(I still want to know where Chalabi who was convicted of embezzelment in Jordan fits in this.)
Well, I'm certainly not vouching for Chalabi, or his own personal aspirations and/or integrity..
But I've seen quite a bit of discussion about Chalabi's alleged conviction and in few places do people note that it occurred "in absentia". IOW, he wasn't there to face his accusers.
And I've also heard that Prince Hassan of Jordan may have pressed to have him prosecuted for the failure of Petra Bank in order to protect himself from his own involvement in its collapse.
It just doesn't make sense that Chalabi would be given all that financial power to himself without having to involve someone in the Hashemite Royal family..
SOmebody made alot of money faking the WMD story.
Certainly some UN inspectors apparently did.. As well as intelligence analysts from many different countries.
They were also surprised when the followed the money in Whitewater it went NOWHERE. Except for the 60-80 Million used to fund the open-ended Special Prosecuter.)
Well, this is off topic, but that's factually incorrect.
There were 12 convictions that derived from the Whitewater investigation, including Jim Guy Tucker, then Governor of Arkansas. Had Clinton been able to "find" her missing billing records when originally subpoenaed, she might have been convicted as well. It should be noteworthy that Vince Foster was the last person known to have possessed the original Rose Law Firm billing records. The ones that Clinton later "found" in her book room, were copies.. Copies that had both Vince Foster's, and Hillary Clinton's fingerprints on them.
Coincidence? We report, you decide...
pbs.org
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(and it's hard to "impeach", if you'll pardon the pun, the sources I've provided).
What was the rush?
For one... 9/11 and the way it changed the perceptions of US vulnerability. Never before had terrorists attempted such a large scale attack upon the US. But once successfully achieved, it would only be a matter of time before they tried again, possibly with the surreptious assistance of a Saddam desperate for revenge.
2. We're Americans, not French. We happen to believe waiting 12 years of having to economically and militarily "contain" Saddam for his violations does not equate to being in a "rush".
But for the French, Germans, and Russians looking to make beaucoup $$$ off of Saddam once sanctions were lifted, any attempt to replace him would be "rushing things".
We are still fumbling along with North Korea and everybody says they HAVE NooCueLar stuff.
North Korea does not have binding UNSC resolutions pending against it requiring it to disarm. In fact, I don't believe the UN is involved at all in the negotiations between the US and N. Korea. But maybe they should be... Make them own the problem, rather than merely passing off the security of S. Korea to the US.
And Look... the Libya sanctions and international pressure disarmed MOMar.
Now you are dreaming Rascal... Qaddafi coughed up his nuclear program because the US, through the PSI, caught him red-handed trying to smuggle in nuclear related equipment (this occurred last October). This combined with the fact that Saddam had been humilitated in his capture probably woke him up to the possibility that he'd be next on the list given what had been discovered by PSI.
Has your opinion of this Administration changed at all since 2000 based on current facts?
I like a person who means what they say, and follows through on threats. I don't like the US being taken for granted, or treated like the lives of our soldiers are at the beck and call of other nations unwilling to risk their blood or treasure in securing peace and security in the mid-east.
But I do have problems with the execution and implementation, and at times, lack of, strategic plans.
But I think Bush played it EXACTLY RIGHT with regard to N. Korea. Make a NUMBER of countries, including China and Russia "own" the problem of Kim Jong Il. There's no reason we need to bear that burden alone.
Hawk |
