'W' As in 'Watergate', by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

PRESS RELEASE

July 21 (EIRNS)—The LaRouche in 2004 political campaign committee announced today that 1 million copies of a statement just released by candidate Lyndon LaRouche, will be circulated throughout the United States, beginning immediately. Below is the text of that statement.

KING GEORGE, OR RICHARD III

`W' As in `Watergate'

by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

Monday, July 21, 2003

The word in Washington, D.C. is that the Bush family is following in the footsteps of former President Richard Nixon, determined to stonewall all the way! Unless "W" and his family change their ways very soon, future historians will record the tragic history of "W's" Administration as a disgustingly poor quality of remake of Shakespeare's Richard III.

The fact is, that, so far, "W" is playing the fool, clinging to Cheney in the way a drowning man might cling to the sinking ship's anchor. It is even possible, if the Bush family continues this stubbornly foolish tactic of stonewalling, that veteran double-crosser Cheney, not Bush, might actually be the occupant of the White House at the time the 2004 election comes around, and, as a result of that, no Bush would ever be President of the U.S. again.

I had hoped that we could avoid the complications which will result from a continuation of the President's present, foolish decision to stonewall on the Cheney issue. The President's political suicidal stubbornness forces me to present you the following facts. First, I tell you how I view "W." After that, I shall list some of the leading developments in the growing avalanche of evidence piling up against the highly impeachable Vice-President Cheney.

As any sane citizen of voting age should know, "W" is purely dumb and mean. He was not elected President (Edgar Bergen's choice, Mortimer Snerd, would have been better qualified intellectually); but, he is President, and the Presidency is a crucial Constitutional feature of our system of self-government. Therefore, we must treat the issue of impeachment cautiously, and with utmost discretion about sticking to the truth of the matter.

That said. Was he guilty of pushing the U.S. toward a war in Iraq? Absolutely! Did people lie about the evidence in order to please W? Did he hope they would lie? Absolutely! Is "W" pleased that Cheney did what he did? Absolutely! Did "W" eliminate his intellectual rival Mortimer Snerd by throwing him into the fire? There is no evidence that he did. That is the kind of guy "W" is. But, he is President.

Is "W" impeachable? Should he be impeached? To impeach "W" while Cheney is still Vice-President, would be tantamount to treason against the entire human race! My preferred policy continues to be: Purge the Administration of Cheney and his Neo-conservatives, leaving in place an Administration which could control the sitting President for the remaining months of his term. Let Cheney go—not with God; I wouldn't wish that on God!—and devote the remaining months until January 2005 to practical economic-recovery and related interim measures which can, and must be installed during the weeks and months ahead. That is my policy, and I am the only qualified candidate for President in sight under present world circumstances.

Now, here is a summary of the growing mass of evidence so far, which shows why Vice-President Cheney must be forced to resign.

Chronology of Key Events Around the Faked Yellowcake Evidence

The following is a rough chronology of events around the Niger yellowcake fakery, as known to date, with emphasis on the role of Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Within days of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the decision was made by the War Party faction within the Bush Administration—Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and others—to go to war against Iraq at the earliest possible date. As Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney had adopted Wolfowitz's idea of U.S. preventive action against any nation challenging U.S. military or economic primacy, which Wolfowitz devised on Cheney's request, in preparing his Defense Planning Guidance of 1992. While the first Bush Administration rejected the idea, Cheney stuck to it, as shown in the final document of his Defense Department, which not only revived the idea of preventive unilateral war, but also promoted the idea of the U.S. developing and using mini-nuclear weapons, including against Third World targets.
In October 2001, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz established a special unit in the office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith, to cook up intelligence to provide a pretext for war on Iraq, bypassing the CIA and the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency). The unit, called the Office of Special Plans (OSP), was headed by Straussian Abram Shulsky and former Cheney aide William Luti. According to the London Guardian, Cheney "was at the shadow network's sharp end," and he was the primary customer for OSP "product."
Around the same time, a parallel unit was set up in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, for the purpose of bypassing the Israeli Mossad, and feeding information into the Pentagon's OSP.
In late 2001, stories began circulating about an alleged attempt by Iraq to purchase yellowcake from Niger, and Cheney and his National Security Adviser Lewis "Scooter" Libby, are believed to have made at least one visit to CIA headquarters, to press the CIA to get more information on the story; according to one source, Cheney and Libby had gotten the information from the OSP.
On Jan. 1-2, 2002, a break-in occurred at the Niger Embassy in Rome.
In February 2002, as a result of Cheney's pressure, the CIA dispatches former Ambassador Joseph Wilson to Niger, to check out the Iraq/yellowcake story. The current U.S. Ambassador tells Wilson that she has already sent reports to Washington debunking the yellowcake story. Wilson interviews numerous current and former Niger officials; when he returns, he tells the CIA that the story is almost certainly bogus, and the CIA informs various government agencies and offices, including the Office of the Vice President.
On Feb. 24, 2002, a second U.S. official, Gen. Carlton Fulford, was sent to Niger to determine the status of Niger's uranium supply. He reported back, to the Defense and State Departments, that Niger's uranium stocks were kept under tight control by a French consortium.
Some time in mid-2002, the Italian intelligence agency SISMI obtains a set of documents purporting to show that Iraq was trying to purchase some 500 tons of yellowcake from Niger. The Italian government notifies the U.S., Britain, and, by some accounts, Israel.
During 2002, Cheney, Libby and Newt Gingrich (of Richard Perle's Defense Policy Board) all pay numerous visits to CIA headquarters to press CIA analysts to come up with incriminating evidence against Iraq.
On Aug. 26, 2002, Cheney, in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, declares that Saddam Hussein "has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons," and he announces: "Many of us are convinced that Saddam will acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon." This speech launches a campaign by the Bush Administration to portray Saddam Hussein as being on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons—despite the complete lack of any current, reliable intelligence to this effect.
On Sept. 24, 2002, Tony Blair's government releases a dossier stating that "Iraq has sought the supply of significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Shortly after this, the CIA advises the British government of its doubts on the matter.
On Oct. 7, 2002, President Bush delivered a major speech in Cincinnati. In the days preceding the speech, CIA Director George Tenet personally intervened and persuaded Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley to delete not only any claim regarding Niger, but all references to Iraq attempting to obtain uranium from Africa.
On Oct. 11, 2002, Italian journalist Elisabetta Burba obtains the bogus Niger documents. She provides them to the U.S. Embassy in Rome, which sends them on to Washington. State Department intelligence (INR) provides them to other agencies (but apparently not to the CIA), with the caveat that they are "highly dubious." Meanwhile, the CIA station in Rome, knowing that the yellowcake story has already been discredited, doesn't even bother to send them to headquarters.
A December 2002 State Department "Fact Sheet" says that Iraq failed to disclose attempts to purchase uranium oxide from Niger. The Fact Sheet is not cleared by State Department's INR. The CIA objects. In cabling the Fact Sheet around the world, the Niger reference is dropped.
Jan. 27, 2003: In the days preceding the President's State of the Union address, CIA proliferation expert Alan Foley discovers that the White House is attempting to revive the Niger yellowcake claim, and objects. NSC aide Robert Joseph, a long-time crony of Richard Perle and Frank Gaffney, insists that the claim must go in. After negotiations, a compromise is reached, by which the claim will be attributed to the British government.
On Jan. 28, President Bush delivers the State of the Union address, stating: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.... Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide."
Within days of the State of the Union address, the CIA obtains copies of the original Niger documents, by some accounts, having sent a representative to Rome to get them.
On Feb. 5, Secretary of State Powell delivers a presentation to the UN Security Council on Iraq's WMD programs. He omits any reference to the Niger yellowcake claim. The claim had been included in the first draft of his speech, reportedly written by Cheney's aide Lewis Libby, but was thrown out during an intensive, four-day review at CIA headquarters, during which Powell is reported to have labelled the Libby draft as "bullshit" and discarded most of it.
On Feb. 5, the State Department gives copies of the Niger documents to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the warning that the documents are likely fraudulent. Within one to two hours, the IAEA easily determines that the documents are forgeries.
On March 7, 2003, in a presentation to the UN Security Council, IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei announces to the world that the Niger documents are forgeries.
On March 16, 2003, on NBC's "Meet the Press," Dick Cheney states, when asked about ElBaradei's statement: "I disagree.... we know that he [Saddam] has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. I think Mr. ElBaradei frankly is wrong."
On March 19, 2003, the U.S. launches the war on Iraq.