A strategic break from the more modest policies of bushs predisaster. 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 neo conservative policy and thinking an approach supported by Richard Powell. Dick Cheney Donald Rumsfeld congolese or rice Paul WolfowitzDouglas Feith these are the advisors who have bushs. 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 and his office and the secretary of defense and his office. Referred to as 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 911. 00 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 a few 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 defining change the regime in baghdad to subjugate iraq a simpler objective than that of destroying the elusive terrorist. 1000. 00 boes in support of eliminating Saddam Hussein to 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 the conclusion 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 to. Ban 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 al qaeda. But it does not in there. Tony blair the british Prime Minister and guest of honor applauds 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 find a 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. After this 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 and 991 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 1998 he drove u. N. Inspectors sent to disarm him saddam was a dangerous man dangerous 1st to his own citizens and dangerous to the rest of the world. Joe wilson knows iraq well in 1991 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 3rd rate dictator. Just over 100. 00 days after the attacks of 911. 00 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 2 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 attack iraq. This change in priority worries the general who on february 19th 2002 confides in bob graham 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 1st 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 2002 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 and 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 seen and to people on the inside to offer the best mechanism to complete this 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 d shite was found in iraq since 1991 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 awesome had been destroyed after the gulf war. And. Before 911 american senior officials had publicly stated otherwise he has not developed any significant capability to be respected 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 bad but 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 1992 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 the act was by following a us army which was dispensing with the current government and with Saddam Hussein. Overlooked by bill clinton be 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 2001 approach unity presented itself for the iraqi exiles so when president bush kept apollo. All those people who were advocating supporting us came to power with. After 911. 00 the collusion between 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. Who can provide information on these. China be complies enthusiastically he introduces the americans to iraqi defectors endless sources of revelations about Saddam Husseins deadly arsenal. The people in child abuse 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 about 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 were opposed. To this they had no confidence in us they kept that criticizing us they kept calling us exaggerate a lie and as despite everything the pentagon refuses to question the revelations made by the exiles the idea that chalo b. Had information that he knew to be false and he presented it knowing it to be false is has 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 1st in the history of american intelligence in the end bush cheney and rumsfeld obtain the answers they need. 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 3 white folders where materials about the some 550 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 0. 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 was 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 name. The German Secret Service offers its support as well. It provides the americans with revelations made by an iraqi defector code name curveball he claims baghdad is making biological weapons in its mobile abode its roots. Leadership up to date as. The war to liberate iraq whether 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 stop. This week. 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