March 25, 2003

U.N. Official: Fake Iraq Nuke Papers Were Crude
by Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA (Reuters) - A few hours and a simple internet search was all it took for U.N. inspectors to realize documents backing U.S. and British claims that Iraq had revived its nuclear program were crude fakes, a U.N. official said.

Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, a senior official from the U.N. nuclear agency who saw the documents offered as evidence that Iraq tried to buy 500 tons of uranium from Niger, described one as so badly forged his "jaw dropped."

continued:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030325/ts_nm/iraq_nuclear_un_dc_1

Stupid questions:
1. Isn’t it against the law to submit forged documents?
2. What is being done on the US side to identify the root source of these forged documents?
3. What is the UN going to do about punishing or penalizing the responsible parties?

Unfortunately, nobody cares. I should correct that: A good many of us care, but we knew this already, and while the affirmation of our suspicions is reassuring, that comfort is a dubious comfort.

I don't expect the dogs of war to care. Perhaps they might, that segment that decided to support the war because of WMD, but I wouldn't expect it to. The chemical-weapons paranoia keeps them onboard, and in that sense selling Anthrax to the Iraqis was a great move.

But we know that Bush has overstated the case. The latest affirmation is just one more nail in the cross; Bush has hung American dignity out to dry for a few days at least.

Which is why I wonder about the honesty of this war. If the WMD situation is so grave as to justify the American position, why does the administration have to lie about it to justify our actions?

You know, it reminds me a little of school. You know, there are rules in life, and the bullies always seem to get away with it. So one day you come to school and just wait. And as Bully Joe puts on his menacing face, you fear that he will bully someone, so you throw a rock at his head. Taken to the principal's office, you say, "He deserved it." Asked what he did, you say, "It's what he was going to do." Asked how you knew that, you say, "He's done it before." Asked if he was threatening you, you reply, "He didn't need to threaten me. He was going to threaten somebody."

Why do we teach our children that this behavior is inappropriate? When I stop and think of all the people in school I could have rightly killed .... Well, there's a fair argument that I would feel better today, and that would have made it worth it, right?

Something like that.

Thanks, Lykan. I think Bush's dishonesty is so taken for granted that we sometimes forget to note these articles; of course, then someone can say, "You've never cited anywhere that says Bush lied." In that sense, you've definitely performed a valuable service, but whether this article is important enough to anyone who's not already on the side of peace remains to be seen. I think it's doubtful, which is unfortunate.

:m:,
Tiassa :cool:

Why don't we wait and see? Time will tell.
Unless, of coarse, you are afraid you won't like the truth.

Originally posted by tiassa
I think Bush's dishonesty is so taken for granted that we sometimes forget to note these articles; of course, then someone can say, "You've never cited anywhere that says Bush lied." In that sense, you've definitely performed a valuable service

I know what you mean Tiassa, and agree. My intent in sharing the article was to inform, not to try and convince. I learned a while back to stop trying to do that, and just let other people think what they want to. I will answer questions and may offer bits like this article to inform, and may point something out that i think they may not have realized, but it's simply to share my perspective, not to try and convince.

Here's quote from a favorite book of mine, Injeeai; Reflections On A Dream:

"Why do you try to convince them that they are wrong and you are right? You hope being right will make you more worthy of love, but you will soon find yourself surrounded by gods who are trying to gain their self-esteem through the same device. The greater your efforts to convince them of your truth, the greater their resistance will be, for they have the same need -- to be right, so they might feel worthy of love. Soon you will find yourself committing the injustices you sought to vanquish, all in the name of doing what is 'right.' You can never make yourself or your truth more acceptable by making others' less so."

They lied before the war and they are lying as it is going on and no doubt they will lie after.
I've already made a very VERY long list of lies made by the US for the war so far and we are barely a week in.

The latest was the non-existent or disputed uprising in Basra which the Iraqis opened fire with artillery on their own people to stop it.
They when it looks like there wasnt an uprising it was just an Iraqi missile backfired not they killed their own people.
Now this morning America admits it was actually a US Missile that went astray that killed the civillains.
More lies more propoganda.
When all this is over and done with how are people going to look back at all this lies and deciet by the Bush administration to justify this war especially if no WMD are found or used?

Originally posted by dsdsds
Stupid questions:
1. Isn’t it against the law to submit forged documents?
2. What is being done on the US side to identify the root source of these forged documents?
3. What is the UN going to do about punishing or penalizing the responsible parties? Powel admitted in public (even, before the war got on the way), that the documents were forged. Apparently they received it from second sources and fail to countercheck them. It was a mistake, but as he worded it “Not Intentional”.
This incident of presenting forged documents to the security council of the UN will have severe consequences (oh shit, I better be careful with that word) and time will tell concerning legal actions based on laws relating to false claims and forgery.