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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kevin Rose who wrote (437225)	8/1/2003 2:46:43 PM
From: jlallen	Respond to of 769667

Even if WMD are NEVER found...the war was still justified on the basis of the intelligence we possessed and the potential threat to US national security....all Saddam had to do was comply with UNSCR 1441.....he did not....and the fact that we could not verify that Iraq had given up its quest to possess and maintain WMD is all the justification we needed under the Bush doctrine....I don't give a flying hoot what the rest of the world thinks....they were not attacked on 9/11.....

To: Kevin Rose who wrote (437225)	8/1/2003 2:53:35 PM
From: Don Earl	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

In early 2001, Dick Cheney commissioned a report from The Baker Institute for Public Policy, a think tank set up by James Baker III, senior councilor of Carlyle Group, a private investment firm with huge interests in energy and defense contracts. It’s really no surprise weapons of mass destruction have not been found in Iraq, and that evidence presented to the public by the Bush Administration has been proven false. The plan to gain control of Iraqi oil, using weapons of mass destruction as an excuse, was not a CIA program, but a program thought up by oil company CEOs and investment bankers long before 9/11. Quoting directly from the published Baker Report, "Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century", the report states: <<<The United States should conduct an immediate policy review toward Iraq, including military, energy, economic, and political/diplomatic assessments. The United States should then develop an integrated strategy with key allies in Europe and Asia and with key countries in the Middle East to restate the goals with respect to Iraqi policy and to restore a cohesive coalition of key allies. Goals should be designed in a realistic fashion, and they should be clearly and consistently stated and defended to revive U.S. credibility on this issue. Actions and policies to promote these goals should endeavor to enhance the well-being of the Iraqi people. Sanctions that are not effective should be phased out and replaced with highly focused and enforced sanctions that target the regime's ability to maintain and acquire weapons of mass destruction. A new plan of action should be developed to use diplomatic and other means to support U.N. Security Council efforts to build a strong arms-control regime to stem the flow of arms and controlled substances into Iraq. Policy should rebuild coalition cooperation on this issue, while emphasizing the common interest in security. This issue of arms sales to Iraq should be brought near the top of the agenda for dialogue with China and Russia. Once an arms-control program is in place, the United States could consider reducing restrictions on oil investments inside Iraq..... Virtually all actions available to remove obstacles along the supply chain in the very short term involve tradeoffs with other policy objectives, including environmental, national security, and foreign policy concerns....Proper policy must consider measures that will prevent the public from keeping U.S. energy security perpetually beyond reach.>>> Among the contributors to this report are: Steven Miller, Chairman and CEO of Shell Oil Company Kenneth Lay, Chairman and CEO of Enron Corporation John Manzoni, Regional President for British Petroleum David O'Reilly, Chairman and CEO of Chevron Texaco Kenneth Randolph, General Counsel and Secretary of Dynegy, Inc. commondreams.org rice.edu