Putin reveals intelligence confirming Saddam planned attack on America

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Starting with Yeltsin the leadership of Russia seems to have acquired the habit of telling us everything we wanted to hear. I'm not certain that they've always told us the truth.

somehow "yes, yes, we really are building a democracy, and no, Im not an alcoholic" is not quite the same as "we have a mole inside Iraqi Intell who says theyre planning attacks on the US"

Do you have any evidence that the Russians have lied to us on a an intelligence matter?

[Bereta_Eder]

A small favor to Bush which doesn't cost anything. Immideatly discredited.

[Dr Strangelove]

Imagine how much evil one could do just by telling people what they wanted to hear. It boggles the mind.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


somehow "yes, yes, we really are building a democracy, and no, Im not an alcoholic" is not quite the same as "we have a mole inside Iraqi Intell who says theyre planning attacks on the US"

Do you have any evidence that the Russians have lied to us on a an intelligence matter?

Is there any evidence that they told the truth? Hussein is in no position to punish a traitor right now. Furthermore I can think of at least one western government which would be more than ecstatically happy to provide asylum and a cushy future to said mole if he were to surface right about now. and spill his guts in public.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
somehow "yes, yes, we really are building a democracy, and no, Im not an alcoholic"

Did he actually say that? He's Russian. It's an obvious lie.

[Spiffor]

Interesting news.

I'm not really interested by the "evidence" as long as we have no idea what that is*

However, I am interested in knowing why Putin feels he should help Bush, after opposing him so clearly on the Iraqi issue. Is there multilateral negociation cycle coming before the next election? Does Putin wager on Bush, and tries to help him get reelected?




*If there is actual evidence of Iraqi involvement in terrorist preparations, we'll hear about it soon. OTOH, it may very well be something ordinary that is spun as "preparing terrorist attacks".
Among the ordinary, there could have been plans to attack the US in case of war, there could have been listings of American interests in the area, with a description of the security, or there could have been records where some officials refer to the US as the enemy.
This would be a far cry from starting an unprovoked terror campaign in the US.

[Odin]

I wonder how much $$$ it took Chimpy and Rummy to buy off Putin.

[Bereta_Eder]

Putin is known to sporadically throw a bone to Bush. It helps him not having the Americans bringing up human rights issues in Chechnea.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


Is there any evidence that they told the truth? Hussein is in no position to punish a traitor right now. Furthermore I can think of at least one western government which would be more than ecstatically happy to provide asylum and a cushy future to said mole if he were to surface right about now. and spill his guts in public.

1. Well lets see, they are an ally in the WOT, they have a massive intelligence agency, their past activity in Iraq would lead one to beleive they had extensive assets inside the Iraqi govt. Until I see evidence that they were lying my working hypothesis is going to be that they told the truth.

2. Even if they were lying, that Bush relied on them would seem "exculpatory" Especially if what they passed included more detailed info on sources.

3. So far the motivations for lying go as follows


A. They were doing Bush a favor for not speaking out on Chechnya ("yeah, who cares about Georgia, or NATO expansion into the Baltics, as long as you dont talk about Chechnya we're happy")
B. They want a privileged position in Iraq now
C. They were trying to get us into Iraq to tie us down - a variant on "Iran got us into Iraq"

Anything im missing?

The efforts to deny the significance of this are quite valiant.

[lord of the mark]

BTW is John Kerry going to publicly call Putin a liar?
Is Robin Cook going to?
Is Jacque Chirac going to?
Is Joska Fischer going to?

Quible as you will, this is huge.

[The diplomat]

As expected, the liberals will ignore this info since it supports Bush's claim that Iraq was a threat.

[Urban Ranger]

Even if the intelligence is true, that Saddam had plans to attack the US. So what?

[Odin]

Originally posted by The diplomat
As expected, the liberals will ignore this info since it supports Bush's claim that Iraq was a threat.

Most evidence shows Bush is a pathological liar. this dowsn't neutalize the tons of evidence that shows Chimpy lied.

[Lincoln]

It fits in with Bush's stated intention to preempt terrorists acts when the US is a target. Or should we wait until they send a nuke suitcase to LA before responding?

[Lincoln]

Originally posted by Odin


Most evidence shows Bush is a pathological liar. this dowsn't neutalize the tons of evidence that shows Chimpy lied.

There is also plenty of evidence that shows a patholigical hatred for Bush from the left regardless of what he does.