Habbush letter
Encyclopedia
The Habbush letter, or Habbush memo, is a handwritten message dated July 1, 2001, which appeared to show a link between al Qaeda and Iraq
's government. It purports to be a direct communication between the head of Iraqi Intelligence, General Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti
, to Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
, outlining mission training which Mohamed Atta
, one of the organizers of the September 11 attacks
, supposedly received in Iraq. The letter also claims that Hussein accepted a shipment from Niger
, an apparent reference to an alleged uranium
acquisition attempt that U.S. President George W. Bush
cited in his January 2003 State of the Union
address.
The letter has been widely considered a fabrication since it was first made public in December 2003. In 2008, journalist Ron Suskind
claimed that the White House
ordered the Central Intelligence Agency
to create the forgery. Two of Suskind's sources denied having knowledge of anyone in their chain of command ordering the forging the letter. Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi
alleged that the Pentagon
was behind the forgery. The controversy that erupted as a result of Suskind's allegations has so far led to an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee.
by US forces), The Daily Telegraph
of London
ran a front-page story that not only claimed Saddam Hussein
had trained one of the hijackers behind the September 11 attacks
, but also that his government, assisted by a "small team from the Al Qaeda organization", was expecting to receive a suspicious consignment from the country of Niger. This exclusive article, and a second piece, were both written by Con Coughlin
, executive foreign editor to the paper.
Coughlin's information came from a secret intelligence memorandum, purportedly handwritten during Saddam Hussein's final days in power and discovered later by the newly-formed Iraqi Interim Government
, which summarized an operational relationship between Mohamed Atta
, a known associate of al-Qaeda and one of the organizers
of the aforementioned attacks, and the Iraqi Intelligence Service
. The letter was signed by General Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti
, chief of IIS, and directed to the president of Iraq
. Coughlin said that he had received this document from a "senior member of the Iraqi interim government", though this person "declined to reveal where and how they obtained it."
Interim
Prime Minister of Iraq
Ayad Allawi was quoted in the original report, offering personal assurance over the document's authenticity: "We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda.... But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."
The story was quickly picked up and repeated by several conservative columnists in the US, including syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock
and William Safire
. Safire talked about the document in an Op-ed
for the New York Times, claiming Saddam had attempted to cover-up
his links to 9/11 by assassinating Abu Nidal
, who the letter claims was with Mohammed Atta in Iraq. Stephen F. Hayes
, a staunch proponent of Mohamed Atta's alleged Prague connection, ignored the letter entirely.
Three weeks later, in an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Vice President
Dick Cheney
spoke more broadly on Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations:
spoke with current and former US officials, including an Iraqi document expert who was at that time reviewing thousands of Operation Iraqi Freedom documents
, all of whom deemed the letter a probable fabrication
. "The problem with this, say U.S. law enforcement officials, is that the FBI has compiled a highly detailed time line for Atta's movements throughout the spring and summer of 2001 based on a mountain of documentary evidence, including airline records, ATM withdrawals and hotel receipts. Those records show Atta crisscrossing the United States during this period—making only one overseas trip, an 11-day visit to Spain that didn't begin until six days after the date of the Iraqi memo."
Isikoff continued: "Ironically, even the Iraqi National Congress
of Ahmed Chalabi
, which has been vocal in claiming ties between Al Qaeda and Saddam's regime, was dismissive of the new Telegraph story. 'The memo is clearly nonsense,' an INC spokesman told Newsweek
."
in his 2008 book The Way of the World
:
Suskind goes on to describe what happened next. Richer talks to Maguire, a CIA Iraq expert, who says that this plan will not work - Habbush will not sign anything himself because the insurgency
would harm his family. This, by Suskind's account, leads to the White House
telling the CIA directly to hand write the letter itself. Suskind's book says that this new order then passed down eventually to the Iraq Operations Group for it to be carried out. Maguire left for Baghdad to help run the CIA station there and was not involved directly in the mission, other than discussing the mission with Richer.
Suskind's evidence includes, according to an interview he gave on August 7, 2008, on-the-record statements from two CIA agents, Robert Richer
and John Maguire
, and others. He also claims to have tape recorded statements to back up his claims.
According to the tape recorded interview with Richer, former CIA deputy chief of clandestine operations, Richer saw a letter on White House stationery, passed down the ranks of the CIA through George Tenet
, then-CIA director, "probably" to James Pavitt
, the Deputy Director of Operations, who passed it to his chief of staff, who passed it to Richer. Richer said that the letter might or might not have come from the vice president's office, but he wasn't sure. The letter described what the White House wanted Habbush to say in a forged letter. Suskind published a partial transcript on his web site on August 8.
In a taped interview on the Fox News program Hannity & Colmes
, which aired on August 15, 2008, Suskind said, "We are putting up all the transcripts. They're on my Web site, and I think they're all over the Internet at this point."
On August 5, 2008, the White House issued the statement on behalf of George Tenet, Robert Richer and John Maguire, addressing Suskind's allegation. Tenet said:
The CIA issued its own statement on August 22, 2008 saying that Suskind's allegations regarding Habbush "did not happen", and Tenet followed the same day with a second statement saying that Suskind's charges were "demonstrably false in every regard."
Suskind also contends that Habbush, who still carries a $1 million reward for his capture and appears as the Jack of Diamonds on the US military's deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
, was secretly resettled in Jordan
by the CIA with $5 million in US taxpayers money.
, writing in The American Conservative
, has claimed to have a reliable source who tells him that Suskind's basic story about the White House ordering the forgery is correct, but some of the detail is wrong. His source claims that Dick Cheney ordered the forgery, but not from the CIA, instead using the Office of Special Plans
, an office created by Donald Rumsfeld
and run by Douglas Feith
.
Giraldi writes that "Tenet is for once telling the truth when he states that he would not have undermined himself by preparing such a document while at the same time insisting publicly that there was no connection between Saddam and al-Qaeda."
posits that Habbush crafted the letter himself, and that the CIA "authenticated" it in bad faith
through onetime asset Ayad Allawi — whom journalist Con Coughlin
contacted to vouchsafe the document's authenticity after it was leaked to him.
Author Joe Conason
noted that Ayad Allawi had visited CIA headquarters in Langley just days before speaking with Con Coughlin of the Telegraph.
Con Coughlin, in a blog post highly critical of Suskind, confirmed that he had indeed received the letter from Ayad Allawi. He also calls the letter a 'leak' and says he got it in November 2003, in Baghdad.
stated, "I am particularly troubled that the decision to disseminate this fabricated intelligence is alleged to have come from the highest reaches of the administration. The administration’s attempt to challenge Mr. Suskind’s reporting appears to have been effectively dismissed by the publication of the author’s interview recordings and transcripts. I have instructed my staff to conduct a careful review of Mr. Suskind’s allegations and the role played by senior administration officials in this matter.”
(UK) said:
New York Times (US) said:
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
's government. It purports to be a direct communication between the head of Iraqi Intelligence, General Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti
Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti
Tahir Jalil Habbush al Takriti is a former Iraqi intelligence official who served under the regime of Saddam Hussein. He is currently a fugitive.-Forged 2003 Habbush letter:...
, to Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, outlining mission training which Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
, one of the organizers of the September 11 attacks
Organizers of the September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks were carried out by 19 hijackers affiliated with al-Qaeda. The hijackers were organized into four teams, each led by a pilot-trained hijacker with four "muscle hijackers", who were trained to help subdue the pilots, passengers, and crew.The first hijackers to arrive in the...
, supposedly received in Iraq. The letter also claims that Hussein accepted a shipment from Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, an apparent reference to an alleged uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
acquisition attempt that U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
cited in his January 2003 State of the Union
State Of The Union
"State Of The Union" is the debut single from British singer-songwriter David Ford. It had previously been featured as a demo on his official website, before appearing as a track on a CD entitled "Apology Demos EP," only on sale at live shows....
address.
The letter has been widely considered a fabrication since it was first made public in December 2003. In 2008, journalist Ron Suskind
Ron Suskind
Ron Suskind is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist and best-selling author. He was the senior national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 2000 and has published the books A Hope in the Unseen, The Price of Loyalty, The One Percent Doctrine, The Way of the World and...
claimed that the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
ordered the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
to create the forgery. Two of Suskind's sources denied having knowledge of anyone in their chain of command ordering the forging the letter. Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi
Philip Giraldi
Philip Giraldi is a former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and a columnist and television commentator who is the Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a group that advocates for more even handed...
alleged that the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
was behind the forgery. The controversy that erupted as a result of Suskind's allegations has so far led to an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee.
Background
On December 13, 2003 (the day of Saddam Hussein's captureOperation Red Dawn
Operation Red Dawn was the U.S. military operation conducted on 13 December 2003 in the town of ad-Dawr, Iraq, near Tikrit, that captured Iraq President Saddam Hussein, ending rumours of his death. The operation was named after the 1984 film Red Dawn. The mission was assigned to the 1st Brigade...
by US forces), The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
ran a front-page story that not only claimed Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
had trained one of the hijackers behind the September 11 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, but also that his government, assisted by a "small team from the Al Qaeda organization", was expecting to receive a suspicious consignment from the country of Niger. This exclusive article, and a second piece, were both written by Con Coughlin
Con Coughlin
Con Coughlin is a British journalist and author, currently an editor for the Daily Telegraph.-Early years:He was born in London, England, the son of the Daily Telegraph crime correspondent C.A. Coughlin. The eldest of four children he grew up in Upminster, Essex...
, executive foreign editor to the paper.
Coughlin's information came from a secret intelligence memorandum, purportedly handwritten during Saddam Hussein's final days in power and discovered later by the newly-formed Iraqi Interim Government
Iraqi Interim Government
The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the Iraqi Transitional Government was installed following the Iraqi National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005...
, which summarized an operational relationship between Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
, a known associate of al-Qaeda and one of the organizers
Organizers of the September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks were carried out by 19 hijackers affiliated with al-Qaeda. The hijackers were organized into four teams, each led by a pilot-trained hijacker with four "muscle hijackers", who were trained to help subdue the pilots, passengers, and crew.The first hijackers to arrive in the...
of the aforementioned attacks, and the Iraqi Intelligence Service
Iraqi Intelligence Service
The Iraqi Intelligence Service , also known as the Mukhabarat, General Directorate of Intelligence, or Party Intelligence, was the main state intelligence organization in Iraq under Saddam Hussein...
. The letter was signed by General Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti
Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti
Tahir Jalil Habbush al Takriti is a former Iraqi intelligence official who served under the regime of Saddam Hussein. He is currently a fugitive.-Forged 2003 Habbush letter:...
, chief of IIS, and directed to the president of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Coughlin said that he had received this document from a "senior member of the Iraqi interim government", though this person "declined to reveal where and how they obtained it."
The letter
Habbush's July 1, 2001, letter is labeled "Intelligence Items" and is addressed: "To the President of the Ba'ath Revolution Party and President of the Republic, may God protect you." It continues:Initial reaction to the letter
Ad interim
The Latin phrase ad interim literally means "in the time between" denotes the meaning of "in the meantime", "for an intervening time" or "temporarily" in the English language...
Prime Minister of Iraq
Prime Minister of Iraq
The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraq's head of government. Prime Minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, and the nominal leader of the Iraqi parliament. Under the newly adopted constitution the Prime Minister is to be the country's active executive authority...
Ayad Allawi was quoted in the original report, offering personal assurance over the document's authenticity: "We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda.... But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."
The story was quickly picked up and repeated by several conservative columnists in the US, including syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock
Deroy Murdock
Deroy Murdock is an American syndicated columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service and a contributing editor with National Review Online....
and William Safire
William Safire
William Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist and presidential speechwriter....
. Safire talked about the document in an Op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
for the New York Times, claiming Saddam had attempted to cover-up
Cover-up
A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrong-doing, error, incompetence or other embarrassing information...
his links to 9/11 by assassinating Abu Nidal
Abu Nidal
Abu Nidal , born Sabri Khalil al-Banna , was the founder of Fatah–The Revolutionary Council , a militant Palestinian group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization...
, who the letter claims was with Mohammed Atta in Iraq. Stephen F. Hayes
Stephen F. Hayes
Stephen F. Hayes is a columnist for The Weekly Standard, a prominent American conservative magazine. Hayes has been selected as the official biographer for Vice President Richard Cheney....
, a staunch proponent of Mohamed Atta's alleged Prague connection, ignored the letter entirely.
Three weeks later, in an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
spoke more broadly on Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations:
Doubts
Investigative journalist Michael IsikoffMichael Isikoff
Michael Isikoff is an investigative journalist for NBC News, formerly with the United States magazine Newsweek. He joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in June, 1994, and has written extensively on the U.S...
spoke with current and former US officials, including an Iraqi document expert who was at that time reviewing thousands of Operation Iraqi Freedom documents
Operation Iraqi Freedom documents
Operation Iraqi Freedom documents are some 48,000 boxes of documents, audiotapes and videotapes that were discovered by the U.S. military during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The documents date from the 1980s through the post-Saddam period. The U.S...
, all of whom deemed the letter a probable fabrication
False document
A false document is a literary technique employed to create verisimilitude in a work of fiction. By inventing and inserting documents that appear to be factual, an author tries to create a sense of authenticity beyond the normal and expected suspension of disbelief for a work of art...
. "The problem with this, say U.S. law enforcement officials, is that the FBI has compiled a highly detailed time line for Atta's movements throughout the spring and summer of 2001 based on a mountain of documentary evidence, including airline records, ATM withdrawals and hotel receipts. Those records show Atta crisscrossing the United States during this period—making only one overseas trip, an 11-day visit to Spain that didn't begin until six days after the date of the Iraqi memo."
Isikoff continued: "Ironically, even the Iraqi National Congress
Iraqi National Congress
The Iraqi National Congress is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. It was formed with the aid and direction of the United States government following the Gulf War, for the purpose of fomenting the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.-History:INC was set up following the...
of Ahmed Chalabi
Ahmed Chalabi
Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi is an Iraqi politician. He was interim oil minister in Iraq in April-May 2005 and December-January 2006 and deputy prime minister from May 2005 until May 2006. Chalabi failed to win a seat in parliament in the December 2005 elections, and when the new Iraqi cabinet was...
, which has been vocal in claiming ties between Al Qaeda and Saddam's regime, was dismissive of the new Telegraph story. 'The memo is clearly nonsense,' an INC spokesman told Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
."
A thriving trade?
The article "Terror Watch: Dubious Link Between Atta And Saddam" by Isikoff and Hosenball, in the December 17, 2003 issue of Newsweek, quoted an Iraq document expert named Hassan Mneimneh, as well as unnamed "US Officials", that the document was probably part of "a thriving new trade in dubious Iraqi documents". They quote Mneimneh as saying, "There's an active document trade taking place ... You have fraudulent documents that are being fabricated and sold" for hundreds of dollars a piece".Ron Suskind allegation
According to Ron SuskindRon Suskind
Ron Suskind is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist and best-selling author. He was the senior national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 2000 and has published the books A Hope in the Unseen, The Price of Loyalty, The One Percent Doctrine, The Way of the World and...
in his 2008 book The Way of the World
The Way of the World (book)
The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism is a 2008 non-fiction book by Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, describing various actions and policies of the George W. Bush administration...
:
Suskind goes on to describe what happened next. Richer talks to Maguire, a CIA Iraq expert, who says that this plan will not work - Habbush will not sign anything himself because the insurgency
Iraqi insurgency
The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...
would harm his family. This, by Suskind's account, leads to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
telling the CIA directly to hand write the letter itself. Suskind's book says that this new order then passed down eventually to the Iraq Operations Group for it to be carried out. Maguire left for Baghdad to help run the CIA station there and was not involved directly in the mission, other than discussing the mission with Richer.
Suskind's evidence includes, according to an interview he gave on August 7, 2008, on-the-record statements from two CIA agents, Robert Richer
Robert Richer
Robert Richer was the associate deputy director of operations of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the number two in command of the Operations Directorate, the part of the Agency responsible for human operations overseas, where he served under Jose Rodriguez.He took early retirement in...
and John Maguire
John Maguire
John Maguire is the name of:*John Maguire , English Mixed Martial Artist*John Maguire , coadjutor archbishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York*John Maguire , Australian cricketer...
, and others. He also claims to have tape recorded statements to back up his claims.
According to the tape recorded interview with Richer, former CIA deputy chief of clandestine operations, Richer saw a letter on White House stationery, passed down the ranks of the CIA through George Tenet
George Tenet
George John Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University....
, then-CIA director, "probably" to James Pavitt
James Pavitt
James L. Pavitt was Deputy Director for Operations for the CIA from 1999 until June 4, 2004. His sudden resignation – as well as that of his chief, DCI George Tenet the previous day – led to speculation that it was over the controversy surrounding Iraq weapons of mass destruction or 9-11...
, the Deputy Director of Operations, who passed it to his chief of staff, who passed it to Richer. Richer said that the letter might or might not have come from the vice president's office, but he wasn't sure. The letter described what the White House wanted Habbush to say in a forged letter. Suskind published a partial transcript on his web site on August 8.
In a taped interview on the Fox News program Hannity & Colmes
Hannity & Colmes
Hannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
, which aired on August 15, 2008, Suskind said, "We are putting up all the transcripts. They're on my Web site, and I think they're all over the Internet at this point."
On August 5, 2008, the White House issued the statement on behalf of George Tenet, Robert Richer and John Maguire, addressing Suskind's allegation. Tenet said:
The CIA issued its own statement on August 22, 2008 saying that Suskind's allegations regarding Habbush "did not happen", and Tenet followed the same day with a second statement saying that Suskind's charges were "demonstrably false in every regard."
Suskind also contends that Habbush, who still carries a $1 million reward for his capture and appears as the Jack of Diamonds on the US military's deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
In the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition, the U.S. military developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of President Saddam Hussein's government, mostly high-ranking Baath Party members or members of the Revolutionary Command Council...
, was secretly resettled in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
by the CIA with $5 million in US taxpayers money.
Philip Giraldi allegation
Former CIA officer Philip GiraldiPhilip Giraldi
Philip Giraldi is a former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and a columnist and television commentator who is the Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a group that advocates for more even handed...
, writing in The American Conservative
The American Conservative
The American Conservative is a monthly U.S. opinion magazine published by Ron Unz. Its first editor was Scott McConnell, his successors being Kara Hopkins and the present incumbent, Daniel McCarthy....
, has claimed to have a reliable source who tells him that Suskind's basic story about the White House ordering the forgery is correct, but some of the detail is wrong. His source claims that Dick Cheney ordered the forgery, but not from the CIA, instead using the Office of Special Plans
Office of Special Plans
The Office of Special Plans , which existed from September 2002 to June 2003, was a Pentagon unit created by Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, and headed by Feith, as charged by then-United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to supply senior George W. Bush administration officials with...
, an office created by Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
and run by Douglas Feith
Douglas Feith
Douglas J. Feith served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy for United States President George W. Bush from July 2001 until August 2005. His official responsibilities included the formulation of defense planning guidance and forces policy, United States Department of Defense relations...
.
Giraldi writes that "Tenet is for once telling the truth when he states that he would not have undermined himself by preparing such a document while at the same time insisting publicly that there was no connection between Saddam and al-Qaeda."
Subsequent reactions
Professor Juan ColeJuan Cole
John Ricardo I. "Juan" Cole is an American scholar, public intellectual, and historian of the modern Middle East and South Asia. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on...
posits that Habbush crafted the letter himself, and that the CIA "authenticated" it in bad faith
Bad faith
Bad faith is double mindedness or double heartedness in duplicity, fraud, or deception. It may involve intentional deceit of others, or self deception....
through onetime asset Ayad Allawi — whom journalist Con Coughlin
Con Coughlin
Con Coughlin is a British journalist and author, currently an editor for the Daily Telegraph.-Early years:He was born in London, England, the son of the Daily Telegraph crime correspondent C.A. Coughlin. The eldest of four children he grew up in Upminster, Essex...
contacted to vouchsafe the document's authenticity after it was leaked to him.
Author Joe Conason
Joe Conason
Joe Conason is an American journalist, author and political commentator. He writes a column for the weekly New York Observer newspaper, for Salon.com and has written a number of books, including Big Lies , which addresses what he says are myths spread about liberals by conservatives.-Life and...
noted that Ayad Allawi had visited CIA headquarters in Langley just days before speaking with Con Coughlin of the Telegraph.
Con Coughlin, in a blog post highly critical of Suskind, confirmed that he had indeed received the letter from Ayad Allawi. He also calls the letter a 'leak' and says he got it in November 2003, in Baghdad.
Congressional investigation
The House Judiciary Committee is now investigating the allegations. Chairman John ConyersJohn Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
stated, "I am particularly troubled that the decision to disseminate this fabricated intelligence is alleged to have come from the highest reaches of the administration. The administration’s attempt to challenge Mr. Suskind’s reporting appears to have been effectively dismissed by the publication of the author’s interview recordings and transcripts. I have instructed my staff to conduct a careful review of Mr. Suskind’s allegations and the role played by senior administration officials in this matter.”
Quotes
Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
(UK) said:
New York Times (US) said:
See also
- Mohamed Atta's alleged Prague connection
- Niger uranium forgeries
- Iraq War misappropriationsIraq War misappropriationsIraq War misappropriations refers to allegations that billions of dollars have not been properly accounted for or misappropriated during the Iraq War from funds released by the United States Congress for programmes, including the re-construction and re-building of Iraq, after the war...
- Iraq War
External links
- Whispers of a Watergate for Bush
- Dan Froomkin - A White House Forgery Scandal? - washingtonpost.com
- What the Iraq Forgery Says About 9/11
- Spy chiefs warned Blair and Bush Saddam had no WMDs, Pulitzer prize winner claims in explosive new book
- Author stands by his claim of White House forgery - MSNBC
- The White House's Weak Denials - Washington Post
- Live Discussion with Ron Suskind
- Democracy Now Interview with Ron Suskind by Amy Goodman
- Democracy Now Interview with Ron Suskind by Amy Goodman Part II
- Ron Suskind Website for His Book The Way of the World