Recently, Glenn Greenwald appeared on the The Alan Colmes Show with Frank Gaffney over an article Gaffney had written suggesting that Democrats criticizing the Iraq war are guilty of treason and should be hanged.
Frank Gaffney was doing all this, using a BOGUS Abraham Lincoln quote, which he later admitted was untrue, but alas, that didn't stop him from continuing on using already debunked 'factoids' contained in the Duelfer Report on Saddam Hussein's WMD programs.
Here is a 'lie-by-lie' breakdown of the claims Gaffney made during his appreance on Colmes' radio show (per Glenn Greenwalds' open suggestion):
(First, the Duelfer Report is an interesting document in an of itself, as Charles Duelfer himself writes in the Introduction, 'This report will deny the reader any simple answers.' The report also makes it clear that the reader will be bringing his/her own 'assumptions and logic' to the table when examining the findings of the report as they apply to broader questions like 'Was the Iraq War wrong?' etc. etc. This is simply an examination of Gaffney's explicit claims he made during his radio appearance with Glenn.)
1.) @8:52 of part 2 of the interview emphasis mine
The Iraq Survey Group…found…there was a 'hot' production line for chemical and biological agents in Iraq, that there were plans to ramp it up when sanctions were lifted, which was imminent, and to place the products of those lines into aerosol cans and perfume sprayers for shipment to the United States and Europe, that's…, that's documented fact.
The inference being, Saddam would give them to al-Qaeda, which is why we had to invaded Iraq.
2.) @14:50 of part 2 of the interview emphasis mine
Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Distruction programs and plans to ramp them up and use them against us…he had production of these chemical and biological agents and he planned to put them in weapons to ship to the United States. Now that's the kind of thing that did require, I believe, the liberation of the country (Iraq).
Again, we had to take Saddam out, or else.
The basic debunking of both these claims by Gaffney appear, really (literally), on a single page of the Duelfer Report.
Gaffney's intent was to suggest, that because Saddam had 'bad intentions', and was simply waiting for his chance to unleash all his WMDs (or worse, give them to terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda), that regime change was the only course of action. (For those of us who are willing to 'accept the facts' about what the ISG (Iraq Study Group) said about Saddam's weapons programs)
In short, Frank Gaffney is guilty of the same tactic he accuses Glenn of during the interview. Ignoring facts that don't support his central argument.
Telling 'half-truths' in an attempt to help bolster his 'half-lies'.
When Frank Gaffney says that Saddam was just 'waiting for the sanctions to be lifted' before he reconstituted his weapons programs, that's 'true'.
From the 'Key Findings' section of Volume III: Iraq's Chemical Warfare Program
Saddam never abandoned his intentions to resume a CW effort when sanctions were lifted and conditions were judged favorable
But everything else, is NOT so true, or at best 'stretched' in order to support the war.
There are caveats and 'if/then' clauses all over the report in regards to 'what it all means' in terms of the larger questions of 'Global Terrorism' and the like.
Saddam did NOT have 'hot' chemical and biological production lines. ( I suppose by 'hot' Frank means 'actively producing or flip-a-switch and start producing' )
Iraq constructed a number of new plants starting in the mid-1990s that enhanced its chemical infrastructure, although its overall industry had not fully recovered from the effects of sanctions, and had not regained pre-1991 technical sophistication or production capabilities prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
They had factories, but not the 'technical sophistication' to produce any weapons.
Continued: emphasis mine
ISG did not discover chemical process or production units configured to produce key precursors or CW agents. However, site visits and debriefs revealed that Iraq maintained its ability for reconfiguring and ‘making-do’ with available equipment as substitutes for sanctioned items.
Again, with a caveat, they may have been able to 'make do' and get something started if they really wanted to, but nothing to confirm any intent to do so prior to OIF.
More:
Discussions concerning WMD, particularly leading up to OIF, would have been highly compartmentalized within the Regime. ISG found no credible evidence that any field elements knew about plans for CW use during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
They had no pre-invasion plans to use chemical weapons as a 'last stand' option if the United States invaded the country. (Use 'em if ya got 'em, right?)
Frank might try to pick on this part so I'll include it:
ISG uncovered information that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) maintained throughout 1991 to 2003 a set of undeclared covert laboratories to research and test various chemicals and poisons, primarily for intelligence operations. The network of laboratories could have provided an ideal, compartmented platform from which to continue CW agent R&D or small-scale production efforts, but we have no indications this was planned. (See Annex A.)
So, they had secret labs, but…reading on:
ISG has no evidence that IIS Directorate of Criminology (M16) scientists were producing CW or BW agents in these laboratories. However, sources indicate that M16 was planning to produce several CW agents including sulfur mustard, nitrogen mustard, and Sarin.
No evidence of actual production, but indications of future plans (I plan to retire at 50)?
What about the issue of moving production from location to location to avoid inspections:
ISG investigated a series of key pre-OIF indicators involving the possible movement and storage of chemical weapons, focusing on 11 major depots assessed to have possible links to CW. A review of documents, interviews, available reporting, and site exploitations revealed alternate, plausible explanations for activities noted prior to OIF which, at the time, were
believed to be CW-related.
But what did they find: emphasis mine
ISG investigated pre-OIF activities at Musayyib Ammunition Storage Depot—the storage site that was judged to have the strongest link to CW. An extensive investigation of the facility revealed that there was no CW activity, unlike previously assessed.
No CW activity. The same pretty much applies to the biological weapons (BW) program as well.
To repeat, Charles Duelfer warns the reader at the beginning of the report that 'Readers will draw their own conclusions about various national and international actions and policies'. And how!!!
But let us be clear that Frank Gaffney's use of the 'facts' found in the Duelfer Report leave much to be desired. The 'imminent threat', 'boggieman' narrative that led up to the Iraq invasion was an exaggeration. The policy of containment through sanctions was working. Regardless of whether or not Saddam was just waiting in the weeds for the UN to forget about him so that he could continue on his quest for chemical and biological weapons at some later date.
The debate as to whether or not the preemptive military strike against Iraq was wrong, or not, really shouldn't obscure the fact that the Frank Gaffney's of the world will lie, lie, lie when given the chance.
**UPDATE**
Totally unrelated to the topic at hand…um yeah…so I get home from work to find out that my girlfriend of 4 years has packed up half her shit and moved out.
BURN! And a Peter Boyle style HOLY CRAAAAP!
Posts
February 21, 2007 @ 9:40 am
what up willyj…
I have heard so much bout the ‘half-truths’ and ‘half-lies’ bout Iraq, that honestly, I ain’t even concerned bout that shit no more. :smilebig:
All I can say is that [i]eventually[/i] this shit will come back around full circle. And those sneaky Republicans are gonna have one hell of a problem.
:madfu:@ these broads man. They’re losing their fucking mind.
But on the up and up, you probably better off without that chick anyway.
Did that shit just come out the blue :?:
February 21, 2007 @ 11:04 am
Maaaaaaan!!!!
Good looking out! :diablospin:
Not really, but yeah.
She left Sunday evening to go to a (late)christmas party with one of her girls and told me ahead of time she was just gonna sleep over and go to work Monday. Fine.
Monday night she doesn’t come home…I’m thinkin, ‘eh, she’s probably over at ol girl’s house’. I don’t bother to call (part of her complaints about me is I never call) thinking I’ll see her the next day.
I text her yesterday morning about seeing a movie, she doesn’t text me back. I don’t call.(again, I’m minding my business, not the type to sweat a person about where they’re at)
She calls me at 5:12 with that ol ‘We need to talk’. So I knew right then and there what was going down.
Drive home, and half her shit is gone.
But not so 
February 21, 2007 @ 11:52 am
I don’t know what to say bout that one champ. Sounds like bullshit from the jump. :scared:
1) Who the hell has a Christmas party in February?
That shit [b]NEVER[/b] gets old to the female species is it? 
2) She doesn’t text you back after an invitation to [i]probably[/i] spend money on her :!: :blink:
3) "We need to talk".
And you ain’t by yourself man. I can never keep a female long. They ALWAYS say I don’t call enough. Oh well, "that’s life."
:thumbup: my nigga. Fuck her.
Smoke a blunt and fuck a broad for old times sake. 8) :king: :bigspliff:
February 21, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
Matter of fact. I had this chick I was fucking "break up" with me too yesterday.
Me and this chick have been fucking for damn near a month straight. Truth be told, I fucked her the second day of me knowing her. [b]SHE[/b] told me, it’s nothing but sex. So all of sudden, last Friday night, she’s telling me how she’s never met a dude like me and how cool I am.
So that’s fine. Fuck it. I call last night to murder the pussy, she asks me, "is sex the only thing I want from her?" :laughevil: I reply, "what else is there to want?"
So she goes into this rant about how I’m looking at her ’sexually’. :jawdrop:
What the fuck else is it for me to do? You gave me the options.
Now she says she can’t fuck me no more, cause I have no respect for her.
:wow: :smhscratch: 
:laughfu:@ these broads man
February 21, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
:punchout:
February 22, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
Where err body at ???
February 22, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
Just got back from the gas station.
What up, Chevy? How you just go MIA on ya Ace, nigga?
February 22, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
Seems like all are not here as of yet.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
Aight, I guess I’ll hang out for a minute and see who checks in.
BTW, you need some serious counseling and Im sending you a bill for the streaks on my screen, LOL.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
Damn Willy, I just read the update. Fucked up, son.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
I’m so [i]ronreeeeeeeey[/i]!!!
Yeah, shit is terrible.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
I don’t think I need counseling…lol. I just don’t front. Niggas know they do wild shit in the bedroom but not everybody likes to admit it. Its not all about putting heads thru wallsand shit. I lay all my shit on the table before the session starts. Some people are just ashamed of shit but when it comes to sex, all bets are off. I try to make sex the best part of my day.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
Chin up. Heroes will never leave you, LOL.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
IHADNO: Nah it aint about what you said, its about HOW you said it. You worse than me and thats bad LOL.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:42 pm
You be aight Willy. Its not like she got kids for you or some shit. Rather let her go and cut your losses than have the shit prolong and she ends up bringing you something back. No matter how bad it is, it can always be worse. I always look at the glass half full. keeps a permanent smile on my face. Some niggas ain’t even here to go thru bad times. Absorb the experience and learn from it.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
^^^ right, right.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
Thank ya’ll.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
Dig…
You should see a nigga when he’s drunk.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
So we should just hook you and Triss up so we can double up on the breakup sex….lol.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
IHADNO, I would be afraid to see you when youre drunk without 6 inch glass between us LOL.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
@ihadno
I’m still waiting on the breakup sex!
:bounce:
February 22, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
I’m good face to face. I just like clowning. Thats how I get em in the bedroom. Once you can make a chick laugh, you got one up on em. I don’t get on that Souve Bolla type shit. That Billy D shit. That ain’t me at all. But when the lights go out and you purchase the platinum package….
February 22, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Hey, did ya’ll check out the new mp3 player?
Nice right?just put the files in a folder and the shit ‘auto-magically’ creates a playlist.
I’m on my ‘love song’ shit right now.
I’m breakin out the Prince tonight.
In other bad news, I can’t find my fuckin M.I.A. CD anywhere.:tearswail:
February 22, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
LMAOOOOOOOO!
I was not laughing. No I wasnt.
February 22, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
I’ma start right now…
February 22, 2007 @ 2:16 pm
Willy, Banga said he forgot his password.
February 22, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
damn its quiet
where da fk is errbody!
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April 24, 2007 @ 3:41 am
When Hawkeye reached the centre of the sheet.
April 24, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
If family connection, that would have embraced an infant, and bring his face, and I knew enough of the most sedulous care, or what is meant by the circumstance that continued to bail, notwithstanding, that satisfied us all to for any young man is as much gratified in finding.