DeclinetoState
12-10-2005, 01:31 PM
I am growing more and more disgusted by anyone who remains a Republican anymore. We find out today that many of the false intelligence claims the administration made to get us into Iraq came from a man we tortured. It turns Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, one of the top al-Qaeda lieutenants we captured, made up stories about an al-Qaeda link to Iraq (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/politics/09intel.html?ei=5094&en=6d17d434a1d2e517&hp=&ex=1134104400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print) just so that we would stop torturing him. Of course, he did. This is why every military officer they asked told the administration not to use torture (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0A11FF3B5B0C7B8EDDAE0894DD4044 82)-- because it is unreliable!
Technically, we didn't do the torturing here because we handed over al-Libi to the Egyptians so they could torture him. There is absolutely no difference there. There is only one reason in the world why we would hand over our top prisoner at that time to another country. Do you think it's because the Egyptians have a more sophisticated intelligence gathering apparatus? Do you think it's because the Egyptian justice system is better equipped to handle top level detainees?
The latest excuse the administration is using is pathetic. Egypt has a better grasp of the language and culture of these detainees. Al-Libi was the most senior al-Qaeda figure we had caught up until then. We couldn't find one translator in the whole United States of America who was up to the job? This administration couldn't find one person who was knowledgeable enough about Middle Eastern culture to interrogate our top detainee? If you're a Republican still going along with this bullshit, are you really this shockingly stupid and gullible?
But worse yet, the administration used the "evidence" the Egyptians gathered from al-Libi months after their own Defense Intelligence Agency told them it was untrue. The DIA warned them to not use the al-Qaeda-Iraq link because they had determined it was likely to be a fabrication. George Bush and Dick Cheney used it anyway months and years after they had been told by their intelligence agencies that it was not reliable.
Now why do you think that is? It's because they desperately wanted to go to war.
How many stories do you have to see about this before you get it through your thick head that they purposely picked the worst intelligence to make their case because they were going to war no matter what?
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/it-is-not-acceptable-to-b_b_11966.html
Bio: Cenk Uygur
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="25%"></TD><TD class=force width="75%">Cenk Uygur is co-host of The Young Turks (http://www.youngturk.com/xoops/), the first liberal radio show to air nationwide. The Young Turks began as Sirius Satellite Radio’s first original program, and, while still on Sirius, is now nationally syndicated and available on itunes and online at www.youngturk.com (http://www.youngturk.com/xoops/)and www.radiopower.org (http://www.radiopower.org/talkradio/).
Described by the Pittsburgh City Paper as “Part Howard Stern, Part Howard Dean,” The Young Turks presents a smart, funny and irreverent take on politics, pop culture, news, the dangers of abstinence, and why you shouldn’t vacation in Fallujah. It’s all fair game to The Young Turks.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Link to Uygur's bio from the source link above.
Technically, we didn't do the torturing here because we handed over al-Libi to the Egyptians so they could torture him. There is absolutely no difference there. There is only one reason in the world why we would hand over our top prisoner at that time to another country. Do you think it's because the Egyptians have a more sophisticated intelligence gathering apparatus? Do you think it's because the Egyptian justice system is better equipped to handle top level detainees?
The latest excuse the administration is using is pathetic. Egypt has a better grasp of the language and culture of these detainees. Al-Libi was the most senior al-Qaeda figure we had caught up until then. We couldn't find one translator in the whole United States of America who was up to the job? This administration couldn't find one person who was knowledgeable enough about Middle Eastern culture to interrogate our top detainee? If you're a Republican still going along with this bullshit, are you really this shockingly stupid and gullible?
But worse yet, the administration used the "evidence" the Egyptians gathered from al-Libi months after their own Defense Intelligence Agency told them it was untrue. The DIA warned them to not use the al-Qaeda-Iraq link because they had determined it was likely to be a fabrication. George Bush and Dick Cheney used it anyway months and years after they had been told by their intelligence agencies that it was not reliable.
Now why do you think that is? It's because they desperately wanted to go to war.
How many stories do you have to see about this before you get it through your thick head that they purposely picked the worst intelligence to make their case because they were going to war no matter what?
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/it-is-not-acceptable-to-b_b_11966.html
Bio: Cenk Uygur
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="25%"></TD><TD class=force width="75%">Cenk Uygur is co-host of The Young Turks (http://www.youngturk.com/xoops/), the first liberal radio show to air nationwide. The Young Turks began as Sirius Satellite Radio’s first original program, and, while still on Sirius, is now nationally syndicated and available on itunes and online at www.youngturk.com (http://www.youngturk.com/xoops/)and www.radiopower.org (http://www.radiopower.org/talkradio/).
Described by the Pittsburgh City Paper as “Part Howard Stern, Part Howard Dean,” The Young Turks presents a smart, funny and irreverent take on politics, pop culture, news, the dangers of abstinence, and why you shouldn’t vacation in Fallujah. It’s all fair game to The Young Turks.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Link to Uygur's bio from the source link above.