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Banned
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tully Mars
Yes, back to the topic at hand.
Almost seems the more we use the military the more we need to use the military.
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Why would "the topic at hand", not include who and why we have US troops fighting in Afghanistan? Didn't we attack after the government of Afghanistan, who the Bush admin had recognized and paid millions to.....
....asked for evidence to justify caprturing bin Laden and turning him over to the US, and after the US seemed to agree to provide evidence, then reversed, and then attacked without providing the requested justification?
Quote:
A NATION CHALLENGED: THE PROOF; U.S. to Publish Terror Evidence On bin Laden - New York Times
A NATION CHALLENGED: THE PROOF; U.S. to Publish Terror Evidence On bin Laden
By JANE PERLEZ AND TIM WEINER
Published: September 24, 2001
The Bush administration plans to make public evidence linking Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda network to the terror attacks on the United States in an effort to persuade the world, and particularly Muslim nations, that a military response is justified.
The evidence will embrace new information gathered by law enforcement and intelligence agents on the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as material used in indictments against Mr. bin Laden in the bombing of American Embassies in East Africa in 1998, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said today.
It may also cite leads developed in the investigation of the bombing of the destroyer Cole in Yemen last October.
The administration sees the evidence as crucial to the support of friendly Muslim countries -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan -- whose governments fear that punishing military action by the United States against the terrorists will spur widespread popular unrest.
In the Saudi port city of Jidda, the foreign ministers of six Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, pledged ''total support and co-operation for international efforts to find the authors of the terrorist acts and bring them to justice.'' But the statement offered no specific military or other assistance. [Page B2.]
King Abdullah of Jordan -- which failed to side with the United States in the gulf war -- sounded less equivocal in his support of whatever Washington might do.
''We realize that the start is always going to be difficult, the first step is always going to be a burden,'' the king said on ABC's ''This Week.'' ''But I believe that the steps undertaken by the American armed forces will have the full support of the international community.''
Two reports are expected within days, officials said: a public one from the State Department, and a secret one prepared by United States intelligence agencies and including details from trusted foreign sources. Officials say they are still arguing over how much information to release -- and to which countries.
The list of nations trusted with all the secret information would be short, and some countries might receive fewer details than others, they said.
The evident intention is to produce evidence before any American military strike. ''If you release it after the action, you're lost,'' one official said, since Muslim governments would have no chance to make the case for the American acts.
The evidence, American officials say, reaches from the southern tip of Manhattan to the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. It traces a group that started out running material aid to the rebels fighting the Soviet invaders of Afghanistan in the 1980's and wound up declaring war on the United States.
The strongest is Mr. bin Laden's declaration of war on Feb. 23, 1998. He proclaimed from his Afghan redoubt: ''To kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able.''
The national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said today that the government had ''very good evidence of links'' between bin Laden operatives ''and what happened on Sept. 11.'' She added: ''We are drawing in investigative services, law enforcement, intelligence from a lot of countries. And so we need to be careful with how we use this information.''
The public report will omit intercepts by the National Security Agency, including conversations among people on the fringes of Mr. bin Laden's network right after the attacks, officials said.
The secret report will include that type of intelligence information, which will be shared only with some trusted governments....
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 24, 2001
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
.....Q Ari, yesterday Secretary Powell was very precise that he was going to put out a report on what we had on bin Laden that could be reported, and not classified. Today, the President shot him down -- and he's been shot down many, many times by the administration -- you seem to be operating -- he also retreated a question of putting out a report. No, I'm wrong?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I think that there was just a misinterpretation of the exact words the Secretary used on the Sunday shows. And the Secretary talked about that in a period of time -- I think his word was "soon" -- there would be some type of document that could be made available. As you heard the Secretary say today, he said "as we are able," as it unclassifies.
Q -- much more emphatic yesterday, I thought.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think he said the word "soon," as I was reminded today by a very knowledgeable official at the State Department, that's called "State Department soon." And so it's fully consistent with what the President has been saying and the Secretary said. You know, I mean, look, it shouldn't surprise anybody. As soon as --
Q The American people thought "soon" meant "soon." (Laughter.)
Q Is this a sign, Ari, that --
MR. FLEISCHER: Kelly, let me -- I was getting there, I was answering Helen. Helen, what I was saying is, it shouldn't surprise anybody that as soon as the attack on our country took place, the immediate reaction is the investigations begin. They begin with the intelligence agencies, they begin with domestic agencies, they begin with a regular law enforcement authorities. And they start to collect a whole series of information.
Some of that information is going to end up in the form of grand jury information, which of course is subject to secrecy laws. Others coming from intelligence services is by definition going to be classified, and will be treated as such.
Over the course of time, will there be changes to that, that can lead to some type of declassified document over whatever period of time? That has historically been the pattern, and I think that's what the Secretary was referring to.
Q That's 50 years from now, if you're talking about a State Department white paper.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, I'm not aware of anybody who said, white paper, and the Secretary didn't say anything about a white paper yesterday.
Q Is this a sign, though, that allies, particularly Arab and Muslim allies, really want to see the evidence because they're concerned about any potential action in Afghanistan could lead to instability in the region, so they want to be certain that you have the evidence?.....
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They never publicly provided the evidence....so why isn't the justification to maintain such a large force in Afghanistan, and why the US invaded in the first place, a reasonable part of the discussion, here? |