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Richard Butler

Old Blog Import

This morning’s Today Show set off warning bells earlier than I’d expected, as Katie interviewed Richard Butler, the government’s answer to the wonderfully eloquent whistleblower Scott Ritter. Something about Butler just raised my hackles, particularly the moment he repeated (unchallenged, naturally) the lies about how his inspectors were thrown out of Iraq. So I checked, and I was right to be suspicious. Pretty much every major paper reported at the time (12/16/98) that Butler himself chose to withdraw his weapons inspectors (in anticipation of US-British bombing) without seeking permission from the UN Security Council that assigned him there; furthermore,”as Butler was drafting his report on Iraqi cooperation, U.S. officials were secretly consulting with him about how to frame his conclusions.” Oh, and that spy accusation? The Washington Post reported in 1999 (1/8/99) that United Nations arms inspectors helped collect eavesdropping intelligence used in American efforts to undermine the Iraqi regime.” So, you know, even if Hussein had thrown em out for being spies (which he didn’t) — well, they were. It’s enough to make one’s head spin this early in the day.”

Pen-Elayne on the Web

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