STUPIDITY IS ALL AROUND

2/3/04

... reports, among other things:

The Torture Files: BEN EHRENREICH examines Iraqi detainees’ claims of abuse and mistreatment, and the reluctance of U.S. officials to examine them.

February 5, 2004

Check out the 's handy Iraq Occupation section!

CIA chief defends WMD intelligence
· Agency did not tailor information to build case for war, George Tenet says
· Experts 'never said Iraq posed imminent threat to US'
Howard says Blair should quit
What was the 45-minute claim?
Blair caught in Iraqi arms row
Leader: Inquiry into inquiries

How did we get it so wrong?

With inquiries under way on both sides of the Atlantic, the failure of western intelligence over Iraq is coming under intense scrutiny. Yes, the spies got it wrong, admits former CIA analyst Kenneth Pollack, but the politicians also moulded the evidence to fit the case for war



Powell doubts over invasion
'Absence of stockpile changes the answer'.
Testimony that triggered inquiries
MP: Israel knew Iraq had no WMD
How did we get it so wrong?
Special report: Iraq

Wednesday February 4, 2004

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t r u t h o u t | 02.04

Controversy Grows Over Bush Military Record
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404A.shtml

Kerry Already Polling Ahead of Bush By 7 Points
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404B.shtml

Ricin Found in Majority Leaders Office
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404C.shtml

Congressional Leaders Call for Truly Independent Review of Iraq Intelligence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404D.shtml

Paul Krugman | Another Bogus Budget
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404E.shtml

Cost of War Withheld From Bush Budget
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404F.shtml

Bush Budget Cuts Environmental Funding by 7 Pct
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404G.shtml

Le Figaro | America is in Iraq for a Long Time
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404H.shtml

Murder Trial Revives Intrigue of the 70's Indian Movement
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404I.shtml

After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020404J.shtml

Click to SUBSCRIBE -> https://www.truthout.org/membership/sub_mgmt.php
Go direct to our HomePage : http://www.truthout.org

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Subject: A very British tragedy
From: "openDemocracy"
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 20:24:59 -0000
To: "achtung almanac"

A very British tragedy

A week is a long time in politics. The Hutton report is no longer a simple victory for Tony Blair and defeat for the BBC: it has become a crisis for the British public realm. As the prime minister follows George Bush in announcing an inquiry into pre-Iraq war intelligence on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, http://www.openDemocracy.net presents the leading political historian and commentator David Marquand's crisp, devastating diagnosis of an unfolding drama:

* Hutton is not a whitewash - it's worse than that. There is a malaise at the very heart of British political culture

* Andrew Gilligan, the BBC journalist who accused the government of 'sexing up' intelligence information, and Alastair Campbell, Blair's former head of communications are "symptoms of the same sickness": contempt for the public in government and media

* 'Scoop hunting', like the political spin it mirrors, "is not an ornament of a free press…It is a cancer gnawing at its entrails"

* Tony Blair has in the end lost. "His credibility in shreds"

* Blair's "American ally. . . has hung him out to dry"

Read Marquand exclusively at www.openDemocracy.net
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-8-92-1709.jsp

Also on www.openDemocracy.net on the aftermath of Hutton:

David Elstein on lessons for the BBC,
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-8-92-1700.jsp

Douglas Murray on the wrong inquiry,
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-8-92-1699.jsp

and Anthony Barnett cracks Alastair Campbell's code.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-8-92-1704.jsp

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Please forward this email to friends and colleagues!

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openDemocracy, 23-25 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DN, UK
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I'm actually shocked...

features



A Bush Covert Operative Takes Over Al Sharpton's Campaign
Sleeping With the GOP
by Wayne Barrett, February 5th, 2004 8:20 AM



(illustration: Bill Mayer)

Here's the latest from the gang at Anybody but Bush:

Subject: Anybody But Bush Update: Bush's Guard Service In Question
From: xxxxxxx@xxx.xxx Add to Address Book
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 04:53:38 -0800


((((((( Anybody But Bush Update: Bush's Guard Service In Question )))))))

February 03, 2004


------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.anybodybutbush.info/archives/000201.html

The Washington Post discusses Bush being AWOL (Absent without leave) during Vietnam.


--

');

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t r u t h o u t | 02.03

Bush Building 'Warren Commission' to Investigate His Case For War
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304A.shtml

Blair Under Pressure for Iraq Intelligence Inquiry
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304B.shtml

Deficit Is $521 Billion In Bush Budget
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304C.shtml

Bombings Cripple More Than Civilians
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304D.shtml

Bob Herbert | Vote, and The Pols Will Listen
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304E.shtml

Tom Shales | A Super Bowl of Sleaze
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304F.shtml

Environmentalists Head for the States
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304G.shtml

The Northern Mosaic in Jeopardy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304H.shtml

Factories Sizzling But Jobs Still Elusive
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304I.shtml

Preparing Saddam Trial Is Dangerous, Frustrating
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020304J.shtml



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Go direct to our HomePage : http://www.truthout.org

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No 10 to confirm WMD inquiry
Downing Street is expected to announce an inquiry into the intelligence basis for the war in Iraq.
Q&A: Iraq's WMD
Failure 'undermining war on terror'
Bush yields on WMD inquiry
Special report: Iraq
Guardian Unlimited Politics