Conyers conducting examination into intelligence fixing and forgery

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Friday, August 15, 2008

As part of a major examination into the evidence that the Bush administration forged intelligence documents to justify the invasion of Iraq, the House Judiciary Committee will also look into various considerations, plots and attempts to provoke war, including the idea of goading Saddam Hussein to shoot down a mock UN plane.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has announced that he and his staff will investigate the evidence most recently collated and presented by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind in his book “The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism“.

According to a press release earlier this week, Conyers’ office will examine:

“Reported examples of the Bush Administration considering other deceptive schemes to justify or provoke war with Iraq, such as the reported consideration of painting a U.S. aircraft with UN colors in order to provoke Iraq into military confrontation.”

The revelation first appeared in February 2006 when minutes of George Bush and Tony Blair’s pre-war January 2003 meeting surfaced. Amongst the clear evidence that the two were planning to begin military action on March 10th 2003, irrespective of whether the United Nations had passed a new resolution authorizing the use of force or not, came the provocation idea.

President Bush said: “The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colors. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach.”

He went on: “It was also possible that a defector could be brought out who would give a public presentation about Saddam’s WMD, and there was also a small possibility that Saddam would be assassinated.”

The investigation will primarily focus on the evidence that the White House ordered the CIA to forge a handwritten letter from the head of Iraq’s intelligence service to Saddam Hussein that purported to link the Iraqi dictator to the ringleader of the hijackers Mohammed Atta, as outlined by Suskind in his book.

It will also review the evidence that the Bush Administration deliberately ignored information from Iraq’s chief intelligence officer that Saddam Hussein possessed no WMDs and instead forged intelligence to suggest he had an active weapons program.

In an interview with Democracy Now! John Conyers called the investigation “the most critical investigation of the entire Bush administration”.

Watch Ron Suskind’s appearance along with John Conyers on Democracy now:

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Andrew Grice
London Independent
Saturday October 20, 2007

Tony Blair has emerged as a possible candidate for “President of Europe”, a new post created by the treaty approved by EU leaders at their Lisbon summit.

The former prime minister’s name was put in the frame yesterday by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, who described Mr Blair as “a very remarkable man – the most European of all Britons.” He added: “To think of him would be a good idea.”

The treaty scraps the current system under which one country holds the EU’s rotating presidency for six months. It will be replaced by the appointment of a President, who will chair EU meetings, drive through its agenda and serve for two-and-a-half years.

Gordon Brown said: “Tony Blair would be a great candidate for any significant international job.” He added: “As you know the work that he is doing in the Middle East is something that is of huge international importance.”

But he said it was premature to speculate on who might fill the post because the appointment would not be made until the treaty had been ratified by member states next year.

There remain considerable obstacles to Mr Blair securing the post. Although he is regarded as a heavyweight in EU capitals, he is also remembered as the man who divided Europe by giving George Bush such strong backing for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some EU diplomats predicted that he would not secure enough support from member states.

Friends doubt that Mr Blair would want the job. The new President would not be as powerful as the title or £200,000-a-year package suggests. He or she would help to shape the EU’s agenda and be seen as the EU’s representative on the world stage. But the key decisions would still be taken by national leaders from member states.

After standing down as Prime Minister in June, Mr Blair became the Middle East peace envoy for the Quartet – the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the EU. Yesterday his spokesman did not rule out him taking up the new EU post but said: “He is focusing on his current role in the Middle East.”

Other potential candidates for the post include Aleksander Kwasniewski, the former Polish president, and Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister.