First democratic transition of power that in seventy three years former footballer george ware is taking on the current Vice President joseph. Unemployment corruption of been the big Campaign Issues serious mohamad reports from monrovia. Hours of the polling stations open people are still lining up waiting to cross their t. s momentum around the Runoff Election libyan state this is an election that is crucial to their countrys future and the eager to vote but not in as big numbers as they did in october during the first round then there were twenty candidates in the contest now only two and their running mates sole the only one full of blocks where voters are putting their cost holds of course the issue of. Peace is high on the minds of liberians them enjoyed between twelve and fifteen years of uninterrupted peace the longest in a moment time and they say they want who ever takes over from president Ellen Johnson sirleaf to be able to manage that piece properly they also want the economy which has also suffered greatly due to the uncertainties surrounding the Runoff Election and the entire political process to be improved they also want to corruption big issues within the government of a little sleeve dealt with president Ellen Johnson sirleaf ourself house can first start it is corruption and the issue of the confining the people of liberia that has been the greatest failures in peru thousands of people have demonstrated up to former president are better for the body was party. Because of poor health hed served around half of his twenty five year sentence for human rights abuses and corruption proves current president had republicans in ski so pardoning fujimori was the most difficult decision of his life both most acb then its obvious to all of us that the government he inherited at the beginning of the ninetys the country was in a chaotic and violent crisis incurred significant transgressions of the war as far as democracy and human rights are concerned but i also believe his government contributed to National Progress im convinced that those of us who believe in democracy cannot allow Alberto Fujimori to die in prison a powerful storm that left a trail of death and destruction in the philippines has been downgraded to Tropical Storm tembin also failed to make landfall in vietnam but experts say that heavy rain and strong winds from the weather system could still cause damage in the mekong delta region the kremlin says that it will study whether an opposition leaders called to boycott the president ial election in march is legal alexina valmy urged his supporters to stop the vote after he was banned because of a criminal conviction which he says was politically motivated polls show president Vladimir Putin on course to be reelected comfortably which would keep him in the office until twenty twenty four by jarius military has stopped an attack by suspected boko haram fighters on the outskirts of the northeastern city of my degree heavy gunfire was reported in the more lie area as the army forced off the attackers the number of casualties remains on the. Turn is he is demanding an apology from the United Arab Emirates after the country banned female too busy and citizens from landing in the gulf states Emirates Airlines flights were barred from tunisia in response. They leave you going to the mission and we are not part of emirates we have a sovereign country and they should deal with us according to what normally happens in relations between two countries up to the continuous calls with the emmy righties through our ambassador in abu dhabi it appears they have lifted the ban but they did not give us details on how the ban was lifted canada has announced that it will expel the venezuelan diplomat two days after caracas throughout kind of the Us Ambassador for criticizing its human rights record that is where the Us Ambassador whod already been pulled out of canada has been barred from returning. And those are the headlines the news continues here on aljazeera after iraq a deadly deception next. September eleventh. In the ruins of new york America Votes to defeat terrorism but this promise is quickly betrayed george bush changes enemies asama bin laden is replaced by Saddam Hussein. See it as this sudden turn to love is the result of an extraordinary deception with devastating consequences for the world. Everything begins less than six hours after the attack at the pentagon which was also strong secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld scans the rubble and he issues his instructions Stephen Campbell and one of his advisors takes notes rumsfelds intentions are unequivocal. The evening of that tragedy president bush addresses america and the world. Today our fellow citizens our way of life are very freedom came under attack. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. We will make no distinction this essential detail was inspired by a key figure in the pentagon Richard Powell. On the afternoon of nine eleven places a call to the president s speech writer. I was on the telephone with david frum and i said to david. On the afternoon of nine eleven whatever else the president says he should say that we will hold. Responsible the states that support terrorists safeguard it is a strategic break from the more modest policy so bush is pretty sessoms. I believe it represented a recognition. That we would never succeed against the terrorists if we went after them one at a time and as long as governments were facilitating the Organization Training equipping and financing of terrorist organizations we were never going to get it under control. And Ambitious Program for all out war a goal in line with neoconservative policy and thinking an approach supported by Richard Powell. Dick cheney Donald RumsfeldCondoleezza RicePaul WolfowitzDouglas Feith these are the advisors who have bushs either. Joe wilson a career diplomat witnessed the rice. They came into office with the Republican Party and particular with the staffing done by the Vice President in his office and the secretary of defense in his office. Referred to his neo conservatives they have ties to the world of oil to the Defense Industry they are strong proponents of American Global domination. Saddam hussein softened by years of sanctions is in. On the evening of nine eleven the president saying well maybe you know we will be going after iraq now and somebody said well. That would be a guess since International Law the president responded i dont care it was going to kick some two days after the world trade center. And the pentagon were attacked the president was at camp david with his senior officials and mr wolfowitz was telling the president. The iraq and Saddam Hussein is the real problem. New goals were different change the regime in baghdad to subjugate iraq a simpler objective. And that of destroying the elusive terrorist. September nineteenth those in support of eliminating Saddam Hussein meet at the ministry of defense the pentagon. They all began asking questions about how long can we continue this policy aimed at keeping saddam under control and that inclusion they came to was not much longer the day after the meeting at the pentagon president bush addresses congress. It is a historic moment the nation is united bush names the culprits Osama Bin Laden al qaida the taliban regime in afghanistan our enemies are radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them. No mention about iraq but he warns our war on terror. Begins with alqaeda. But it does not in there. Tony blair the british Prime Minister and guest of honor applause its symbolic of the unwavering alliance between washington and london. The taliban are quickly driven out of kabul and al qaeda is dispersed. Some of bin laden disappears. In washington bush appears eager to move on to another war i stand by those words afghanistan is still just a beginning if anybody harbors terrorists or terrorist if they funded terrorist or terrorist if they have terrorist or terrorist i mean i cant make it any more clearly to other nations around the world if they develop weapons of mass destruction that will be used to terrorize nations they will be held accountable. To the speech secretary of defense rumsfeld meets with general tommy franks at Central Command in tampa florida. Franks controls a massive area from africa to asia and leads the war in afghanistan but rumsfeld has Something Else in mind iraq. He orders general franks to prepare a plan of attack. Since his invasion of kuwait in the gulf war in one nine hundred ninety one large parts of iraq had been under an international no fly zone. Despite iraqs defeat and the terrible sanctions that were decimating his people saddam remained in power. In one thousand nine hundred ninety eight he drove u. N. Inspectors sent to disarm him saddam was a dangerous man dangerous first to his own citizens and dangerous to the rest of the world. Joe wilson knows iraq well in one thousand nine hundred ninety one in baghdad he was the last american diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein saddam was hemmed in he was not a threat he had been turned from a major Regional Power into a third rate dictator. Just over one hundred days after the attacks of nine eleven still fighting in afghanistan america looks for another war Richard Powell publishes what is essentially a declaration of war. The same day franks visits bush at his ranch in texas in front of journalists the two men speak of the successes against the taliban in afghanistan where taliban got the country secure the Country Stable we will destroy the Al Qaeda Terrorist Network inside afghanistan it will take as long as it takes thank you all. But in private bush confirms to franks the order to. To attack iraq. This change in priority worries the general who on february nineteenth two thousand and two confides in bob graham of florida senator and chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee. After a briefing which was quite upbeat with the progress that was being made the general asked me to meet privately in his office and the first thing he said was were no longer fighting a war in afghanistan i was stunned by that and i asked him what the mean and he said that some of the important personnel such is special operations units were being moved from afghanistan to get ready for a war in iraq. Bushs decision is fraught with consequences the fight against terrorism is put on the back burner in favor of a conventional war in the middle east not the most predictable region in the world. In early two thousand and two the military machine is set in motion all the trimmings is to convince the public of the need to go to war with a country that seems far removed from the tragedy that struck america. Under base of each former army colonel and professor of military history having made that decision to go toward the political necessity was to sell the war to the American People that they had prepared a significant profit ganda operation to sell the war at a time when the press was very receptive to whatever the administration might be saying in its efforts to defend the United States against yet another attack and weapons of mass destruction seemed to people on the inside to offer the best mechanism to complete the selling job. W m d s weapons of mass destruction Chemical Biological nuclear for months this deadly arsenal will be at the heart of the iraqi deception the stakes are high in a power struggle between the proponents of war and those who oppose it i was listening to briefings detailed top secret briefings from the cia the Defense Intelligence agency and other intelligence organizations and they all believed. Believed very strongly that saddam had multiple programs to develop weapons of mass destruction in reality there is no consensus on the existence of w n ds for years american intelligence has been monitoring iraq and has found nothing we spend billions literally billions of dollars a year with what we Call National technical means which everyone knows are satellites and they not only take images but they have all kinds of other sensor data on that thing ok and guess what. Not one w m ds site was found any rock since one thousand nine hundred ninety one the specialists of alex running espionage the n. S. A. The National Security agency cannot find anything. William binney former technical director of the n. S. A. Was among those scrutinizing iraq there was no information collected by n. S. A. That that indicated that he continued his weapons of mass Destruction Program or even that he had weapons of mass destruction. This was no surprise Saddam Husseins arsenal had been destroyed after the gulf war. Before nine eleven american senior officials had publicly stated otherwise is not about any significant capability would respect the weapons or abstraction is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors were. We are able to arm bomb him yet not one not. One Saddam Husseins fate is decided the official tone changes and washington portrays him as an immediate threat. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world. States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil and. No terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people in the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in iraq simply stated. There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. The existence of w m ds will have to be proven to help them the Bush Administration turns to im a child. In one thousand nine hundred ninety two together with other opponents of Saddam Hussein in exile he formed the i n c the Iraqi National congress. All of them had a common interest in being ex exiles in that they wanted to take over the government and understood that the way they were going to do that was by following a u. S. Army which was dispensing with the current government and with Saddam Hussein. Overlooked by bill clinton allied himself with the president s political opponents the i. O. C. Managed to develop a clear and significant strategic relations with people in among the neocons and in the Republican Party at large and it with some democrats also to get support for america to do something about saddam. In january two thousand and one approach unity presented itself for the iraqi exiles so when president bush gave the power. All those people who were advocating supporting us came to power with. After nine eleven the collusion between the iraqi exiles and the Bush Administration becomes cooperation. That american administration. So that specifically asked us to see if we can introduce them to people. Oh can provide information on w l ds. China be complies enthusiastically he introduces the americans to iraqi defectors endless sources of revelations about Saddam Husseins deadly arsenal. The people in child his group wanted to get rid of saddam that so they were looking and searching in trying to come up with things that would help justify to us what our people wanted to hear that is we wanted to hear something would be weapons of mass destruction so we could justify its going to war with them. A shrewd politician and strategist chalo be also introduces his defectors to the press and through their provocative headlines the journalists lend credibility to all the allegations against baghdad opinion in washington is divided and it was clear from the very beginning that major institutions in the United States such as the cia and a large part of the state department what opposed. To this they had no confidence in us they kept that criticizing us they kept calling us exaggerated liars despite everything the pentagon refuses to question the revelations made by the exiles the idea that chalo be had information that he knew to be false and he presented it knowing it to be false is as never been established in any of the inquiries and there been many official inquiries into the activities of the intelligence activities before the war. But the skeptics must be countered and to give credence to the iraqi exiles the hawks at the pentagon create our own service the office of special plans an initiative by Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith. The office of special plans this was quite a lot of us once tricity they were set up as an alternative cia. The cia gathers information from a multitude of sources in general its analysts check them before submitting their conclusions to the politicians but the office of special plans short circuits this process a first in the history of american intelligence in the end bush cheney and rumsfeld obtain the answers they need and. George tenet director of the cia grudgingly supports the information before congress. I have one of those hearings the director of the cia george tenet brought with him three white folders where materials about the some five hundred fifty sites in iraq where allegedly there were weapons of mass destruction i asked tenet where did we get all this information and the answer is we got it from. The exiles who did we the United States of america have on the ground to see if in fact what was said in these exile provided information packets was accurate and the answer was zero. The exiles and the pentagon collaborate and transforming mere allegations into official policy. The collective effort by all those groups involved became a fabrication that became the policy of the United States and it was used to justify a war. Further information is provided by friendly nations. In rome a dossier from the Italian Military secret service sees me arrives at the american embassy. It eludes to a secret sale of uranium to iraq by may share. The German Secret Service offers its support as well. Its provides the americans with revelations made by an iraqi defector code name curveball he claims baghdad is making biological weapons in its mobile aboard its risks. Ship date as. The war to liberate iraq went for bush a crucial barrier remains to be overcome before he can go to war congress the american president must ask congress for the green light before launching the country into a war. In august and september the drumbeats of war in iraq started get louder and louder and there were some indications that the president would soon be calling on congress for an authorization of war against iraq. A mere formality as bush holds the majority but bob graham will try to stall. This race too. And one of the questions was wed like to review the National Intelligence estimate on possible war with iraq and the answer was there isnt a National Intelligence estimate. What graham is asking for is a top secret document an estimate of what every Intelligence Agency knows about a particular threat. To be told that here we are about to go to war and no National Intelligence estimate has been done was astounding and we asked that it be done what happened was they kept their heads way down you know they didnt want to do an estimate on weapons of mass destruction in iraq because that honest the honest answer was there any. Good in london player comes to the aid of his friend bushs and publishes a dossier on the iraqi weapons. Intelligence picture they want to keep they can be deployed within forty five minutes and iraq is seeking uranium from africa to develop an atomic bomb but in Congress Graham is not convinced he presses on he wants proof the agency particularly the cia the central Intelligence Agency was very reluctant and said we dont have time to do this i said we dont have time to know everything we need to know before we commit u. S. Troops to combat tenet goes back to the white house and he says. It looks like the jig is up i will go have to do it estimate and the white house says ok mr tenet two things number one you have to do it in one and a half weeks usually an estimate takes three or four months and number two its got to come out exactly as Vice President dick cheney said it was. Tenet will once again view to the president s orders. Bob kerrey is a u. S. Senator and former navy seal. Well i think its a fair accusation to say that both president bush and Vice President cheney put pressure on the Intelligence Community to reach a conclusion that they had already reached Vice President cheney at one time went down and sat in cia did sat down at a in a chair next to the analysts looking at the data saying what do you have on weapons of mass destruction will any kind of puts the pressure on the intelligence agencies to come up with something. That. Will really be a road to get close to a dictator the war drums strucken on likely be. Solid for some competence means it was the weapon of choice stronger than bullets with this documentary but this time on al jazeera unbelievably it sounds like an agreement between a criminal busts just like trading in stolen goods that have been taken by the place if anyone ever comes to ask the question is for throw their hands up in the air and say i dont know i was just nominee director were doing an investigation in syria. Ukraine could use a bribe so you can corrupt i would be corrupt i did just the presidency. Investigations the only god coming soon. And the ship where corruption is endemic now embroiled in a battle to hold the power. How is this radical transformation. I mean. I mean if you were shedding light on the romanians pressing for change and the unconventional methods to eliminate corruption remain people this time on aljazeera. Elegant adrian for good here in doha the top stories this hour on aljazeera voting is underway in liberias president ial runoff thats expected to produce the first democratic transition of power in seventy three years the countrys two point two million eligible voters have the choice between former footballer george were all the current Vice President joseph. Theyre competing to succeed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson sirleaf whos stepping down after twelve years in peru thousands of people have demonstrated after former president Alberto Fujimori was pardoned because of poor health hed served around hoff of the twenty five year sentence for human rights abuses and corruption perus current president petro pub locals in ski said the partner was the most difficult decision of his life. Oh most sincerely then its obvious to all of us that the government he inherited at the beginning of the ninetys the country was in a chaotic and violent crisis incurred significant transgressions of the law as far as democracy and human rights are concerned but i also believe his government contributed to National Progress im convinced that those of us who believe in democracy cannot allow Alberto Fujimori to die in prison a powerful storm that left a trail of death and destruction in the philippines has now been downgraded Tropical Storm tembin failed to make landfall in vietnam but experts say that heavy rain and strong winds from the weather system could still cause damage in the mekong delta region the kremlin says that it will study whether an opposition leaders called a boycott the president ial election in march is legal alexina valmy urged his supporters to snub the vote after he was banned because of a criminal conviction which he says was politically motivated polls show president Vladimir Putin on course to be reelected comfortably which would keep him in an office until twenty twenty four nigerias military has stopped some attack by suspected boko haram fighters on the outskirts of the northeastern city of my degree heavy gunfire was reported in the ally area as the army forced off the attackers the number of casualties though remains unknown to news he is demanding an apology from the United Arab Emirates after the country banned female too dizzy and citizens from landing in the gulf states and red cell lines flights were barred from tunisia in response ill be back with a news hour for you in a little over twenty five minutes here on aljazeera but lets get you back to iraq a deadly deception. In early october two thousand and two when the us congress a resolution authorizing the war was put to the vote the cia finally presents its estimate on iraq classified as top secret it is not until twenty fifteen that the estimate is made available to the public it is in a studio text ninety five pages long the dissect Saddam Husseins weapons of mass Destruction Program most notably however the estimate is exceedingly cautious citing doubts and conflicting opinions coming from the core of the Intelligence Community. To keep these drugs from being taken into account the white house symbol taney asli publishes a shortened version of the estimate on iraq twenty five pages embellished with color photographs and maps. They had a very clever sanitized version of the estimate which. If a sentence said we think it possible that Saddam Hussein had this then to take out the possible this version makes official the allegations that have been circulating for months baghdad has chemical and biological weapons as well as missiles saddam could get his hands on a Nuclear Weapon within a year the Sales Campaign that took place i would characterize it as aggressive deception theres no question that the headlines leave a different impression of whats in the document itself the october two thousand and two in i. E. Is not conclusive. It is the headlines that will sway congress bob graham knows this he votes against the resolution to go to war. By taking that action according to our own Intelligence Reports i will tell you friends and i would encourage you to read the classified Intelligence Reports which are much sharper than what is available in the classified form we are going to be increased the threat level against the people of the United States i found the document to be a very unpersuasive and it was a significant part of my ultimate decision to vote against the war in iraq. October tenth two thousand and two that. Congress approves the war right roll touring the course of history for read out objection. The deception is successful. American officials bear the responsibility of having allowed questionable evidence to dictate their decision and this for political gains this photo was going to be taken in october of two thousand and two just a month before the november election so there were a lot of people who felt that from a political standpoint. They didnt really want to know too much because they wanted to be able to tell their constituents this is what the president said was the right thing i accepted his judgment the vote by congress is a resulting victory for the Bush Administration. And the iraqi exiles and it leaves the antiwar proponents with a bitter taste of defeat. Really. With a vote of Congress Security it is no time to rally public support to do so they have a dossier on hand. Remember that dossier from rove the one that conveniently emerged from the archives from the Italian Military secret service sees me. And so bianco former minister of the interior has closely followed the extraordinary story of this dossier yet chad on document the wall up at the u. S. C. It calls on a limb introduced the police with money in it left brazen enough at that made it a key what they will to the sack. That food soldier is Rocco Martino a long time sees me agent informer to french british and American Secret Services he is the one who circulated the seemingly explosive dossier among his socalled clients. This is it it contains official looking documents that allude to a sale by nice to iraq of concentrated you rhenium or yellowcake. The yellowcake dosey he finally lands on the desk of Vice President cheney in february two thousand and two. When dick cheney saw this report from the Defense Intelligence agency about yellowcake iraqis seeking yellowcake in Darkest Africa and asia where. He asked the cia briefer or you think about this this year briefer said well ill check it out and to verify it the cia summons joe wilson on february the nineteenth two thousand and two wilson is familiar with the fourth largest uranium producer in the world he was posted there earlier in his career when i got there the first person i went to see was a u. S. Ambassador. And she said to me we have already looked at this. And we have determined that there is nothing there wilson returns to the United States and gives his report to the cia the amount of uranium that was being talked about represented about a twenty five percent increase in annual protection levels and any such increase would have had to been approved through the consortium that ran the mine you could not hide that. Wilsons conclusions are related to cheney who ignores the Vice President is sticking to his dossier from italy. And yet the italians gave the americans fair warning the documents in these. Herion yellowcake are false. Enzo b. Young co has been demanding a commission of inquiry for years. If i took it to seal it in opposed to d. N. A. That up but then ended the visit of e. C. Kists has come to the gentile it cases come down to. A question format so that no no no course oedipus say negative at. Event that you get the one the. Family the anything in it will davids out that the costs read it theyll be better at them in that file save for the maturity to not respond on an island that is the last. To be in that case ducts suspicions that the program or camp will ignore for them the yellowcake dossier is a godsend it fuels a fundamental fear that of a Nuclear Apocalypse the only weapon of mass destruction that truly. Is a weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear with chemical weapons and biological weapons are battlefield weapons but a Nuclear Weapon and as a society altering weapon. Fear of the iraqi people reaches its pinnacle in september two thousand and two the New York Times publishes a headline about the threat from baghdad it eludes to aluminum tube was seized by the americans that were to be used in the production of centrifuges to enrich uranium from africa and finally to make an atomic bomb it all adds up. At the end of two thousand and two the Media Campaign in the United States works like a charm according to the polls almost eighty percent of americans believe saddam has an atomic bomb or is close to having them in the end the yellowcake dossier will have a remarkable fate president bush himself will get behind it the British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from africa pronounced by the most powerful man in the world this little sentence is an unequivocal condemnation and yet bush had been warned when the president when the state of the Union Address was being fair the cia told the white house you cannot use this code. Laim that saddam attempted to purchase uranium from. There. To proceed to despite of the cias reluctance the white house attributes these revelations to the british who spoke of yellowcake in their september report. With respect to iraqs attempt to acquire Nuclear Material in the. The. The British Intelligence official the head of British Intelligence at the time to this day insists that that information was correct and no one can say with certainty that it isnt it isnt true in fact the british white paid for it was simply circular reporting it was our story that ended up in a british document it was the same story. The french government which essentially controls the exploitation of eurabia mines looked into the yellowcake affair and concluded it was fraudulent. Dilla subir was the diplomatic advisor to french president Jacques Chirac at the time and said i felt a little kid you wanted a cool over extra point. Six be alternately else you dont. Feel much oily you know that. I dont fully understand us you want us to this you each to pretty under to some about a commander extra. When early two thousand and three the American Government decides to present its case to world leaders. Colin powell stands before the u. N. To deliver a scathing indictment of Saddam Hussein he repeats the accusations already presented during debates before congress he stresses the existence of mobile laboratories for producing biological weapons these are the revelations made by curveball the iraqi defector who spoke to german intelligence. Finally he accuses saddam of wanting to get his hands on an atomic bomb and he speaks of the r. U. Minium tubes that for months have been presented as a refutable proof. We watched colin powell and we said whoa this is really theatrical well done and we gave him an a for presentation and a c. Minus for content which would. Be. It would. Be. Just an. Easy or more policeman the vile that. General powell put in nations with the head of the cia behind him was acquired from a man which the named curveball. Curveball whose real name was rough feed comment was a knobby would later admit that he made it all up so he could stay germany. Richard powell who had superficially defended the idea of going to war has no problem admitting that many of powers allegations were unfounded the mobile laboratories that were described in that Intelligence Report that turned out to be completely false there were no mobile laboratories the aluminum tubes which could have been part of centrifuges. Turned out to be aluminum tubes for launching small small rockets colin powell now is lying yes he did. Why he do it because the president told him as though it taking their case to the un the american seek to justify their actions in front of the International Community weapons inspectors return to iraq but have yet to find w m ds but washington applies an indisputable logic to Saddam Hussein in the case that he has weapons of mass destruction that he is violating United Nations resolutions then we will know that Saddam Hussein again deceive the world if he says he doesnt have any and i think that we will find out whether or not Saddam Hussein is saying some of the we believe will be verifiably false. Fronts wages one last diplomatic battle. On february the fourteenth at the u. N. Domenic to fill pan states the french position these are still a fox news. You know you dont its even a game and on march seventh director general of the International AtomicEnergy AgencyMohamed El Baradei denounces bushs claims about the yellowcake from africa bailed on analysis by you has concluded. With the concurrence of outside experts that means documents which form the basis for the reports of reason you dont need the iranian transaction between iraq and these areas are in fact not offensive. We have therefore conclude that the specific allegations are unfounded. Well we know its a forgery now and we know that our country suffered the indignity of the i e a director saying before the u. N. Security council it took us a day and a half our experts but we looked and internet and really looked elsewhere we hired experts and we found out that zs documents were not authentic. In paris. Announces that he will veto any resolution in favor of war. Related like it it was all appeal decision the americans will ignore the advice of shit like the conclusions of battle die and the opinion of the un. The night of march nineteenth the war begins three weeks later columns of american tanks roll into baghdad Saddam Hussein flees. From the outset of the operation in iraq american soldiers search for Saddam Husseins awesome they find nothing the politicians blame it on the Intelligence Community you know intelligence agencies frequently make mistakes intelligence organizations by their very nature are working with imperfect information with conflicting accounts with things that its impossible to to interpret with a high degree of certainty the cia which had been so suspicious of the collaboration between the exiles and the pentagon will be forced to take the blame notably for the most blatant lies that little sentence sixteen words in all spoken by bush about the african yellowcake and the documents that inspired it no one knew it at. Time in our thoughts maybe someone new down in the bow for the agency but no one in our circles knew that there were doubts and suspicions that this might be a forgery this insistence on defending the official lie finally gets the better of joe wilsons discretion. It was at that time that i fully understood that the government was not going to do it their it that it lied to the American People and therefore i had to write the story myself. In the New York Times he publishes the truth about his mission tunisia and the fact of the white house was well aware of his conclusions. Given the structure of the consortium that operated the mine it would be exceedingly difficult for niger to transfer uranium to iraq. The cia must once again shoulder responsibility and george tenet releases a statement. The sixteen words should have never been included in the text written for the president this was a mistake a small price to pay for a very lethal lie at the white house the issue becomes a subject of humor official inquiries will denounce the incompetence of the Intelligence Community for the erroneous information about Saddam Husseins weapons of mass destruction this was fraud and i cant say that often enough no mistake fraud. The man who was complicit in this deception refuses to be held soley responsible. The to believe that an exile organization with limited means can fool a major superpower the only superpower in the world of a time. With with bill tens of billions of dollars on sophisticated intelligence gathering into war against saddam. This is fiction. It will be three years before bush. Admits that saddam did not have w m ds. The main reason we went into iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction turns out he didnt but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass but also talked about the human suffering or at. Bush brushes aside the stated reason for a war that has destroyed an entire country. In iraq the invasion turns into a bloody occupation. The downward spiral. Started with the occupation the coalition specially the americans lost the moral high ground and they became the jailers of that if people the bedlam the chaos the violence in iraq now its a natural consequence of what bush and cheney did in invading iraq. Iraq is quickly torn to shreds ripped apart by religious and ethnic violence. I think the most convincing argument was that in order to enhance israels position in the middle east and its security the nation surrounding it that formed an anti israeli bloc had to be broken up into smaller confessional a homo genius nation states so in the case of iraq a kurdistan a shia sanin a sunni stan. This objective was openly declared as early as nine hundred ninety six in this document. Signed by Richard Perle and Douglas Feith a text that accuses iraq of posing a threat to israel. Today the chaos in iraq has spread into syria entire provinces are beyond the control of baghdad and damascus. And the west has a new enemy the Islamic State of iraq and the levant isis also known as dice the United States bears considerable responsibility for the fact that the Islamic State exists. But not because the United States intended to create the Islamic State rather that the Islamic State came into existence as an unintended consequence of this immensely foolish war the americans and the british had they not occupy the country have had they cut of corruption when it started we would not have that the violence has claimed hundreds of thousands of victims day to many and is up rooted million innocent iraqis in the seventys you have hundreds of thousands of refugees leaving the area and nobody asks nobody asked what caused this what caused this terrible human catastrophe it was an earthquake and was a typhoon it was an invasion of a country that was reasonably intact when we invaded. The iraqi deception has cost americans almost two trillion dollars according to some estimates. Much of this public money has been directed to the Defense Industry. He says bad for business war tension is always very good for business so money of course was a major factor so the United States finds itself today essentially engaged in permanent war. And its a permanent ward that that benefits some people there are some people and some entities that are making a lot of money. In from this endless war. Profits rarely mentioned relegated to silence as all the americans who have died in iraq like the son of andrew bass of which killed may thirteenth two thousand and seven i think one of the saddest aspects of our iraq war is how quickly americans have chosen to forget it. There seems to be an unwillingness on the part of the American People to acknowledge and to confront this enormous failure we aggressive deception is totally incompatible with the fundamental principle of democracy a failure the result of a manipulation that has shaken the confidence of americans in their own institutions. The man who wanted to see the end of Saddam Hussein did not want to see the end of iraq and he was sidelined an emissary of president bush told me if you oppose the policies of president bush we will bring the full weight of the United States to bet against you i know that theyre not as are going to target me. Well there was a there is a finding of the National Security council signed by president bush in april of two thousand and four and titled marginalise challenge. Ten hours after this interview he was found dead in his bed. And autopsy concluded it was a heart attack. Saddam hussein arrested and judged is hung december thirtieth two thousand and six george bush is reelected in november two thousand and four Richard Cheney remains Vice President colin powell leaves office in january two thousand and five conda lisa rice replaces him at the state department george tenet resigns in july two thousand and four citing personal reasons Douglas Pfeiffer resigns from the pentagon in january two thousand and five Paul Wolfowitz is appointed president of the world bank in june two thousand and five Donald Rumsfeld leaves the pentagon in november two thousand and six. Richard perle divides his time between washington and the surfer france. From kusa brisk news and fuel. To the warm tranquil waters of southeast asia. Welcome back well look at the weather across the americas no surf america weve seen some very heavy rain across parts of bolivia last twenty four hours though share is no seem to be dying away i still think peru will see some heavy downpours which could result in flooding pass one or two shares perhaps during the day but nothing untoward for the surf and across much of chile weve still got some heavy rain affecting paraguayan through towards Rio De Janeiro brazil for the fine in point is aries heading into wednesday that rain is still in place really see further heavy rain across paraguay moving into Central America the caribbean well for the islands where the conditions are generally looking pretty fine share as few and far between and again the share eight to vittie up through the isthmus is confined largely as a part of our costa rican the cricut further north tends to die away somewhat and then as we head into wednesday just want to showers across Mexico Mexico city itself should be largely dry and fine north america it is looking decidedly chilly here at the moment weve got this frontal system pushing southeastward dragging cold air in behind it so subzero across many areas minus twelve is a mix of chicago the cold air penetrate here always down as far as dallas and into wednesday colder still very much in evidence. The weather sponsored by qatar and peace. Thats what we talk about all the time just about shooting people are not much pressure to burn themselves and their other countries have managed to solve this problem but you worry that this conflict could erupt into a cult right open war with the city journal of security for all the people who paid the price clearly their writeup unprejudiced setting the stage for serious debate up front at this time on aljazeera. This is aljazeera