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BREAKING NEWS: THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY RECOMMENDS RELEASE OF INTERCEPTS
Share / Recommend - Comment - Print - Saturday, Apr 30 2005, 11:49AM
The National Security Agency has now recommended that the intercept material and the names of U.S. officials requested by John Bolton be released to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
TWN does not know the terms by which the material will be handled. This is classified material, so there must be some protocol for what will be provided and how commentary will be managed.
There are some who think that the NSA intercept material will not provide conclusive insights into John Bolton's objectives in requesting the material. Others have suggested that the material, at a minimum, will futher validate the view that John Bolton had frequent "lapses in judgment" and may underscore a personal vanity that often undermined the objectives of his unit in the State Departement as well as the Department's diplomatic efforts in certain key cases.
As TWN has written before, this should provide a binary response to questions about Bolton. He either abused his authority and misused intelligence -- or he did not.
It will be interesting to see.
I will be writing more on the NSA intercepts issue over the weekend, but the fact that the NSA has signed off on release is important.
-- Steve Clemons
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Looks like the final nail in the coffin for the Bolton nomination.
Next project Steve?
I'm gonna predict that plot twists and turns remain in this story.
There certainly will be a next project Friendly Fire -- but keeping the cards close right now. On Bolton, don't underestimate the opposition in this fight...it's no time to be overconfident,
Steve
"There certainly will be a next project Friendly Fire -- but keeping the cards close right now..."
Phone bill paid, fax humming, new print cartridge in printer. Let the next battle begin!
susan -
Steve's right. Don't let up. Fight the next battle next time - eye on the ball...
JF
NSA recommends releasing the intercepts -- that is good to hear.
Jaime, Did your fax go through successfully? I have one ready to go, but don't know if it is necessary to blast Alexander with multiple copies.
his Office has a webmail form so I sent Alexander the complete article with link...
Thanks wilson46201,
I won't send my fax unless Steve wants lots of activity on this. Otherwise, no point wasting paper (and our tax dollars) sending multiple copies.
I'd suggest ALSO sending the fax. We don't want to spam his system but a coupla-three messages from different senders (and via different media) couldn't hurt...
I think the hard copy fax option is always the best. It's a lot easier to ignore any email-based form than a solid piece of paper. And while I don't mind the brief long distance charge to send a fax, if I'm not mistaken there are online fax services which are inexpensive, perhaps even free -- and they're useful for folks who don't feel like dusting off an old fax machine.
Just read the thread and sent the fax to Alexander. If you don't know about this yet, Wolcott shares some info that confirms what many of us have known for a long time.
My, My What Have We Here?
Posted by James Wolcott
We got ourselves a right devastating expose.
Some of us always suspected (i.e., believed in the marrow of our bones) that the fix was in between Blair and Bush on the Iraq War.
And now comes Ringing Confirmation.
"REVEALED: DOCUMENTS SHOW BLAIR'S SECRET PLANS FOR WAR
"By Raymond Whitaker, Andy McSmith and Francis Elliott
"01 May 2005
"Tony Blair had resolved to send British troops into action alongside US forces eight months before the Iraq War began, despite a clear warning from the Foreign Office that the conflict could be illegal.
"A damning minute leaked to a Sunday newspaper reveals that in July 2002, a few weeks after meeting George Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Mr Blair summoned his closest aides for what amounted to a council of war. The minute reveals the head of British intelligence reported that President Bush had firmly made up his mind to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein, adding that 'the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.'
"At the same time, a document obtained by this newspaper reveals the Foreign Office legal advice given to Mr Blair in March 2002, before he travelled to meet Mr Bush at his Texas ranch. It contains many of the reservations listed nearly a year later by the Attorney General in his confidential advice to the Prime Minister, which the Government was forced to publish last week, including the warning that the US government took a different view of international law from Britain or virtually any other country.
"The advice, also put before the July meeting, was drawn up in part by Elizabeth Wilmshurst, the Foreign Office's deputy legal adviser, who resigned on the eve of war in protest at what she called a 'crime of aggression.'
"The latest revelations could scarcely have come at a worse time for Labour..."
Or for Blair's place in history...
Here is how the London Times presents the story:
"BLAIR HIT BY NEW LEAK OF SECRET WAR PLAN
"Michael Smith
"A SECRET document from the heart of government reveals today that Tony Blair privately committed Britain to war with Iraq and then set out to lure Saddam Hussein into providing the legal justification.
"The Downing Street minutes, headed 'Secret and strictly personal — UK eyes only', detail one of the most important meetings ahead of the invasion.
"It was chaired by the prime minister and attended by his inner circle. The document reveals Blair backed 'regime change' by force from the outset, despite warnings from Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, that such action could be illegal."
I actually fear the binary aspect of the NSA documents because the republicans will focus only on them if they are inconclusive, then they will justify the appointment and call the Bolton Opposition partisan muckrakers for attempting to derail the nomination.
Isn't there enough there already for this nomination to be derailed? Possibly not if we don't give enough focus to the other aspects.
Once again THANK YOU STEVE for your laser beam focus on how terrible it would be for world peace if Bolton is appointed......
My vote for next "Friendly Fire" target would be the very frightening Cheney--it is soooo obvious that he runs the country along with the wingnut he is married to,everything I have read re. her comments has me believing she is as much a neocon as Perle.............
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