according to an article in Counterpunch, published yesterday, it was the Defense Policy committee directed by Wolfowitz which pressed the Niger nuclear materials lie into the Bush SOTU speech.

see http://www.counterpunch.org/leopold07172003.html

today, George Tenet testified to a senate investigative committee that a senior White House official pushed for the inclusion of the "sixteen words" over opposition of the CIA. At the same time, Tenet accepted responsibility for the bad intelligence.

However, to be logical, the CIA TWICE insisted that the Niger claim be removed from previous speeches, because they determined that the intelligence was unreliable. For the White House to FORCE the unverified allegation into a speech on a THIRD occasion is clearly not Tenet's fault.

The stink is coming straight from the White House. And more particularly from those strategic "geniuses" Wolfowitz, Cheney, and their tactician, Richard Perle.

Why the hell is Perle still serving in ANY capacity for the United States government? There is a simple reason why he should be investigated rather than steer our foreign and military policy:

1) conflict of interest -- Perle sought financial backing from for his "security and anti-terrorism" consulting company, while at the same time plunging the United States and the Middle East into war, and thus creating the perfect "business opportunity" for his new company, Trireme Corporation.

for complete details, see http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=3&num=160



The problem about Bush's SOTU speech lie, is not just about whether or not some intelligence was not of sufficient importance to include or not, the problem is that it was SPECIFICALLY used to convince the general public that we faced imminent danger and that "pre-emptive" war was the only option. Those of us who suspected the Bush regime of having ulterior motives all along, could smell a rat, and we knew that there was NO REALISTIC reason to be in such a mad rush over Saddam's weapons program. After all, UN inspectors were feverishly scouring Iraq for months, a fact which George W. Bush has now forgotten!? At the time, Bush could not stop saying that the UN weapons inspections weren't working, and he sent Powell to the UN to try to convince them to authorize the use of force. What was the huge rush? The rush was based on the fact that the whole invasion was a foregone conclusion...

Clare Short, former minister of International Aid in the UK, testified that such a deal had been signed, sealed and delivered in an agreement between Bush and Blair during the summer of 2002.

see http://truthout.org/docs_03/061903D.shtml



what we are witnessing is not "revisionist history," as claimed by the White House, but the slow emergence of the truth which Bush, Cheney and their staff have been trying to conceal the whole time. The facts clearly indicate that it was NOT a sudden and imminent threat of weapons in Iraq the prompted the US to attack that country. Rather it was the fulfilment of a premeditated desire to restructure the Middle East, as conceived of by a gang of neo-con hawks, and as publicized in their Plan for a New American Century in the mid 1990s.

see (1997) statement of "principles" http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm



the architects of this plans are not stupid, but they are blind and arrogant beyond belief! yes, they have unleashed and endless series of falsehoods to justify their objectives! but isn't it far worse to watch them hijack the US military to engage in a radical geopolitical restructuring of the Middle East? What are the clear consequences of their coup against the world?

1) the good men and women of the US army now being killed daily in a terrible shooting gallery

2) our entire nation is despised around the world as brutal, neo-imperialist, ignorant, and drunk with power



Who is the chief architect of this "strategy" for global hegemony? Richard Perle. He is an arrogant scumbag.

now, before all the trolls on Indymedia get their panties in a bunch, let me STRONGLY indicate that neither my post nor my opinion has ANYTHING at all to do with the religious beliefs of Perle or anyone else. Insinuations that my fundamental opposition to the written opinion and philosophy of Perle is simultaneously an attack on Jews or Judaism is disingenuous and does a terrible disservice to the people of the Jewish faith.

It is ridiculous for such prevaricators to constantly try to blame people for anti-semitism in this way.



Now, back to the subject, Richard Perle. Over one month ago, Rep. Conyers began questioning Perle's obvious conflicts of interest on Capitol Hill. This led to Perle's IMMEDIATE resignation as CHAIRMAN of the Defense Policy Board. Therefore we can be sure that the despicable and obvious motivations Perle showed by trying to capitalize on the death and destruction caused by his own warmongering are TRUE!

But why is Perle still nonetheless serving on the Defense Policy Board. We can also be sure that Perle is every bit as aggressive in steering that board as ever. Why the hell does Perle remain on that board at all?????? Well, one might also look at the other members, including Newt Gingrich, all of whom are blatant supporters of the Perle-Wolfowitz-Woolsey doctrin. This doctrine can be summed up as follows:

Invent Enemies and Threats to Create War, then Secure HUGE contracts to build weapons and to wage more war.

This is the "genius" plan for geopolitical reconstruction which the above named conspirators have been cooking up for ten years. Now the same group is claiming that NGOs are pernicious, and are trying to "subvert" the U.S. government!

see: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0620-06.htm

not only are these men lying through their teeth to advance their interests, they promote martial law at home and seek to silence all opposition!

These freaks have got to go!

Thanks for writing this. It's not exactly _news_ ;-), but it is good to be reminded that the "WMD issue" was a ploy by the Bush people from beginning to end. (Although they did get allies who belived it.) It would be good to find(or make if necessary) a more complete and documented argument for this. I think it's been done(many times), Could someone find one of them and post a link here?

...disclaimers you put in your article you will still be accused of Anti-Semitism because Perle, while a lying scumbag, happens to be Jewish.

Further, he holds dual Citizenship (U.S./Israeli) and worked on a Policy Paper callled "Securing the Realm" for Bebe Netanyahu. Which by the way advocates exactly what was later included in PNAC's Policy Paper. Which oddly enough is what the Bush Junta has done.

The Main Stream Presstitutes are well aware of the connections and are paid, or forced, to look the other way.

Other than Bush and his Business Partner's the primary beneficiary of this "Adventure in Imperialism" is Israel. We are not supposed to notice or comment on that "odd" coincidence - or make any attempt to point out that Perle was once fired for leaking sensitive documents to Israel.

This whole convoluted mess has wheels within wheels within wheels.

The one thing we can be sure of - it was not about the fictional WMD©®™ (2001 The White House).