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   From: oO@oO.com   
      
   The Lies of Colin Powell   
   A Tale of Two Generals   
   By ELI STEPHENS   
      
   There are still a remarkable number of people who maintain illusions in Gen.   
   Colin Powell, and believe he was really a "good guy" who tried his best to   
   moderate the evil nature of the Bush administration but failed. As part of   
   that, they actually give credence to Powell's recent "mea a little bit   
   culpa" speech in which Powell asserted that his February, 2003 speech to the   
   U.N. was now "painful" for him and a permanent "blot" on his record. Of   
   course he hid behind the claim of having "been misled about the accuracy of   
   the intelligence on which he relied" and didn't take any actual   
   responsibility for what he said. This despite the fact that reports at the   
   time (June, 2003) had Powell saying "I'm not reading this. This is   
   bullshit," and removing "dozens of pages" of alleged evidence.   
      
   Supporters of Powell like to claim that Powell was just being a "good   
   soldier," but, with apologies to German readers, the proper colloquial term   
   for Powell's behavior is that of a "good German." A "good soldier" not only   
   doesn't have to obey illegal orders, it is is obligation to disobey them.   
   From Powell's role in covering up the My Lai massacre, to his speech at the   
   U.N. which even he recognized was filled with "bullshit," Powell has acted   
   to promote illegal actions; in the latter case, he played a key role in   
   moving American "establishment" opinion to support the illegal invasion of   
   Iraq, and the subsequent deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis and   
   Americans. Of particular interest are statements like these which Powell   
   made in his U.N. presentation:   
      
     "My colleagues, 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."   
      
   Such a statement takes on even more significance given today's revelation   
   that reports as early as February, 2002 had indicated that key portions of   
   the "intelligence" presented by Powell were sourced to a "likely   
   fabricator."   
      
   Colin Powell is a free man and not only welcomed, but honored by "polite   
   society." A war crimes trial for his role in selling an illegal war doesn't   
   seem to be on the horizon. Meanwhile, another General, Iraqi Gen. Amer   
   al-Saadi, sits in solitary confinement in a prison in Iraq, where he has   
   been for the last 2 1/2 years. As with most prisoners held by the Americans,   
   he has neither been convicted, tried, or even charged with any crime. Gen.   
   al-Saadi, you'll remember, was the Iraqi liason to the weapons inspectors,   
   the voice of Iraq when Iraq denied having any weapons of mass destruction or   
   WMD programs. And just what was Gen. al-Saadi's crime? For all intents and   
   purposes, it was speaking the truth to Powell's lies:   
      
     "'I have always told the truth about these old programs,' Saddam Hussein's   
   top scientific adviser said in an interview with German TV last April   
   [2003]. 'The future will show it.' After surrendering to U.S. forces on   
   April 12 [2003], al-Saadi was jailed, interrogated by the CIA and declared a   
   prisoner of war. But his line on WMD never changed, and now -" following   
   declarations by former weapons inspector David Kay "- it seems that al-Saadi   
   was indeed telling the truth. 'I'm still vegetating in solitude,' [i.e.,   
   solitary confinement] al-Saadi wrote to his wife last month [January, 2004].   
   '[I feel] degraded.'   
      
   And although there was talk this June about the possibility of freeing   
   al-Saadi (and other Iraqi scientists), it appears it was just talk. Although   
   the 2004 election has come and gone, and the Duelfer report has long since   
   proven that al-Saadi was telling the truth to the world, his freedom, and   
   ability to speak would still be an embarassment to the U.S., and that   
   outweighs a man's right to freedom in this "might makes right" world.   
   The intimate connection between Powell and al-Saadi is part of why al-Saadi   
   is still being imprisoned and silenced. In his U.N. speech, Powell said:   
      
     "It was Gen. Saadi who last fall publicly pledged that Iraq was prepared   
   to cooperate unconditionally with inspectors. Quite the contrary, Saadi's   
   job is not to cooperate, it is to deceive; not to disarm, but to undermine   
   the inspectors; not to support them, but to frustrate them and to make sure   
   they learn nothing."   
      
   Al-Saadi shot back at Powell's slander:   
      
     "Al-Saadi described the report as 'unworthy of a superpower,' and singled   
   out Powell's charges point by point as being fabrications.   
      
     "In particular, he derided Powell's assertions that Iraq attempts to hide   
   secret information by keeping it moving in vehicles driven around the   
   country.   
      
     "'All of that is fiction,' he said. 'It is simply not true.'   
      
     "Saadi described Powell's approach as a 'a deliberate attempt to undermine   
   the credibility and professionalism of the inspection bodies by making   
   allegations which directly contradict their assessments or cast doubt on   
   their credibility.'"   
      
   History has proven that every word al-Saadi spoke was true, and every   
   accusation made by Colin Powell ("We know that Iraq has at least seven of   
   these mobile biological agent factories...There can be no doubt that Saddam   
   Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more,   
   many more...Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons.") was false. And still   
   Al-Saadi rots in prison. At least we think so. As a reflection of both the   
   way the U.S. government conceals information about the people it is holding,   
   and the lack of curiousity on the part of the media, it's interesting to   
   consider what we know about the status of al-Saadi's imprisonment. Newsweek   
   actually ran a story in June with a picture captioned "Was el-Saadi [sic]   
   released?", and reported that "Former U.N. inspector David Albright said   
   he'd recently heard credible reports that al-Saadi...might have been freed   
   from custody," while in this exchange which took place in the British House   
   of Parliament in February, it is asserted rather specifically that Dr.   
   Al-Saadi "was released by the US on 18 January 2005." Yet the Newsweek   
   article also reports that a "State Department official...denied al-Saadi had   
   been freed from custody," while in July, 2005 (i.e., well after January),   
   Dr. Rod Barton, an Australian scientist who was a key deputy to Dr. Charles   
   Duelfer, made a strong plea for the release of Dr. al-Saadi, which would   
   certainly indicate that someone in a position to know still believed him to   
   be held. Given all this, and the fact that if Gen. al-Saadi had been   
   released, chances are we would have heard about it (and heard from him),   
   Left I on the News considers it virutally certain that Dr. Amer al-Saadi is   
   still being held prisoner by the Americans.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)