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Blog*Spot ArchivesContactRichard Ceccarelli Josh Mandir |
Wednesday, October 27, 2004Non-baseball: Russian Spec. Ops in pre-war Iraq?There's no way this report can be accurate. If it is, the world is ten times more fucked-up than I ever could have imagined. UPDATE: Powerline: "If Shaw's version, as reported by the Washington Times, holds up and (as importantly) gets heard, the consequences for Kerry could be serious. The Senator will have (a) jumped to a conclusion that wasn't supported by the facts, (b) assumed the incompetence of our troops, (c) confirmed President Bush's position that Iraq had weapons worth worrying about, and (d) unleashed evidence that, as Rocket Man notes, suggests that chemical and biological weapons could easily have been moved out of Iraq just before we invaded."I agree. If this story is indeed true, it will be devastating for John Kerry. UPDATE: Commenter Miles points me to this account of corruption allegations against Deputy Undersecretary for International Technology Security John Shaw, the Times' main informant for the above story: "With the guidance of a deputy undersecretary of Defense, John Shaw, this effort became one of the most brazen lobbying campaigns of the postwar reconstruction, one that has brought Shaw under investigation for potentially breaking federal ethics rules."The "brazen lobbying campaign" they speak of would be Qualcomm's failed attempt to bypass the Coalition Provisional Authority's contracting procedures, in order to force their cellular technology system- known as "CDMA"- as the Iraqi standard. I don't know what the investigation found, or even if it is still on-going, but take that as you will. |
