: "Iraq appoints US citizen as its American envoy | By David Rennie in Washington | (Filed: 24/11/2003)
The Iraqi Governing Council has appointed an Iraqi-American woman and human rights lobbyist its first ambassador to the United States.
Rend Rahim Francke is little known in Iraq. As a young girl she was sent for an education at boarding school in England, followed by Cambridge and the Sorbonne. She left Iraq for good in the 1970s and has been a US citizen since 1987.
A former banker and currency trader, Ms Francke is better known in the think-tanks and political salons of Washington DC, where she has been a prominent and passionate advocate for Iraqi regime change.
She worked with neo-conservative hawks in pushing for more US support for exile and opposition groups.
Advising on post-war planning, she shared the faith of neo-conservatives that building a democratic Iraq, and holding Saddam Hussein to account for human rights abuses, could transform the Middle East.
Monday, November 24, 2003
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Chicago Tribune | 10 receive humanities prizes
Chicago Tribune | 10 receive humanities prizes: "Northwestern's Epstein joins Updike, Holbrook | Published November 17, 2003
Northwestern University English professor and essayist Joseph Epstein and novelist John Updike were among 10 people to be awarded on Friday the National Humanities Medal by President Bush.
Epstein, whose works include fiction and social and literary commentary, and the others were cited for contributions to the humanities. Updike's many works include novels, short stories, poetry and criticism.
The other recipients are:
- Robert Ballard, the deep-sea explorer famed for his 1985 discovery of the Titanic.
- Joan Ganz Cooney, one of the creators of the Children's Television Workshop and its 'Sesame Street' show.
- Midge Decter, a neoconservative writer and columnist. ... [... Her second husband, (neoconservative) Norman Podhoretz, is editor of Commentary. ed.]
Northwestern University English professor and essayist Joseph Epstein and novelist John Updike were among 10 people to be awarded on Friday the National Humanities Medal by President Bush.
Epstein, whose works include fiction and social and literary commentary, and the others were cited for contributions to the humanities. Updike's many works include novels, short stories, poetry and criticism.
The other recipients are:
- Robert Ballard, the deep-sea explorer famed for his 1985 discovery of the Titanic.
- Joan Ganz Cooney, one of the creators of the Children's Television Workshop and its 'Sesame Street' show.
- Midge Decter, a neoconservative writer and columnist. ... [... Her second husband, (neoconservative) Norman Podhoretz, is editor of Commentary. ed.]
Monday, November 17, 2003
DoD Statement refutes Fieth's letter to Senate Intelligence Committee about Qaida and Iraq Connections
DoD Statement on News Reports of al-Qaida and Iraq Connections: "United States Department of Defense | No. 851-03 | IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 15, 2003
News reports that the Defense Department recently confirmed new information with respect to contacts between al-Qaida and Iraq in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee are inaccurate.
A letter was sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee on October 27, 2003 from Douglas J. Feith, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in response to follow-up questions from his July 10 testimony. One of the questions posed by the committee asked the Department to provide the reports from the Intelligence Community to which he referred in his testimony before the Committee. These reports dealt with the relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida. "
News reports that the Defense Department recently confirmed new information with respect to contacts between al-Qaida and Iraq in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee are inaccurate.
A letter was sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee on October 27, 2003 from Douglas J. Feith, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in response to follow-up questions from his July 10 testimony. One of the questions posed by the committee asked the Department to provide the reports from the Intelligence Community to which he referred in his testimony before the Committee. These reports dealt with the relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida. "
Sunday, November 16, 2003
Investigation Clears Perle of Wrongdoing, Rumsfeld Says
Excite - News: "Investigation Clears Perle of Wrongdoing, Rumsfeld Says | Nov 16, 4:10 pm ET
SEOUL (Reuters) - An investigation by the Defense Department's inspector general has cleared Pentagon adviser Richard Perle of any violation of conflict of interest laws in his private consulting business, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday.
...
Perle, an architect of the Iraq war, remains as a member of the board, which is now headed by former Florida Republican Rep. Tillie Fowler.
Perle stepped down after facing allegations of a conflict of interest over his work as an adviser for the bankrupt telecommunications firm Global Crossing Ltd. .
...
The New York Times reported on Saturday that Perle was the focus of a new inquiry by Hollinger International, a media conglomerate where he serves as director. The inquiry is focusing on several transactions, including $2.5 million in payments made by the company into Trireme Partners, a venture capital company in which Perle is a managing partner, the newspaper said.
SEOUL (Reuters) - An investigation by the Defense Department's inspector general has cleared Pentagon adviser Richard Perle of any violation of conflict of interest laws in his private consulting business, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday.
...
Perle, an architect of the Iraq war, remains as a member of the board, which is now headed by former Florida Republican Rep. Tillie Fowler.
Perle stepped down after facing allegations of a conflict of interest over his work as an adviser for the bankrupt telecommunications firm Global Crossing Ltd. .
...
The New York Times reported on Saturday that Perle was the focus of a new inquiry by Hollinger International, a media conglomerate where he serves as director. The inquiry is focusing on several transactions, including $2.5 million in payments made by the company into Trireme Partners, a venture capital company in which Perle is a managing partner, the newspaper said.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Neo-conned: Case for war made up, say top names
Case for war made up, say top names: "By ANDREW GUMBEL in Los Angeles | 11/10/03: (The Independent)
An unprecedented array of United States intelligence professionals, diplomats and former Pentagon officials have gone on record to lambast the Bush Administration for its distortion of the case for war against Iraq.
In their view, the very foundations of intelligence-gathering have been damaged in ways that could take years, even decades, to repair.
...
They also reconstruct the way senior White House officials - notably Vice-President Dick Cheney - leaned on the CIA to find evidence that would fit a preordained set of conclusions.
"There was never a clear and present danger. There was never an imminent threat. Iraq - and we have very good intelligence on this - was never part of the picture of terrorism," says Mel Goodman, a veteran CIA analyst who now teaches at the National War College.
...
"The theory that you can bludgeon political grievances out of existence doesn't have much of a track record," he [George Bush snr's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chas Freeman] says, "so essentially we have been neo-conned into applying a school of thought about foreign affairs that has failed everywhere it has been tried."
An unprecedented array of United States intelligence professionals, diplomats and former Pentagon officials have gone on record to lambast the Bush Administration for its distortion of the case for war against Iraq.
In their view, the very foundations of intelligence-gathering have been damaged in ways that could take years, even decades, to repair.
...
They also reconstruct the way senior White House officials - notably Vice-President Dick Cheney - leaned on the CIA to find evidence that would fit a preordained set of conclusions.
"There was never a clear and present danger. There was never an imminent threat. Iraq - and we have very good intelligence on this - was never part of the picture of terrorism," says Mel Goodman, a veteran CIA analyst who now teaches at the National War College.
...
"The theory that you can bludgeon political grievances out of existence doesn't have much of a track record," he [George Bush snr's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chas Freeman] says, "so essentially we have been neo-conned into applying a school of thought about foreign affairs that has failed everywhere it has been tried."