David Traynier: Iran Now, Iraq Then

The drum beat for an attack on Iran is becoming louder with every passing day. From the governments of the US and UK - and their media - a steady stream of warnings, insinuations, and allegations is softening us up to support an assault on Iran by either Anglo-American forces or Israel.

The invasion to 'disarm' Iraq has, according to a recent Lancet study, already cost over 100,000 Iraqi lives. We must not allow this to happen again.

Please take a minute to read the following short quotations. They are all fully sourced, so feel free to check them if you wish. Then please pass this on to as many people as you possibly can, regardless of their views on Iraq.

Remember these statements, the next time you listen to George W. Bush, Tony Blair or our 'impartial and honest' media tell us that we are threatened by the people of Iran.

*'[Saddam Hussein] has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbours.'*

(US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Press Remarks with Foreign Minister of Egypt Amre Moussa, Ittihadiya Palace, Cairo, Egypt 24th February 2001, quoted in CBS News, 'Powell '01: WMDs Not 'Significant'', viewable at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/28/iraq/main575469.shtml video viewable at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5502.htm )

*'...let's remember that his [Saddam Hussein's] country is divided, in effect. He does not control the northern part of his country. We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt.' *

(US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, 29th July 2001, video viewable at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5502.htm )

*'We do not have any direct evidence that Iraq has used the period since Desert Fox [1998] to reconstitute its weapons of mass destruction programs.'*

(CIA report, February 2003, quoted by NBC News 24^th February 2003, viewable at http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3340723/ )

* 'Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised...'*

(US President George W. Bush, Address to the Nation, 17th March 2003, quoted by Glenn Kessler, 'Bush Recasts Rationale For War After Report', Washington Post, 10th October 2004; Page A32, viewable at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A20562-2004Oct9 and http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030317-7.html )

* 'Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.'*

(US Vice President Dick Cheney, 'Vice President Speaks at VFW 103rd National Convention; Remarks by the Vice President to the Veterans of Foreign Wars 103rd National Convention,' 26 th August 2002, viewable at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020826.html )

* 'Every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.'*

(US Secretary of State Colin Powell, addressing the UN Security Council, 5th February 2003, viewable at http://www.un.org/apps/news/storyAr.asp?NewsID=6079&Cr=iraq&Cr1=inspect )

* 'And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons... Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas.'*

(US President George W. Bush, 'President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat'* *Remarks by the President on Iraq Cincinnati Museum, Centre Cincinnati Union Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio, 7th October 2002, viewable at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html )

* 'We know that he [Saddam Hussein] has stockpiles of major amounts of chemical and biological weapons...'*

(British Prime Minister Tony Blair, NBC News, 3rd April 2002, quoted in Peter Oborne 'High crimes and misdemeanours', The Spectator, 28th August 2004, viewable at http://www.antiwar.com/spectator/spec365.html)

* '[Iraq retains only] 'some production equipment, and some small stocks of CW agent precursors, and may have hidden small quantities of agents and weapons...'*

(British Joint Intelligence Committee report, 15th March 2002, the most recent available to Tony Blair before he made his statement above, quoted in Peter Oborne 'High crimes and misdemeanours', The Spectator, 28th August 2004, viewable at http://www.antiwar.com/spectator/spec365.html)

* 'I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.'*

(US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld*,* Senate appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing, 14th May, 2003, quoted in Timothy Noah, 'Whopper of the Week: Donald Rumsfeld*',* 23rd May 2003, viewable at* * http://slate.msn.com/id/2083532/ )

* 'We know that he's been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.'*

(Interview with US Vice-President Dick* *Cheney, NBC, 'Meet the Press,' 16th March 2003, quoted in Walter Pincus 'Bush Faced Dwindling Data on Iraq Nuclear Bid', Washington Post, 16th July 2003; Page A01, viewable at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A616222003Jul15 ).

* '...you and a few other critics are the only people I've heard use the phrase `immediate threat.' I didn't.'*

(US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to presenter, Bob Schieffer, CBS News, 'Face The Nation', 14th March 2004 http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/face031404.pdf, video viewable at http://www.moveon.org/censure/caughtonvideo/ )

* 'No terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world and the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.'*

(US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 19th September 2002, quoted CBS News 'Face The Nation', 14th March 2004 http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/face031404.pdf, video viewable at http://www.moveon.org/censure/caughtonvideo/ )

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