Why did the Bush Administration drag its heels for nearly 3 years in releasing the millions of document that fell into its hands after the fall of Saddam?
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Russian government had sources inside the American military command as the U.S. mounted the invasion of Iraq, and the Russians passed information to Saddam Hussein on troop movements and plans, according to Iraqi documents released as part of a Pentagon report.The Russians relayed information to Saddam during the opening days of the 2003 war, including a crucial moment before the assault on Baghdad, according to the documents in the report Friday.
The unclassified report does not assess the value of the information or provide details beyond citing two captured Iraqi documents that say the Russians collected information from sources “inside the American Central Command” and that battlefield intelligence was provided to Saddam through the Russian ambassador in Baghdad
There are two broad hints that answer the question above. One, the investigation (and perhaps similar investigations like it) into possible espionage activity by individuals in the US military and intelligence community has now been compromised. In such investigations, it is always best that the targets don’t know they are under investigation lest they become more cautious and fail to reveal contacts and other members of their network.
The second hint is the great big headache the release of these documents has now given everyone in the national security and foreign policy establishment in the Bush Administration. Something has got to be done about Russia and this betrayal by an ally.
As long as the information was secret, the State Department could pretend that it didn’t exist (even though we can be almost certain they were aware of it) thus allowing us to work with President Putin on a variety of other issues unrelated to Russian perfidy in the lead up to the Iraq War. But Ed Morrissey is right when he writes of the consequences the release of the documents have for our diplomatic offensive against Iran:
After finding out that Putin has a habit of supplying tyrannical enemies of the Western nations with military intelligence to use against us, the last country we should trust with Iran’s nuclear program is Russia. We can also kiss off the UN; as long as Russia has its veto, that route will lead nowhere. Russia has revealed itself to be a major part of the problem in the Middle East, and we should stop pretending that they are part of the solution.At least now we know why the CIA and John Negroponte wanted these documents to remain sealed.
In fact, these revelations have probably thrown a monkey wrench into our overall policy to contain Iranian nuclear ambitions. Any deal on sanctions with Russia that would have been in the works is now out the window which means the UN route – problematic at best with both China and Russia opposed to our sanctions policy – has been blocked. And with our “allies” in Europe kibitzing on the sidelines and waffling back and forth between talking tough and mouthing platitudes about a peaceful resolution, it appears that once again, the US will have to act unilaterally in order to safeguard the security interests of all concerned.
It is a very nice luxury that the Germans, French and other EU members have that they can benefit from American military actions while playing the anti-American card at home by denouncing US “imperialism” in order to cater to their pacifist and clueless populations.
Expect more revelations of this type, especially regarding the French who sold weapons to Saddam even while American tanks were rolling toward Baghdad.
8:50 am
It’s to the side(ish)—but Expose the Left (guest blogging RightWinged’s Randy) is geekin out over the Russia-Saddam connection in a major way.
http://www.exposetheleft.com/
9:00 am
Sorry—looks a bit like spam up there; that wasn’t my intention. The post is still up top, but I should have used the specific url if i’z gonna mention it:
http://www.exposetheleft.com/2006/03/25/the-case-for-iraqs-wmds-al-qaeda-connections-and-russian-involvement/
Nah. That’s better. Sorry
9:06 am
[...] Right Wing Nut House discovers why Saddam documents the U.S. had have stayed secret for so long [...]
10:24 am
[...] Right Wing Nut House discovers why Saddam documents the U.S. had have stayed secret for so long [...]
1:34 pm
[...] Rick Moran answers “the $64,000 question” at Rightwing Nuthouse and his argument has legs. Putin needs to be put on notice for “Russian perfidy.” And he’s also on the money in saying that the U.S. will have to go it alone, in the final analysis, in dealing with the nuclear threat from Iran. Isn’t it wonderful to have NATO allies? [...]
5:33 pm
I have long said Russia is America’s greatest enemy. As I have said this, I have been laughed at repeatedly by many people. Russia was the biggest supporter of the Saddam regime, is the biggest supporter of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, China, and the Palestinian Authority. None of these countries would be any thing close to what they are today without Russia’s support. In other words, Russia is the enemy behind every important enemy of the US. Not only has Russia done all of this, they also have largest nuclear arsenal in the world, along with a large number of ICBMs. While all of this has been going on, most Americans have thought of Russia as our friend or neutral. You are correct to point out the diplomatic problems this revelation produces and there is the huge problem of spies that we don’t know who they are. These are huge issues indeed, however, I think it is better that this come out, so hopefully the American people will finally realize what is going on here. Unfortunately the MSM will probably try sweep this one under the rug. Russia and their terrorist allies could not get more favorable coverage from the American MSM and the world press if they paid them. It will be up to the blogosphere to shine a spotlight on the double dealings of the Russians.
Btw, Bush once said he looked deep into Putin’s soul and decided he was a man he could trust. At the time Bush made this statement, I thought it was an asinine and stupid comment to make. I hope and pray Bush a.)knew better when he made this statement and was engaging in diplomatic niceities. Perhaps he did not want to reveal to Putin that we are on to him or b.)He meant what he said and has since learned from his mistake and will not repeat it. If Bush still thinks Putin is a man he can trust, there is not much hope for this country or the free world.
Perhaps there is hope. I wanted these documents released all along because I knew they would probably vindicate Bush. What has been released has largely vindicated the president of the charge that he “lied.” For the Democrats to be in any way viable as a political party, they will need to abandon the “Bush lied” diatribes and begin to work with the Republicans on finding ways for us to win in Iraq and elsewhere. He and his administration had to be aware they were being viciously attacked by the media. They had to have known these documents would vindicate them. Yet they didn’t want them released. Perhaps someone was more concerned about completing an investigation into espionage than they were with vindicating themselves in the media. Hopefully this means someone still places national security over partisian politics.
6:44 pm
[...] I admit it. I am duly and truly embarrassed that I missed this angle to this story of Russian spies selling us down the river. Right Wing nut house is surely right that “the Russian deal” is a dead end, not that I had much hope for it anyway. Diplomatic complications from revealing Saddaam’s documents sort of occurred to me, but I did not play out the implications vis-a-vis the mullahs in Tehran and Qom. Of course, “our friends the Russians” (sorry Tom Clancy – it seems totalitarianism warps the soul too deeply to be shrugged off within a generation) had deep-sixed any progress we might make anyhow in recent weeks, so maybe this is not as big a deal as we thought. But still, I missed it. [...]
7:08 pm
[...] Read more about it here, here, here, here, and here. [...]
7:13 pm
Do the idiots on the left still believe we can go to the joke called the U.N. and get any help in anything. Only if we want to participate in the rape of children around the world. With France, Germany, China and Russia on the payroll of a terrorists and mass murderer, and now we know that Russia was actively working to get more American soldiers killed. I believe that the remaining three traitor nations will also be found to have illegally helped Saddam in many ways, including selling and delivering banned weapons. I’ve said since day one that the WMD disappeared not to cover Saddam but to cover the countries (dirty three) which sold and delivered the WMD to Saddam. Why the president doesn’t want it to come out is beyond me, I guess he really is too much of a gentleman to be president. Right now I think he is mad enough at the stupidity of the left wing terrorists supporters (aka dim-wits) to finally get down in the muck and kick some A**. Unmuzzle Chaney and Rummie, they’ll kick a** and take names and not be too polite while doing it.
7:29 pm
Dangerous Liaisons
I remember so vividly the many reports surfacing shortly after 911, citing how Russian President Putin and others had warned the CIA and US officials of imminent terrorist attacks against key targets on American soil.
8:00 pm
IRAQ - God Lied, People Died?
There is an excellent discussion underway at Winds of Change in a thread by Armed Liberal:
In essence do we retreat and continue to appease a growing evil in t…
10:42 pm
"Saddam, Al Qaeda Did Collaborate, Documents Show" (UPDATED)
Okay, settle down. It's from the New York Sun. And while these folks aren't Moonies, I'm not sure as an organization they have the right "diversity" to be taken seriously as a news outlet. But what the hell. Let's take a l…
12:02 am
I’ve suspected the entire time that a desire not to complicate our relations with our perfidious “partners” was a significant for our lack of effort towards propagating what we’ve found in Hussein’s vault.
However, it is time that the American people knew the score. We can’t run our foreign policy by stealth forever. The American people have been left in the dark for too long regarding our fair-weather friends in Europe, regimes such as the Saudis, and Russia’s little groupies throughout the region. I am not a fan of democracy, as opposed to representative government, but our system demands a certain amount of sunlight.
The problems facing us are not going to be solved by a small back room committee whispering “trust us” to the American people.
12:51 am
I’ve spent the weekend wondering why the lake in front of my house had a sudden rise of 3-4 feet. I called TVA for answers and they were on the ball. Seems the entire country flushed three years of dim-wit whine immediately on the news of the translation of Saddam’s papers. Had me scared for a while, thought the big flood was on the way. Turned out to be just another large load of dim-wit ????.
1:55 am
Now we have the idiot Feingold joining Dimmy Carter in getting more of our troops killed. He goes to Iraq and gets on his soapbox and spews his support for the terrorists. You can bet the two Senators from Va. and the President of the senate will have Emails and phone calls from me before 12 noon on Monday. They should kick Feingold out of the Senate and ship him back to the ignorant people (sic) that put him there. Another idiot from NM joined him in part of his defeat and retreat rants. Makes me ashamed to be an American Veteran. I’d hate to lose the crew but I hope their friends the terrorists shoot the plane down on takeoff. I would think that with the thousands killed in Iraq and the millions killed in Southeast Asia directly due to their support of the enemy that the democrats would have enough blood on their hands. Guess once you get that much blood of your countrymen on your hands it no longer matters how much more you get. I’m mad enough for a blood letting war on Washington. Damn why didn’t the terrorists hit the congress and do us a big favor?
3:58 am
Yes, I do still think that Russia is an enemy…but I think that there is even more to the reluctance to release these documents than that. I guess we will have to wait and see what turns up! I believe that other supposed allies will prove less than pretended (and worth more protection).
4:16 am
Not sure I am in lock-step with you Cutler, across the board, but truer words n’er spoken:
“We can’t run our foreign policy by stealth forever.”
Amen.
4:19 am
Although … in a thousand years or so, someone might still be lodging the same complaint.
5:17 am
It was the dishonesty within his initial reply to the charges that really bothered me. Not that I would not forgive him under the circumstances, but the trust is gone.
5:55 am
Whoops…that last comment was meant for your other (following blog) sorry.. too many martini’s…
7:43 am
There’s nothing to discuss. The Russians are not only not allies, but we can PLAN SECURELY around the fact that they oppose those actions which will increase the safety of the american people.
We know what they are going to do.
The Russians have decided that such actions will not be in their interests as matter of course.
OK fine.
So why has our ambassador not been recalled? That’s minimal.
5:29 pm
We had foreign military at the command center so I’m not certain their was a “mole” in our own forces and I’m not certain we weren’t deliberately feeding misinformation to the Russians. Who knows?
I think it is fine and good that the French and German perfidy is exposed for all those “international test” fans still out there.
I think , in sum, there is more to be gained than to be lost by the release of these documents..
7:57 am
[...] Right Wing Nut House discovers why Saddam documents the U.S. had have stayed secret for so long [...]