Torricelli on Judith Miller
By Robert TorricelliAt a Manhattan restaurant earlier in the year I was confronted by someone whose actions remain central to our current national calamity. While politicians and pundits debate the errors and miscalculations that led America into a foolish and dangerous war, she has remained safely out of the fray.
Former NY Times Correspondent Judith Miller offered a casual greeting and continued with her meal. She resumed her conversation but my mind returned to late 2001 and the early months of 2002.
Members of Congress were listening to the Bush Administration's claim about Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Senior Members of Congress were skeptical because of the new President's inexperience. Most of the leadership had lived through the intelligence community's actions in Central America and the Cold War. There wasn't much credibility there either.
The Congress was left between the reality of U.N. weapons inspectors who couldn't find evidence of weapons of mass destruction and the insistent claim of the Administration that they existed. It was going to be a close call if the President decided to ask for authorization to go to war.
Entering into the debate was The New York Times. Judith Miller was advanced as the new expert on all things Iraqi. In a series of articles, relying on Iraqi defectors, she revealed an extensive effort to develop chemical weapons. She added credence to the now famous aluminum tubes that were allegedly acquired to enrich uranium. The revelations included information on twenty sites dedicated to chemical production and the frightening news that a new chemical weapon had been developed to cling to soldiers' uniforms.
As the months passed the prospect of these weapons in the Iraqi arsenal only became more frightening. "Sources" estimated that a nuclear weapon could be assembled in a year. In a now famous line, she wrote that the first warning sign of Iraqi nuclear weapons "may be a mushroom cloud".
Judith Miller wouldn't be the first reporter to be used by her sources. We now know that the defectors feeding her information were manipulating the United States for their own purposes. Her U.S. Government sources were giving her propaganda recast as intelligence.
What was different about Judith Miller is that her writing helped tip the scales of a skeptical Congress. She was more subtle than her journalistic predecessor William Randolph Hearst in rallying America into the Spanish American War. The result was no different. Those of us who voted for the war bear the responsibility. We can blame the President and complain about false intelligence but we were elected to lift the veil of deceit and find truth in the pursuit of the national interest.
Truth also requires an accounting of all of the factors that led to one of the great miscalculations of American history. The New York Times and the lady at the next table that night are a part of that equation.
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Miller and the Times Stories Were a Factor...
On the other hand, I also recall reading contemporaneous stories in the Times about intelligence analysts feeling pressured.
There were plenty of indications that the invasion was going to be a disastrous massively hellaciously horrific boondoggle.
Throughout the winter of 2002/2003 many of us were fully cognizant of the fact that Bush et al were not to be trusted. Hadn't they recently stolen an election!
It was obvious to many millions of Americans and most of the rest of the planet that the Bush cabal was using the emotional fallout/fear that resulted from the 9-11 attacks to push their own sick agendas.
In Feb of 2003 I and many thousands of others flooded into Manhattan to protest the build up to war. Desmond Tutu and others spoke forcefully against the Bush agenda.
All over the planet there were demonstrations telling us to butt out of Iraq and to let the UN Inspectors finish their jobs.
Judith Miller swallowed the lies hook line and sinker. Her personal ambition exceeded her journalistic integrity...something analogous happened in the US Congress.
We were lied/conned into this invasion/occupation/war.
Have you noticed that every bad decision resulted in more money being wasted/stolen?
This is/was way more than just incompetence.
On October 11th 2002, then Senator John Corzine voted AGAINST giving Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq...and you voted for it.
So, sure, Judith Miller was part of the big lie. Many saw through it...you failed to.
That was a horrible mistake; please own up to it!
From Frederick Douglass
How was the food?
That's about the only question I'm afraid your credibility affords you the ability to answer and be taken seriously, Mr. Torricelli.
George Ajjan
CIA
I wonder if Bob was having dinner with Bianca Jagger?? So am I to understand that congress gets it's intelligence information form the NY Times, and not the United States government?? Hey, let's use the National Enquirer as a source next time we go to war.
Are you all idiots????
Dear Politics NJ -- Can't we require people who respond to these blogs to at least read them before they do? Own up to the mistake? Mr. Lento, did you see the line about bearing up to the responsibility for the vote and failing to see through the "veil of deceit"? What more do you want?? And "Great One Fan" , don't you remember the Pentagon Papers during Vietnam? Where was it that alot of people -- including our Congressmen -- learned about the illegal wiretapping earlier this year? From leaks to the press! Good or bad, it's reality that the press, aka "The Fourth Estate" plays a role in our democracy. I think Torricelli's point is that he bears the burden of the vote, the President bears the burden of asking for the vote and the execution of the war that followed. Well the press bears some part too. And not surprisingly, the media's role in this debacle has not been written about much. Think of all the flowery stories written about Judith Miller went she went to jail because she refused to give up her source. Talking about losing sight of the forest for the trees!! The media focused on poor Judith having to go to jail because she wouldn't squeal on her source (OK, that's good, I support that) but did it ever occur to any reporter, commentator or editorial page writer that maybe there's another Judith Miller story that has a much greater impact on our country? That's what Torricelli wrote about and he's spot on. And oh "Great One" you're probably just jealous because you couldn't get a date period, let alone with Bianca Jagger!
I, I, I, Me, Me, Me...
At last check, Judith Miller didn't have a vote in the U.S. Congress. In searching for the "truth," one need look no further than the parking lot of a convenience store in Lambertville.
A reply to Yellow
Yellow, I'm sure you were so happy that the public was informed the United States Government was wiretapping suspected terrorist phone calls. They were happy too! As far as the Pentagon Paper, they revealed the governments expanded roll in Vietnam before the American people were told of it. Hey, let's print up all of our war plans and distribute them to the world. Is that your idea?? As far as getting a date, lets keep personal attacks out of this. Typical "Clinton, Inc." attack. You libs always have to attack people. You can't debate the issue, you have to attack the person. Remember this about Torricelli: In 1995, then-Rep. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., made secrets public at the behest of left-wing activist Bianca Jagger, his girlfriend at the time, according to Newark Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine in the January/February issue of Heterodoxy. The secrets suggested that the CIA had on its payroll one or more unsavory characters who had been involved in murder. Torricelli gave away secrets he obtained through his membership on the House Intelligence Committee. Is that who you want to protect this country?? Torricelli and Jagger?? By the way, have you seen Bianca lately?? Not my type.
Reply to Great Obuse One
Oh (un)GreatOne, let me try again since you do seem to get the point. My point was that the press plays a role in government -- whether you like it or not. I wasn't arguing whether or not the press should have revealed the wire tapping or the Pentagon Papers. Rather, my point is that press plays a role in policymaking and in Iraq War run up and WMD debate, the press's participation needs to be scrutinized.
And perhaps you need a little history lesson on the "Torricelli Amendment" and the CIA. Are you telling me that you really like the idea that the US Government hires people to murder American citizens? I don't. And Torricelli went public because the US government REFUSED to admit to its own US Citizen, the victim's wife, that it had a hand in the murder. For years this American citizen had been asking the U.S. Ambassador, the State Department, anyone in the US Government what had happened to her husband. She was told at one point he had committed suicide and was told where his grave was; she dug it up and found it empty. How would like that? The President's National Security Advisor told her the US government had "scraped the bottom of the barrel" and had not found anything. Sorry. The truth was an American citizen was tortured for months, maybe more, before being murdered by a CIA-paid for operative. And to make matters worse, our government wouldn't even tell the victim's wife what had happened.
It was not until she started a hunger strike in front of the White House that the CIA finally owned up to the truth: What this "lib" doesn't care for is a government that sponsors murder of US citizens and then lies to its own citizens about it. Maybe that's OK by you, but not by me.
And before you get hysterical about what the Torricelli amendment required, all it said was that before the CIA hires someone who has a criminal record, that person has to be approved by a superior in Washington. The CIA can hire whoever they want -- they always could even under the Torricelli Ammendment. It was a policy that the CIA Director agreed made sense. Without Torricelli's guts, we'd have low level CIA agents hiring thugs with no accountability.
You don't get the point
Dear Yellow, I understand what your point is. You don't understand mine. I don't want people like Jason Blair driving decisions in Washington. As far as our intelligence agencies are concern, the Torch has a horrible track record of understanding what their job is and how to do it. For example, Another amendment he proposed (amendment 416 on 6/19/97 - Intelligence Authorization Act of 1998) was to disclose the total amount of intelligence funding each year. If you think that's a good idea, fine. I don't and I think the crook is very misguided and naive.
I'm not an ostrich.
Dear (UN)Greatone -- So now I understand. You're one who puts all trust in our government all the time. Our system of government is predicated on an informed public knowing what its government is doing; just disclosing how much the CIA spends is going to risk our freedom? I think not. I think the Torch understands the CIA all too well. They prefer to operate on their own unchecked by the civilian leadership of our government. That's exactly what the whole Harbury episode was all about: CIA operatives lying to superiors in DC to cover up their actions. Who knows how many other incidents like it took place that we'll never know our tax dollars paid for. Not for me thank you.
Enough Said
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Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp -- author of the much-disputed "Shock Troops" article in the New Republic's July 23 issue as well as two previous "Baghdad Diarist" columns -- signed a sworn statement admitting that all three articles he published in the New Republic were exaggerations and falsehoods...