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M O N D A Y , J U L Y 1 8 , 2 0 0 5Bush Lied To Congress On Iraqi Electionsby Michael in New York on
7/18/2005 11:06:00 AMAs we know, Bush wanted to provide covert support to Iraqicandidates, undercutting that country's burgeoning democracyand endangering the long-term faith of the Iraqi people in theirgovernment. (Time magazine first reported on this in Octoberof 2004.) Bush was stymied by Congress, which stronglyobjected.But did Bush go ahead and do it anyway? The New Yorker hasthe expose.A State Department official confirmed that there was aneffort to give direct funding to certain candidates. “The goalwas to level the playing field, and Allawi was not the soleplaying field,” he said. Warrick was not operating on hisown, the State Department official said. “This issue went tohigh levels, and was approved”—within the StateDepartment and by others in the Bush Administration, inthe late spring of 2004....At least one Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, the House MinorityLeader, strongly protested any interference in the Iraqielection. An account of the dispute was published in Timelast October.... The essence of Pelosi’s objection, therecently retired high-level C.I.A. official said, was: “Did wehave eleven hundred Americans die”—the number of U.S.combat deaths as of last September—“so they could have arigged election?”But then Bush went ahead and did it anyway.Sometime after last November’s Presidential election, I wastold by past and present intelligence and military officials,the Bush Administration decided to override Pelosi’sobjections and covertly intervene in the Iraqielection. A former national-security official told me that hehad learned of the effort from “people who worked thebeat”—those involved in the operation. It was necessary, headded, “because they couldn’t afford to have a disaster....”I was informed by several former military and intelligenceofficials that the activities were kept, in part, “off thebooks”—they were conducted by retired C.I.A. officers andother non-government personnel, and used funds that werenot necessarily appropriated by Congress. Some in theWhite House and at the Pentagon believed thatkeeping an operation off the books eliminated theneed to give a formal briefing to the relevantmembers of Congress and congressional intelligencecommittees, whose jurisdiction is limited, in their view, toofficially sanctioned C.I.A. operations.So Congress has oversight on covert operations, objects to a plan andBush assures them it has been scuttled. Then he goes ahead anddoes it anyway.The New York Times reports that Bush's people are lying in responseto questions about this revelation.Frederick Jones, the spokesman for the National SecurityCouncil, said that "in the final analysis, the presidentdetermined and the United States government adopted apolicy that we would not try - and did not try - to influencethe outcome of the Iraqi election by covertly helpingindividual candidates for office."The statement appeared to leave open the question ofwhether any covert help was provided to partiesfavored by Washington, an issue about which the WhiteHouse declined to elaborate.
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7/18/2005 11:06:00 AMAs we know, Bush wanted to provide covert support to Iraqicandidates, undercutting that country's burgeoning democracyand endangering the long-term faith of the Iraqi people in theirgovernment. (Time magazine first reported on this in Octoberof 2004.) Bush was stymied by Congress, which stronglyobjected.But did Bush go ahead and do it anyway? The New Yorker hasthe expose.A State Department official confirmed that there was aneffort to give direct funding to certain candidates. “The goalwas to level the playing field, and Allawi was not the soleplaying field,” he said. Warrick was not operating on hisown, the State Department official said. “This issue went tohigh levels, and was approved”—within the StateDepartment and by others in the Bush Administration, inthe late spring of 2004....At least one Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, the House MinorityLeader, strongly protested any interference in the Iraqielection. An account of the dispute was published in Timelast October.... The essence of Pelosi’s objection, therecently retired high-level C.I.A. official said, was: “Did wehave eleven hundred Americans die”—the number of U.S.combat deaths as of last September—“so they could have arigged election?”But then Bush went ahead and did it anyway.Sometime after last November’s Presidential election, I wastold by past and present intelligence and military officials,the Bush Administration decided to override Pelosi’sobjections and covertly intervene in the Iraqielection. A former national-security official told me that hehad learned of the effort from “people who worked thebeat”—those involved in the operation. It was necessary, headded, “because they couldn’t afford to have a disaster....”I was informed by several former military and intelligenceofficials that the activities were kept, in part, “off thebooks”—they were conducted by retired C.I.A. officers andother non-government personnel, and used funds that werenot necessarily appropriated by Congress. Some in theWhite House and at the Pentagon believed thatkeeping an operation off the books eliminated theneed to give a formal briefing to the relevantmembers of Congress and congressional intelligencecommittees, whose jurisdiction is limited, in their view, toofficially sanctioned C.I.A. operations.So Congress has oversight on covert operations, objects to a plan andBush assures them it has been scuttled. Then he goes ahead anddoes it anyway.The New York Times reports that Bush's people are lying in responseto questions about this revelation.Frederick Jones, the spokesman for the National SecurityCouncil, said that "in the final analysis, the presidentdetermined and the United States government adopted apolicy that we would not try - and did not try - to influencethe outcome of the Iraqi election by covertly helpingindividual candidates for office."The statement appeared to leave open the question ofwhether any covert help was provided to partiesfavored by Washington, an issue about which the WhiteHouse declined to elaborate.
HuffPost PoliticsHuckabee's Huck Pac In Turmoil With StaffTurnover, Mounting Debts - Former Arkansas Gov.Mike Huckabee's political action committee, HuckPac, is undergoing a "restructuring," ExecutiveDirector Sarah Huckabee said Wednesday....27 minutes ago
Ben SmithGoing small - My story tonight: President BarackObama came alive about 50 minutes intoWednesday night’s news conference – whensomebo49 minutes ago
FiredoglakeLate Late Night FDL: What Eclipse? - A new videofrom Fatoumata Diawara, and and oldie from Bob.1 hour ago
Daily KosOpen Thread and Diary Rescue - *Today, srkp23(pulling a double shift), ybruti, taylormattd,ItsJessMe and vcmvo2 combed through hundredsof diaries to find this powerful list. Today's...1 hour ago
EschatonOvernight - Folk On. Newish.2 hours agoJ O H N ' S P H OT O S
Show AllA M E R I C A B L O G T V
Next 6AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush L...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/bush-lied-to-congress-on-...
1 of 57/23/09 3:11 AM
Visit ourAMERICAblog TV site.see all 323 videos >I collect with
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In honor of SenatorDeMint
For the GOPers, healthcare is politics. They just
Traditional media has todebunk the birthers
One small step...
The right-wing media, thevoices of the GOP, inAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush L...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/bush-lied-to-congress-on-...
2 of 57/23/09 3:11 AM
The TreatmentObama Has a Grown-UpTalk With America(Gulp)2 hours agoEzra KleinTab Dump6 hours agoWonk RoomSen. Byron Dorgan:The ‘Trade’ InCap-And-Trade ‘MakesNo Sense To Me’7 hours agoHealth BeatTruth Squad: WallStreet Journal HealthCare Editorial Wrong onthe Facts . . .8 hours agoDaily DoseProviders Endorse 'PayG AY P O L I T I C S
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N E W S L I N K SUSWashington PostNYTAP PoliticsReuters PoliticsRasmussen PollsTimeNewsweekRoll CallThe HillABCNews
P L E A S E S U P P O RTA M E R I C A B L O GOne-time donation$
Recurring monthlydonation$
Donations are nottax-deductible.L A B E L S
Select a labelL A S T 1 0 0 V I S I T O R SRecent Visitors
A B O U TA M E R I C A B L O GWhy AMERICAblog?Because a great nationdeserves the truth.What issues do youcover?US politics overall with aparticular focus on theObama Administration, theradical right, and civilrights.Who are you?John AravosisEditorWashington, DCJoe SudbayDeputy EditorWashington, DCChris RyanAssociate EditorParis, FranceRobert ArenaContributing EditorBaltimore, MarylandJacki SchechnerContributing EditorWashington, DCAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush L...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/bush-lied-to-congress-on-...
4 of 57/23/09 3:11 AM
© 2009 - John Aravosis | Design maintenance by Jason RosenbaumSend me your tips: americablog@starpower.netAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush L...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/bush-lied-to-congress-on-...
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