Wednesday, February 20, 2008

SECRECY Yahoo: "Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, the US Central Intelligence Agency set up 12 bogus companies in Europe and other parts of the world in the hope of penetrating Islamic organizations, The Los Angeles Times reported on its website late Saturday." I bet some are still operating, including bogus airline companies. TimesOnline: "The American military have been operating flights across Europe using a call sign assigned to a civilian airline that they have no legal right to use." BBC: "A controversial website that allows whistle-blowers to anonymously post government and corporate documents has been taken offline in the US. Wikileaks.org, as it is known, was cut off from the internet following a California court ruling, the site says. The case was brought by a Swiss bank after 'several hundred' documents were posted about its offshore activities." More on Doug's. Independent: "The government official who wrote the first draft of the "dodgy dossier" that helped propel Britain into war in Iraq today admits, 'We were wrong'. John Williams, a former Foreign Office aide, said last night that publication of his document would expose how members of Tony Blair's team were locked in a mindset that made military action inevitable. On Wednesday, ministers will hit a deadline for publishing the 2002 document, after years of resistance." How language was 'sexed up': "Ministers had fought a three-year battle to stop the confidential initial draft from being released, but last month lost an appeal against a ruling that it should be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. Williams draft: "(Iraq) is developing as a priority longer-range missile weapons capable of threatening Nato (Greece and Turkey?)." Final version: "Iraq's military forces are able to use chemical and biological weapons... The Iraqi military are able to deploy these weapons within 45 minutes of a decision to do so." Williams draft: "(Iraq) is testing the solid-propellant missile Ababil-100, and is making efforts to extend its range." Final version: "(Iraq has) started producing the solid-propellant Ababil-100, and is making efforts to extend its range to at least 200km, which is beyond the limit of 150km imposed by the UN." Williams draft: "(Iraq) has retained a dozen al-Hussein missiles, capable of carrying a chemical or biological warhead..." Final version: "(Iraq has) illegally retained up to 20 al-Hussein missiles, with a range of 650km, capable of carrying chemical or biological warheads." Williams draft: "(Iraq) is close to deploying its al-Samoud liquid propellant missile..." Final version: "(Iraq has) started deploying its al-Samoud liquid propellant missile." The original document (pdf). Update: Guardian: "The dossier was made public this week, but the Foreign Office succeeded before a tribunal in having the handwritten mention of Israel kept secret. The document reveals how the Foreign Office successfully fought to keep secret any mention of Israel contained on the first draft of the controversial, now discredited Iraq weapons dossier. At the heart of it was nervousness at the top of government about any mention of Israel's nuclear arsenal in an official paper accusing Iraq of flouting the UN's authority on weapons of mass destruction." Audio clip. 12:32:39 PM

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