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Alex213
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Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours
#5255405 - 02/02/06 01:44 PM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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Tony Blair told President George Bush that he was "solidly" behind US plans to invade Iraq before he sought advice about the invasion's legality and despite the absence of a second UN resolution, according to a new account of the build-up to the war published today. A memo of a two-hour meeting between the two leaders at the White House on January 31 2003 - nearly two months before the invasion - reveals that Mr Bush made it clear the US intended to invade whether or not there was a second resolution and even if UN inspectors found no evidence of a banned Iraqi weapons programme.
The memo seen by Prof Sands reveals:
? Mr Bush told the Mr Blair that the US was so worried about the failure to find hard evidence against Saddam that it thought of "flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft planes with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours". Mr Bush added: "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach [of UN resolutions]".
? Mr Bush even expressed the hope that a defector would be extracted from Iraq and give a "public presentation about Saddam's WMD". He is also said to have referred Mr Blair to a "small possibility" that Saddam would be "assassinated".
? Mr Blair told the US president that a second UN resolution would be an "insurance policy", providing "international cover, including with the Arabs" if anything went wrong with the military campaign, or if Saddam increased the stakes by burning oil wells, killing children, or fomenting internal divisions within Iraq.
? Mr Bush told the prime minister that he "thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups". Mr Blair did not demur, according to the book.
The revelation that Mr Blair had supported the US president's plans to go to war with Iraq even in the absence of a second UN resolution contrasts with the assurances the prime minister gave parliament shortly after. On February 23 2003 - three weeks after his trip to Washington - Mr Blair told the Commons that the government was giving "Saddam one further final chance to disarm voluntarily".
He added: "Even now, today, we are offering Saddam the prospect of voluntary disarmament through the UN. I detest his regime - I hope most people do - but even now, he could save it by complying with the UN's demand. Even now, we are prepared to go the extra step to achieve disarmament peacefully."
On March 18, before the crucial vote on the war, he told MPs: "The UN should be the focus both of diplomacy and of action ... [and that not to take military action] would do more damage in the long term to the UN than any other single course that we could pursue."
The meeting between Mr Bush and Mr Blair, attended by six close aides, came at a time of growing concern about the failure of any hard intelligence to back up claims that Saddam was producing weapons of mass destruction in breach of UN disarmament obligations. It took place a few days before the then US secretary Colin Powell made claims - since discredited - in a dramatic presentation at the UN about Iraq's weapons programme.
The extent of concern in Washington at the time is reflected in the plan to send US planes over Iraq disguised in UN livery - itself a clear breach of international law.
Sir Menzies continued: "The prime minister's offer of February 23 to Saddam Hussein was about as empty as it could get. He has a lot of explaining to do."
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1700881,00.html
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lonestar2004
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: Alex213]
#5257284 - 02/02/06 09:24 PM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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"The memo seen only by Prof Sands reveals:"
"? Mr Bush told Mr Blair that the US was so worried about the failure to find hard evidence against Saddam that it thought of "flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft planes with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours". Mr Bush added: "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach [of UN resolutions]".
who comes up with this shit?
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wilshire
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: lonestar2004]
#5257296 - 02/02/06 09:28 PM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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the "journalists" at the guardian.
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Alex213
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: wilshire]
#5257835 - 02/03/06 12:02 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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You clearly havn't read the article. They're quoting the official memo. Unless you're claiming the journalists wrote the memo?
Try and look at the evidence as it is, not how you'd like it to be.
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Seuss
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: Alex213]
#5258185 - 02/03/06 02:46 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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> Unless you're claiming the journalists wrote the memo?
How are we to know?
Quote:
The memo seen only by Prof Sands
If you are claiming that "journalists" are so ethical that they would never fabricate the news, I have some very sad examples that show otherwise.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Alex213
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: Seuss]
#5258605 - 02/03/06 09:39 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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How are we to know?
Well for a start the journalists arn't claiming anything. Merely reporting what the memo says.
The memo seen only by Prof Sands
The story has developed since yesterday - Channel 4 news has now also seen the memo and confirm what was reported in the Guardian.
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lonestar2004
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: Alex213]
#5258663 - 02/03/06 10:03 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Alex213 said: How are we to know?
Well for a start the journalists arn't claiming anything. Merely reporting what the memo says.
The memo seen only by Prof Sands
The story has developed since yesterday - Channel 4 news has now also seen the memo and confirm what was reported in the Guardian.
Courtesy of Kinkos in Texas no doubt...
-------------------- America's debt problem is a "sign of leadership failure" We have "reckless fiscal policies" America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better Barack Obama
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Alex213
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: lonestar2004]
#5258687 - 02/03/06 10:17 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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To be honest this idea proposed by the Bush-worshippers that "It was all made up" is getting silly.
The memo exists - deal with it.
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lonestar2004
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: Alex213]
#5258705 - 02/03/06 10:25 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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This is old news. "you deal with it"
American U-2 plane makes first flight
IRAQI NEWS AGENCY (State-run)
February 19, 2003
The United Nations gave Iraq 48 hours notice before sending an American U-2 spy plane on its first flight over Iraqi territory in support of the UN search for weapons of mass destruction, officials said Tuesday.
Iraq agreed to the over flights last week. The agreement was followed by a decree from Presidential edict banning chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, issued hours before a key report by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix.
Hiro Ueki, a spokesman for the inspectors in Baghdad, said the flight happened Monday with the 48-hours notice Iraq demanded.
?The Iraqi authorities were asked to ensure the safety of the U-2 flight and they accepted," Ueki said.
The Iraqi authorities also were notified of the flight paths, said a UN source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Iraq has in recent weeks charged that the U-2 spied on its conventional defenses during the 1990s, and that data it collected was passed on to the CIA.
Used by the United States for reconnaissance since 1955, the U-2 has a 103-foot glider-like wingspan on a 63-foot-long fuselage, its 1,000 square feet of wing area keeping it aloft.
It can fly more than 7,000 miles in 12 hours, circling over a reconnaissance target for hours at a time, firing its advanced cameras and its electro-optic, infrared and radar-imagery devices.
Agreeing to allow the U-2 flights fulfills a major cooperation by Iraq with the UN inspectors.
Iraqi officials had objected to the U-2 flights, contending they couldn't guarantee the safety of the plane if it was flying over Iraq at the same time as U.S.-British air patrols in the "no-fly zones" of northern and southern Iraq. http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/Iraq/INA/iraq-ina-u2-021903.htm
It happened. it just did not happen the way this idiot says.
-------------------- America's debt problem is a "sign of leadership failure" We have "reckless fiscal policies" America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better Barack Obama
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Alex213
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: lonestar2004]
#5258824 - 02/03/06 11:09 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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This is old news. "you deal with it"
Take a deep breath and calm down lonestar. That isn't the same story at all.
Deal with it
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lonestar2004
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: Alex213]
#5258842 - 02/03/06 11:17 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Alex213 said:
Take a deep breath and calm down lonestar. That isn't the same story at all.
im cool, but one is fact the other is fantasy.
-------------------- America's debt problem is a "sign of leadership failure" We have "reckless fiscal policies" America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better Barack Obama
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Alex213
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: lonestar2004]
#5258872 - 02/03/06 11:26 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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Any evidence to back that up? Or are you just blowing it out your ass?
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lonestar2004
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: Alex213]
#5258887 - 02/03/06 11:33 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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i provided a link that says we did fly U2 planes over Iraq. (looking for wmds) you have a secret anonymous memo (no link) that says bush wanted to paint the planes blue.
-------------------- America's debt problem is a "sign of leadership failure" We have "reckless fiscal policies" America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better Barack Obama
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nakors_junk_bag
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Re: Bush plan to paint US planes in UN colours [Re: lonestar2004]
#5259513 - 02/03/06 02:15 PM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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blue, like the color of the sky? A war machine, camoflauge?
Lets start painting our navy greys and blues, the colors of the ocean, oh wait we do.
Lets start painting our tanks greens and browns, oh wait we do.
The colours of the U.N.?
-------------------- Asshole
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