Thursday, October 02, 2003

Jack Straw's spin on the Kay report The BBC reports that "Mr Straw said these finds showed the military action taken by the United States and the UK was "justified and essential". " Fewer and fewer people believe that. Sometimes those at the top are the last to know, or at least the last to admit.  BBC report. 11:55:30 PM    comment []

New poll shows most Americans believe Iraq war not worth it Reuters reports today that a recent CBS/New York Times poll shows that "most Americans now believe the Iraq war was not worth it..." The public is slowly coming around. Read the report.  11:47:04 PM    comment []

No WMD still Dr. David Kay, who leads the US weapons inspection team in Iraq reported today that no weapons of mass destruction have been found. The AP news reports that Kay reported that "...his team had found only limited evidence of any chemical weapons effort ... and there was almost no sign that a significant nuclear weapons project was under way." David Sanger of the New York Times says "...that nothing found so far backs up administration claims that Mr. Hussein posed an imminent threat to the world. " Read his analysis. Of course Dr. Kay needs more time.  The AP also reaffirms that "the administration is asking for $600 million to continue the hunt for conclusive evidence that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, according to congressional officials." I guess now that it is US inspectors we have all the time in the world. They are still looking for the Loch Ness monster too. Go to the AP new report.  11:43:15 PM    comment []

This helps explain the furor A New York Times article offer one explanation of the recent furor over the possible illegal disclosure of the name of a CIA operative who just happened to be Joseph Wilson's wife back in July. A the the Times puts it, this is a struggle that "... pits intelligence professionals, especially analysts and operations officers at the C.I.A. who say they believe that information about the Iraqi weapons programs was deliberately hyped and distorted by the Bush administration in the months before the war, against officials at the White House and Pentagon who have long been dismissive of what they see as an overly cautious culture at the agency." If senior White House officials did disclose the name as a means to discredit Wilson or simply to get revenge for his speaking out, we have a serious, serious problem in the administration.  The Times article provides a very good analysis of the current situation. 1:07:54 PM    comment []