Out Damn Blot: A Letter to Colin Powell

RAY McGOVERN
Counterpunch
Sunday, Aug 17, 2008

Dear Colin,

You have said you regret the “blot” on your record caused by your parroting spurious intelligence at the U.N. to justify war on Iraq. On the chance you may not have noticed, I write to point out that you now have a unique opportunity to do some rehab on your reputation.

If you were blindsided, well, here’s an opportunity to try to wipe off some of the blot. There is no need for you to end up like Lady Macbeth, wandering around aimlessly muttering, Out damned spot…or blot.

It has always strained credulity, at least as far as I was concerned, to accept the notion that naiveté prevented you from seeing through the game Vice President Dick Cheney and then-CIA Director George Tenet were playing on Iraq. And I was particularly suspicious when you chose to ignore the strong dissents of your own State Department intelligence analysts who, as you know, turned out to be far more on target than counterparts in more servile agencies.

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It was equally difficult for me to believe that you thought that, by insisting that shameless George Tenet sit behind you on camera, you could ensure a modicum of truth in your speech before the U.N. Security Council. You are savvier than that.

That is certainly the impression I got from our every-other-morning conversations in the mid-80s, before I went in to brief the President’s Daily Brief to your boss, then-Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger, one-on-one. I saw the street smarts you displayed then. The savvy was familiar to me. I concluded that it came, in part, from the two decades you and I spent growing up in the same neighborhood at the same time in the Bronx.

On those Bronx streets, rough as they were, there was also a strong sense of what was honorable—honorable even among thieves and liars, you might say. And we had words, which I will not repeat here, for sycophants, pimps, and cowards.

Your U.N. speech of February 5, 2003 left me speechless, so to speak—largely because of the measure of respect I had had for you before then. Outrage is too tame a word for what quickly became my reaction and that of my colleagues in Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), as we watched you perform before the Security Council less than six weeks before the unnecessary, illegal attack on Iraq.

The purpose—as well as the speciousness—of your address were all too transparent and, in a same-day commentary, we VIPS warned President George W. Bush that, if he attacked Iraq, “the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic.”

That’s history. Or, as investigative reporter Ron Suskind would say, “It’s all on the record.” You have not yet summoned the courage to admit it, but I think I know you well enough to believe you have a Lady Macbeth-type conscience problem that goes far beyond the spot on your record. With 4,141 American soldiers—not to mention hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens—dead, and over 30,000 GIs badly wounded, how could you not?

What Did You Know…and When?

Here is what could be good news for you, Colin. Information that has come to light over the past two years or so could wipe some of the blot fouling your record. It all depends, I suppose, on how truthful you are prepared to be now. Much of the new data comes from former CIA officials who, ironically, have sought to assuage their own consciences by doing talk therapy with authors like Sidney Blumenthal and Ron Suskind.

At first blush, these revelations seem so outlandish that they themselves strain credulity. But they stand up to close scrutiny far better than what you presented in your U.N. speech, for example.

If you now depend on the fawning corporate media (FCM) for your information, you will have missed this very significant, two-pronged story. In brief, with the help of Allied intelligence services, the CIA recruited your Iraqi counterpart, Saddam Hussein’s foreign minister, Naji Sabri, and Tahir Jalil Habbush, the chief of Iraqi intelligence. They were cajoled into remaining in place while giving us critical intelligence well before the war—actually, well before your speech laying the groundwork for war.

In other words, at a time when Saddam Hussein believed that Sabri and Habbush were working for him, we had “turned” them. They were working for us, and much of the information they provided had been evaluated and verified. Most important, each independently affirmed that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, information that should have prevented you from making a fool of yourself before the U.N. Security Council.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister

The FCM gave almost no coverage (surprise, surprise!) to the reporting from Naji Sabri, which continues to be pretty much lost in the woodwork. In case you missed it, we now know from former CIA officials that his information on the absence of WMD was concealed from Congress, from our senior military, and from intelligence analysts—including those working on the infamous National Intelligence Estimate of October 1, 2002. That NIE, titled “Iraq’s Continuing Programs for WMD,” was the one specifically designed to mislead Congress into authorizing the president to make war on Iraq.

One important question is whether it is true that Sabri’s reporting was also concealed from you.

Tyler Drumheller, at the time a division chief in CIA’s clandestine service, was the first to tell the story of Naji Sabri, who is now living a comfortable retirement in Qatar. On CBS’s “60 Minutes” on April 23, 2006, Drumheller disclosed that the CIA had received documentary evidence from Sabri that Iraq had no WMD. Drumheller added, “We continued to validate him the whole way through.”

Then two other former CIA officers confirmed this account to author Sidney Blumenthal, adding that George Tenet briefed this information to President George W. Bush on September 18, 2002, and that Bush dismissed the information as worthless.

Wait. It gets worse. The two former CIA officers told Blumenthal that someone in the agency rewrote the report from Sabri to indicate that Saddam Hussein was “aggressively and covertly developing” nuclear weapons and already had chemical and biological weapons. That altered report was shown to the likes of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was “duped,” according to one of the CIA officers.

Worse still, the former CIA officials reported that George Tenet never shared the unadulterated information from the Iraqi foreign minister with you, the secretary of state and Naji Sabri’s counterpart. Again, whether that is true is a very large outstanding question.

The Chief of Iraqi Intelligence

Again, Colin, I am assuming you take your information from the FCM, so let me brief you, as in the old days, on what else has popped up over the past couple of weeks. Two other CIA clandestine service officers have told author Ron Suskind that Iraqi intelligence chief Habbush had become one of our secret sources on Iraq, beginning in January 2003.

I hope you are sitting down, Colin, because Habbush also told us Iraq had no WMD. One of the helpful insights he passed along to us was that Saddam Hussein had decided that some ambiguity on the WMD issue would help prevent his main enemy, Iran, from thinking of Iraq as a toothless tiger.

Habbush, part of Saddam’s inner circle, had direct access to this kind of information. But when President Bush was first told of Habbush’s report that there were no WMD in Iraq, Suskind’s sources say the president reacted by saying, “Well, why don’t you tell him to give us something we can use to make our case?”

Apparently, Habbush was unable or unwilling to oblige by changing his story. Nevertheless, later in 2003, when it became clear that he had been telling the unwelcome truth, Habbush was helped to resettle in Jordan and given $5 million to keep his mouth shut.

Suskind also reveals that in the fall of 2003, Habbush was asked to earn his keep by participating in a keystone-cops-type forgery aimed at “proving” that Saddam Hussein did, after all, have a direct hand in the tragedy of 9/11. This crude forgery was not unlike the one that originally gave us the yarn about yellowcake uranium going from Niger to Iraq.

You will hardly be surprised to hear there is evidence, much of it circumstantial, that Vice President Dick Cheney was the intellectual author of both incredibly inept forgery operations.

Sorry to have to bring this up, but there is something else about Habbush that you need to know. He had actually been in charge of overseeing what was left of the Iraqi biological weapons program after the 1991 Gulf War, and reported that it was stopped in 1996.

Sabri vs. Curveball

Before the attack on Iraq, Tenet’s deputy, John McLaughlin, was repeatedly briefed on Sabri’s information, but complained that it was at variance with “our best source”—a reference to the infamous “Curveball,” the con-man whom German intelligence had warned the CIA not to take seriously.

You may recall hearing that on the evening before your U.N. speech, Drumheller warned Tenet not to use the information from Curveball on mobile biological weapons laboratories; Tenet gave Drumheller the brush-off.

The CIA artists’ renderings of those laboratories, to which you called such prominent attention during your speech, were spiffy, but bore no relationship to reality. Tenet and McLaughlin knew this almost as well as Sabri and Habbush did.

“We have firsthand descriptions of biological weapons factories on wheels and rails,” you will recall telling the world. Later, you lamented publicly that you had not been warned about Curveball either.

McLaughlin seemed to confirm this in an interview with the Washington Post in 2006: “If someone had made those doubts clear to me, I would not have permitted the reporting to be used in Secretary Powell’s speech.”

This is highly disingenuous, even by McLaughlin’s and Tenet’s standards, since they had deliberately chosen to ignore Drumheller’s warning. I know Drumheller; he is a far better bet for truthfulness that the other two.

Outright Lies

Although I am against the death penalty, I can sympathize with the vehement reaction of normally taciturn Carl Ford, head of State Department intelligence at the time. Ford has revealed that both Tenet and McLaughlin went to extraordinary lengths, and even took a personal hand in trying to salvage some credibility for the notorious Curveball. In an interview for Hubris, a book by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, Carl Ford spared no words, asserting that Tenet’s and McLaughlin’s analysis “was not just wrong, they lied…they should have been shot.”
Though I’ve been around a while, I am not the best judge of character, Colin, and perhaps I am being too credulous in giving you the benefit of the doubt concerning what you knew—or didn’t. It could be, I suppose, that you were fully briefed on Naji Sabri, Habbush, Curveball, and all the rest of it, and have been able to orchestrate plausible denial. If that is the case, I suppose it would seem safer to you to let sleeping dogs lie.

If, on the other hand, what my former colleagues say about your having been fenced off from this key intelligence is true, your reaction seems a bit…. how shall I describe it?….understated.

Perhaps you are too long gone from the Bronx. Back there, back then, letting folks use you and make a fool of you without any response was just not done. It was the equivalent to running away when someone was messing with your sister. And letting oneself be bullied always sets a bad precedent, affirming for the bullies that they can push people around—especially understated ones—and risk nothing.

In sum, the CIA had both the Iraqi foreign minister and the Iraqi intelligence chief “turned” and reporting to us in the months before the war (in Naji Sabri’s case) and the weeks before your U.N. speech (in the case of Tahir Jalil Habbush). Both were part of Saddam Hussein’s inner circle; both reported that there were no weapons of mass destruction.

But this was not what the president wanted to hear, so Tenet put the kibosh on Habbush and put Sabri on a cutter to Qatar.

So Here’s Your Opportunity

Either you knew about Sabri, Habbush, and Curveball, or you did not. If you knew, I suppose you will keep hunkering down, licking your blot, and hoping that plausible denial will continue to work for you.

If you were kept in the dark, though, I would think you would want to raise holy hell—if not to hold accountable those of your former superiors and colleagues responsible for the carnage of the past five years, then at least to try to wipe the blot off your record.

Granted, it probably strikes you as a highly unwelcome choice—whether to appear complicit or naïve. Here’s an idea. Why not just tell the truth?

In Congress: Unusual Signs of Interest

If House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers is any guide, Congress seems quite taken with the explosive revelations in Ron Suskind’s book “The Way of the World.” On Thursday, Conyers joined Suskind on Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now,” and declared that he is “the third day into the most critical investigation of the entire Bush administration.” (He clearly was referring to the Suskind revelations.)

Conyers emphasized that, even though Congress is in recess, “We’re starting our work, and…I’m calling everyone back. We’ve got a huge amount of work to engage in.” At the same time, though, Conyers said he is “maybe the most frustrated person attempting to exercise the oversight responsibilities that I have on Judiciary.”

A good deal of his frustration comes from stonewalling by the Bush/Cheney administration, which will surely cite national security or executive privilege to justify withholding any damaging information.

Bush Visits CIA

It was, no doubt, pure coincidence that President Bush made a highly unusual visit to CIA headquarters, also on Thursday, before leaving for Crawford on vacation. Or was it?

The official line is that he wanted an update on the situation in Georgia and the Soviet role there, but Bush did not need to go to Langley for that. Rather, given the record of the past seven years, it is reasonable to suggest that he also wanted to assure malleable Mike Hayden, the CIA director, and his minions that they will be protected if they continue to stiff-arm appropriate congressional committees, denying them the information they need for a successful investigation.

Pardons dangled as hush money? Not so bizarre at all. Some will recall that George H.W. Bush, just before leaving the White House, pardoned one of your former bosses, Casper Weinberger, who had been indicted and was about to go to trial for lying about his role in the Iran-Contra fiasco.

If past is precedent, sad to say, Conyers is not likely to get to first base, UNLESS he can get knowledgeable witnesses to come forward. On Thursday he did not rule out a suggestion that Habbush be asked to come before Congress to testify, but the CIA can easily thwart that kind of thing—or delay it indefinitely.

In any case, your own credibility, though damaged, has got to be greater than Habbush’s.

Let me suggest that you offer yourself as a witness to help clear the air on these very important issues. This would seem the responsible, patriotic thing to do in the circumstances and could also have the salutary effect of beginning the atonement process for that day of infamy at the Security Council.

If we hear no peep out of you in the coming weeks, we shall not be able to escape concluding one of two things:

(1) That, as was the case with the White House Situation Room sessions on torture, you were a willing participant in suppressing/falsifying key intelligence on Iraq; or

(2) That you lack the courage to expose the scoundrels who betrayed not only you, but also that segment of our country and our world that still puts a premium on truth telling and the law.

Think about it.

With all due respect,

Ray McGovern

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7 Responses to “Out Damn Blot: A Letter to Colin Powell”

1. Eric Says:
   August 17th, 2008 at 7:31 am

   Well put, don’t hold your breath.

2. Mister Jimmy Says:
   August 17th, 2008 at 8:17 am

   Get it right, dude. Colin Powell (’Killin’ Powell) wasn’t ‘betrayed,’ he was/is one of the key betrayers. So he’s ’sorry’ he lied for an afternoon at the UN, so what? Everybody at the UN lies, morning, afternoon, evening and night. This fellow isn’t really seeking to clear his name, he wants to avoid being charged someday. He was up in the chain of command at My Lai, approved those war crimes, then spent years covering them up–and his bloody role in them. He needs to be in the dock someday with Dumbya, Darth Cheney, Condosleeza and Slithy Tove Rove.

3. rf Says:
   August 17th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

   Powel is as guilty. I was scared of those nutjobs is no defense. Off to the war crime tribunal wid cha. Bush isnt as powerful as everyone thinks. And his time and Cheneys, is coming. The air is changing. There will be a massive shift. People in unison will start saying “Oh please” tell me another one. Do they expect us to believe this crap. The enemy will clearly be seen to be already through the gates and something to be resisted.

   The Georgia affair exposes them all horribly. No matter what American citizen thinks the average european cant take it anymore. Its digusting and is just not digestable…….PERIOD.

   We want the truth or your deaths. The gloves are off. CIA should spy on CIA. It should be compartmentalised racially, politically but most importantly geopolitically. It should be internal and the president shouldnt even be informed. Call it the secret take back of the American Republic. AND YES RACIALLY!!! Mainly because state sponsored terrorism isnt always through a gun barrel. And as much as countries want to NUKE AMERICA, if we are to believe that, then we have to believe that they would gladly overthrow yous from within. OR IS THAT REACHING. The Israeli influence should not be under-estimated, and like it or not that seems the primary source of the compromisation.
   FFS Powel grow a pair. Whats the worst that could happen? You get silenced??? Dont you want a heroic death being a soldier and all??

4. Deliverance Says:
   August 17th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

   Damn good letter! I hope he stands up. I also agree with the posts, and believe he will do nothing. They have all proven to be cowards and they need to be charged. A day needs to come where all Citezens of the United States collectively stand together and demand these criminals be removed. The Police and Fire professionals need to stand next to all of us in that demand, instead of adding to the homeland insecurity and blatant harrassment of Citizens.

   We must stand firm on what the Declaration of Independance and the Bill of rights stand for and backed up by the constitution.
   We need to find alternate energy sources to sustain us all on this planet.
   The Genocide that is represented by the NWO is not acceptable for the USA or any other country.
   The media needs to show the american people the truth and not slant it to skew reality.
   Citizens must be allowed to have a voice, even of protest as a check and balance. This cannot be acheived with Cages and pens.

   Our representatives use events such as 911 for their own purposes but fail to investigate. America was founded on PRIDE of a people, to escape tyranny and build a nation “In the pursuit of Happiness” and Honor.
   Where is the Honor in what has happened since George W Bush stole the office two times under our nose.

   WE the People need to stand now and show them what HONOR is!

5. MAR Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 1:13 am

   Mark, you are a sick bastard…jesus never existed, just like Zeus never existed…you’re a pitiful believer one who is not capable of thinking his own thoughts. You are told what to believe and so you believe it. You are a shame to any universal god…it gave you a brain to think with and you use it for only believing…like a dog…(sorry, dogs). You are one sick soul. A butt kisser of a god who is a mass murderer and serial killer of innocent people no less, including children. Read your god damned bible…it’s right there, how could you be soooo stupid and evil? A devil worshiper for sure.

   So if what I say is not in the bible refut it, if it is you’re just too fucking evil to stop believing in such childish nonsense, but you should. Afraid? Maybe that’s it, you’re a little wimpy coward.

6. will hale Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 3:41 am

   great post !
   p.s. mark your a tosser
   snap out of it ok
   you religious loonies with no ability to question a book riddled with inconsistencies is what drives most of the evil on this little blue planet.

7. reaper Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 11:59 am

   A honourable man no more