As if to suggest that their war was our war and that their strategic interests were the same as those of the United States, when nothing could be farther from the truth. The mere fact that Israel sought to implement its plan for oil conquest highlights the fact its strategic objectives are in direct conflict with the strategic regional objectives of America. In addition Israel's acquisition of a sub launched nuclear capability also underscores its desire to move away from dependence upon the US for deterrence. Unfortunately for Israel it is a blight upon the American taxpayer and cannot survive without the constant flow of monetary gifts from the very people it despises and has learned to ignore. The Israel experiment is a complete failure, its economy is in serious trouble and its reliance upon the United States has become problematic and an anathema to them. So if Israel were to become self-sufficient and in fact survive it would need a source of revenue -- oil, which is the premise of Mr. Vialls' article. While their plan failed and lacked the foresight and contingencies expected as opposition to the occupation of Iraq by average Iraqi's became a reality, what did they lose? They gained additional access to US technology, more military aid as well as additional economic aid. While they did not gain Iraqi oil, the US is paying the price in terms of both money and lives.
Turkey which recently refused a state visit by Sharon on his way back to Israel from Moscow would have been the big loser as the Zionist dream (really more of a nightmare) would have replaced Ceyhan as the principle export point in the Med. What every country in the Middle East region must remember is that the goal of Israel in not by any means peace in any sense of the word. Its goal is dominance of the entire region and complete annexation of territory well beyond Palestine. It should be clear by now that agreements with countries like Turkey are a rouse and should be recognized as such. With oil traders in Israel squawking about a "new Rotterdam", I am sure Turkey understands full well they were used as a pawn in a larger Israeli strategy which includes the domination and subjugation of Turkey as well. Palestine is the front line in a struggle against the state sponsored terrorism of Israel. The daily sacrifices made by the Palestinians against ethnic cleansing is a fight for their homeland to be sure, but it is also the finger in the dyke against the expansionist maniacal desires of Israel which threaten the entire Middle East.
The price to be paid by the United States for the sins of Israel are beyond calculation at this point. The Bush Administration's Iraq policy seems to be to prevent any free _expression_ of democratic principles from forming a democratic Islamic government until after the 2004 elections. It seems clear to people on the ground, with exception to the Zionist propagandists who dominate the talk show circuit in the US, that an Islamic government in Iraq is inevitable. The mistakes made in both planning and implementation have been so gross and consistent that one must wonder if the goal of some at the Pentagon was in fact to prevent the quick reconstitution of Iraq? Iraqi owned businesses are being sold off to foreign interests, Israeli military intelligence bases are being constructed near the Iranian border and services have yet to be fully restored. Contracts for needed services have been reverted to sales of new equipment from US suppliers that in many instances the Iraqi people do not need or cannot use, but the sales go on. Some months ago the Pentagon and its civilian counterparts in Iraq decided that medical facilities would be restored and restricted to the hospitals exclusively so that new equipment could be provided as a boon to US suppliers, instead of providing needed medical services free to the average Iraqi in a secure location where they could feel safe. Very few if any American Iraqi doctors were contracted for their obviously needed contribution. In fact many American Iraqi doctors were rebuffed and had to make humanitarian efforts on their own. There were also plans to implement the re-training of the Iraqi military into regional units, and into police agencies to assure order in Iraq. But those plans were rejected at first, and are now only being reviewed for implementation. The human toll and costs of the sins of Israel in Palestine and now Iraq are beyond measure.
The entire world must join together to force peace on Israel -- which is what it fears most. After a Palestinian State (with full statehood) of contiguous territory is recognized, then countries may engage a disarmed Israel in treaties and trade. It is foolish for any country in the region to engage in discussions with Israel regarding any matter except for Palestine. Unless that is accomplished Israel will continue its push into Arab territory without much of a whimper from the Bush Administration here in occupied America. Since the war is being fought on behalf of Israeli interests think we should deduct the costs of the war from the annual military and financial aid to Israel.
* The Guardian article "The Spies who pushed for war" was written by Julian Borge and published July 17, 2003 (Below). The Joe Vialls article was published 17 April 2003 and updated 06 May 2003.
The spies who pushed for war
Julian Borger reports on the shadow rightwing intelligence network set up in Washington to second-guess the CIA and deliver a justification for toppling Saddam Hussein by force
Thursday July 17, 2003 The Guardian
As the CIA director, George Tenet, arrived at the Senate yesterday to give secret testimony on the Niger uranium affair, it was becoming increasingly clear in Washington that the scandal was only a small, well-documented symptom of a complete breakdown in US intelligence that helped steer America into war.
It represents the Bush administration's second catastrophic intelligence failure. But the CIA and FBI's inability to prevent the September 11 attacks was largely due to internal institutional weaknesses.
This time the implications are far more damaging for the White House, which stands accused of politicising and contaminating its own source of intelligence.
According to former Bush officials, all defence and intelligence sources, senior administration figures created a shadow agency of Pentagon analysts staffed mainly by ideological amateurs to compete with the CIA and its military counterpart, the Defence Intelligence Agency.
The agency, called the Office of Special Plans (OSP), was set up by the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, to second-guess CIA information and operated under the patronage of hardline conservatives in the top rungs of the administration, the Pentagon and at the White House, including Vice-President Dick Cheney.
The ideologically driven network functioned like a shadow government, much of it off the official payroll and beyond congressional oversight. But it proved powerful enough to prevail in a struggle with the State Department and the CIA by establishing a justification for war.
Mr Tenet has officially taken responsibility for the president's unsubstantiated claim in January that Saddam Hussein's regime had been trying to buy uranium in Africa, but he also said his agency was under pressure to justify a war that the administration had already decided on.
How much Mr Tenet reveals of where that pressure was coming from could have lasting political fallout for Mr Bush and his re-election prospects, which only a few weeks ago seemed impregnable. As more Americans die in Iraq and the reasons for the war are revealed, his victory in 2004 no longer looks like a foregone conclusion.
The White House counter-attacked yesterday when new chief spokesman, Scott McClellan, accused critics of "politicising the war" and trying to "rewrite history". But the Democratic leadership kept up its questions over the White House role.
The president's most trusted adviser, Mr Cheney, was at the shadow network's sharp end. He made several trips to the CIA in Langley, Virginia, to demand a more "forward-leaning" interpretation of the threat posed by Saddam. When he was not there to make his influence felt, his chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was. Such hands-on involvement in the processing of intelligence data was unprecedented for a vice-president in recent times, and it put pressure on CIA officials to come up with the appropriate results.
Another frequent visitor was Newt Gingrich, the former Republican party leader who resurfaced after September 11 as a Pentagon "consultant" and a member of its unpaid defence advisory board, with influence far beyond his official title.
An intelligence official confirmed Mr Gingrich made "a couple of visits" but said there was nothing unusual about that.
Rick Tyler, Mr Gingrich's spokesman, said: "If he was at the CIA he was there to listen and learn, not to persuade or influence."
Mr Gingrich visited Langley three times before the war, and according to accounts, the political veteran sought to browbeat analysts into toughening up their assessments of Saddam's menace.
Mr Gingrich gained access to the CIA headquarters and was listened to because he was seen as a personal emissary of the Pentagon and, in particular, of the OSP.
In the days after September 11, Mr Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, mounted an attempt to include Iraq in the war against terror. When the established agencies came up with nothing concrete to link Iraq and al-Qaida, the OSP was given the task of looking more carefully.
William Luti, a former navy officer and ex-aide to Mr Cheney, runs the day-to-day operations, answering to Douglas Feith, a defence undersecretary and a former Reagan official.
The OSP had access to a huge amount of raw intelligence. It came in part from "report officers" in the CIA's directorate of operations whose job is to sift through reports from agents around the world, filtering out the unsubstantiated and the incredible. Under pressure from the hawks such as Mr Cheney and Mr Gingrich, those officers became reluctant to discard anything, no matter how far-fetched. The OSP also sucked in countless tips from the Iraqi National Congress and other opposition groups, which were viewed with far more scepticism by the CIA and the state department.
There was a mountain of documentation to look through and not much time. The administration wanted to use the momentum gained in Afghanistan to deal with Iraq once and for all. The OSP itself had less than 10 full-time staff, so to help deal with the load, the office hired scores of temporary "consultants". They included lawyers, congressional staffers, and policy wonks from the numerous rightwing thinktanks in Washington. Few had experience in intelligence.
"Most of the people they had in that office were off the books, on personal services contracts. At one time, there were over 100 of them," said an intelligence source. The contracts allow a department to hire individuals, without specifying a job description.
As John Pike, a defence analyst at the thinktank GlobalSecurity.org, put it, the contracts "are basically a way they could pack the room with their little friends".
"They surveyed data and picked out what they liked," said Gregory Thielmann, a senior official in the state department's intelligence bureau until his retirement in September. "The whole thing was bizarre. The secretary of defence had this huge defence intelligence agency, and he went around it."
In fact, the OSP's activities were a com plete mystery to the DIA and the Pentagon.
"The iceberg analogy is a good one," said a senior officer who left the Pentagon during the planning of the Iraq war. "No one from the military staff heard, saw or discussed anything with them."
The civilian agencies had the same impression of the OSP sleuths. "They were a pretty shadowy presence," Mr Thielmann said. "Normally when you compile an intelligence document, all the agencies get together to discuss it. The OSP was never present at any of the meetings I attended."
Democratic congressman David Obey, who is investigating the OSP, said: "That office was charged with collecting, vetting and disseminating intelligence completely outside of the normal intelligence apparatus. In fact, it appears that information collected by this office was in some instances not even shared with established intelligence agencies and in numerous instances was passed on to the national security council and the president without having been vetted with anyone other than political appointees."
The OSP was an open and largely unfiltered conduit to the White House not only for the Iraqi opposition. It also forged close ties to a parallel, ad hoc intelligence operation inside Ariel Sharon's office in Israel specifically to bypass Mossad and provide the Bush administration with more alarmist reports on Saddam's Iraq than Mossad was prepared to authorise.
"None of the Israelis who came were cleared into the Pentagon through normal channels," said one source familiar with the visits. Instead, they were waved in on Mr Feith's authority without having to fill in the usual forms.
The exchange of information continued a long-standing relationship Mr Feith and other Washington neo-conservatives had with Israel's Likud party.
In 1996, he and Richard Perle - now an influential Pentagon figure - served as advisers to the then Likud leader, Binyamin Netanyahu. In a policy paper they wrote, entitled A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm, the two advisers said that Saddam would have to be destroyed, and Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Iran would have to be overthrown or destabilised, for Israel to be truly safe.
The Israeli influence was revealed most clearly by a story floated by unnamed senior US officials in the American press, suggesting the reason that no banned weapons had been found in Iraq was that they had been smuggled into Syria. Intelligence sources say that the story came from the office of the Israeli prime minister.
The OSP absorbed this heady brew of raw intelligence, rumour and plain disinformation and made it a "product", a prodigious stream of reports with a guaranteed readership in the White House. The primary customers were Mr Cheney, Mr Libby and their closest ideological ally on the national security council, Stephen Hadley, Condoleezza Rice's deputy.
In turn, they leaked some of the claims to the press, and used others as a stick with which to beat the CIA and the state department analysts, demanding they investigate the OSP leads.
The big question looming over Congress as Mr Tenet walked into his closed-door session yesterday was whether this shadow intelligence operation would survive national scrutiny and who would pay the price for allowing it to help steer the country into war.
A former senior CIA official insisted yesterday that Mr Feith, at least, was "finished" - but that may be wishful thinking by a rival organisation.
As he prepares for re-election, Mr Bush may opt to tough it out, rather than acknowledge the severity of the problem by firing loyalists. But in that case, it will inevitably be harder to re-establish confidence in the intelligence on which the White House is basing its decisions, and the world's sole superpower risks stumbling onwards half-blind, unable to distinguish real threats from phantoms. "
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