Habbush letter
The Habbush letter, or Habbush memo (
The authenticity of the letter has been disputed since it was first made public in December 2003. In 2008, journalist Ron Suskind claimed that it was a forgery created by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), under the direction of the White House. Two of Suskind's sources denied having knowledge of anyone in their chain of command ordering the forging the letter.[1] John Conyers, Chairman of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, released a report into the allegations in 2009, in which he concluded that "the Administration figures who ordered and authored the apparent forgery ... remain unidentified".[2]
Background
On December 13, 2003, the day of
Coughlin's information came from a secret intelligence memorandum, purportedly handwritten during Saddam Hussein's final days in power and discovered later by the newly formed
Content
Habbush's July 1, 2001, letter is labeled "Intelligence Items" and is addressed: "To the President of the Ba'ath Revolution Party and President of the Republic, may God protect you." It continues:
Mohammed Atta, an Egyptian national, came with Abu Ammer [the real name behind this Arabic alias remains a mystery] and we hosted him in Abu Nidal's house at al-Dora under our direct supervision. We arranged a work program for him for three days with a team dedicated to working with him ... He displayed extraordinary effort and showed a firm commitment to lead the team which will be responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy.[4]
Initial reaction to the letter
Ayad Allawi, interim Prime Minister of Iraq, was quoted in the original report, offering personal assurance over the document's authenticity: "We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda. ... But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."[3]
The story was quickly picked up and repeated by several conservative columnists in the US, including syndicated columnist
Three weeks later, in an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke more broadly on Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations:
We haven't really had the time yet to pore through all those records in Baghdad. We'll find ample evidence confirming the link, that is the connection if you will between al Qaida and the Iraqi intelligence services. They have worked together on a number of occasions.[8]
Doubts
On December 17, 2003, a Newsweek article titled "Terror Watch: Dubious Link Between Atta And Saddam", by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, outlined some of the main reasons to doubt the authenticity of the letter:
... the FBI has compiled a highly detailed time line for Atta's movements throughout the spring and summer of 2001 based on a mountain of documentary evidence, including airline records, ATM withdrawals and hotel receipts. Those records show Atta crisscrossing the United States during this period—making only one overseas trip, an 11-day visit to Spain that didn't begin until six days after the date of the Iraqi memo ... ... Ironically, even the Iraqi National Congress of Ahmed Chalabi, which has been vocal in claiming ties between Al Qaeda and Saddam's regime, was dismissive of the new Telegraph story. "The memo is clearly nonsense", an INC spokesman told Newsweek.
The article also quoted an Iraq document expert named Hassan Mneimneh, as well as unnamed US officials, who claim that the document was probably part of "a thriving new trade in dubious Iraqi documents".[9]
Ron Suskind's allegation
Ron Suskind, in his 2008 book The Way of the World, claimed that the Habbush letter had been forged by the White House, with the co-operation of senior CIA officials, including Robert Richer, the Associate Deputy Director of Operations. The letter was intended to be used as evidence of a link between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, thereby further justifying the invasion of Iraq.
The idea was to take the letter to Habbush and have him transcribe it in his own neat handwriting on a piece of Iraq government stationery, to make it look legitimate. CIA would then take the finished product to Baghdad and have someone release it to the media.[10]
Suskind goes on to describe what he believes happened next: Richer spoke to John Maguire, a CIA Iraq expert, who said that this plan would not work, as Habbush would not sign anything himself because the
Suskind also contends that Habbush, who still carries a $1 million reward for his capture, was secretly resettled in Jordan by the CIA with $5 million in US taxpayers' money.
Suskind claimed to have held tape-recorded interviews with Richer, Maguire, and
On August 5, 2008, the White House issued a statement on behalf of George Tenet, Robert Richer and John Maguire, addressing Suskind's allegation. Tenet said:
It is well established that, at my direction, CIA resisted efforts on the part of some in the Administration to paint a picture of Iraqi – Al-Qaida connections that went beyond the evidence. The notion that I would suddenly reverse our stance and have created and planted false evidence that was contrary to our own beliefs is ridiculous.[13]
The CIA issued its own statement on August 22, 2008, saying that Suskind's allegations regarding Habbush "did not happen",[14] and Tenet followed the same day with a second statement saying that Suskind's charges were "demonstrably false in every regard."[15] Nigel Inkster told the Guardian that "Mr Suskind's characterisation of our meeting is more the stuff of creative fiction than serious reportage".[16]
Subsequent reactions
In The American Conservative on August 7, 2008, Philip Giraldi stated that "extremely reliable and well placed source in the intelligence community" told him that Suskind's basic story about the White House ordering the forgery was correct but that some of his details were not.[17] According to Giraldi, his source cleared CIA officials George Tenet, Robert Richer, and John Maguire of involvement, but stated that Dick Cheney ordered the forgery using the Office of Special Plans run by Douglas Feith.[17]
Author Joe Conason noted that Ayad Allawi had visited CIA headquarters in Langley just days before speaking with Con Coughlin of the Telegraph.[18] Coughlin, in a blog post highly critical of Suskind, confirmed that he had indeed received the letter from Ayad Allawi. He also called the letter a "leak" and said he got it in November 2003, in Baghdad.[19]
See also
- Iraq War
- Iraq War misappropriations
- Mohamed Atta's alleged Prague connection
- Niger uranium forgeries
References
- ^ "Author stands by his claim of White House forgery". MSNBC. August 6, 2008. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
- ^ a b c Conyers, John (January 13, 2009). House Committee on the Judiciary Majority Staff Report to Chairman John Conyers, Jr., Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush (PDF) (Report). Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ a b Coughlin, Con (December 13, 2003). "Terrorist behind September 11 strike was trained by Saddam". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ a b Coughlin, Con (December 13, 2003). "Does this link Saddam to 9/11?" Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "The Capture of Saddam Hussein". Meet The Press. December 14, 2003.
- ^ Murdock, Deroy (December 15, 2003). "On the Interrogation List" at the Wayback Machine (archived June 17, 2010). National Review. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010.
- ^ Safire, William (December 15, 2003). "From the 'Spider Hole'" New York Times.
- ^ Sprengelmeyer, M. E. (January 9, 2004). "Transcript of interview with Vice President Dick Cheney". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2004.
- ^ Isikoff, Michael (December 16, 2003). "Terror Watch: Dubious Link Between Atta And Saddam". Newsweek.
- ISBN 0061430625.
- ^ "Ron Suskind Alleges War Fought On False Premises" at the Wayback Machine (archived August 28, 2008). NPR. August 7, 2008. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008.
- ^ "Interview with Robert Richer". Ron Suskind. August 8, 2008. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012.
- ^ Blackledge, Brett (August 5, 2008). "CIA officials deny fake Iraq-al-Qaida link letter". Associated Press.
- CIA. August 22, 2008. Archived from the originalon January 14, 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
- ^ Tenet, George J. (August 22, 2008). "Statement on Ron Suskind Book". Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (August 6, 2008). "Angry denials are not enough". The Guardian. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
- ^ a b Giraldi, Philip (August 7, 2008). "Suskind Revisited". The American Conservative. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ Conason, Joe (August 8, 2008). "New evidence suggests Ron Suskind is right". Salon.
- ^ Coughlin, Con (August 19, 2008). "The Great WMD Conspiracy Theory Unravels". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "Conyers Announces Review of Allegations of Bush Administration's Forged Iraq Intelligence". United States House of Representatives. August 11, 2008. Archived from the original on November 26, 2008.
- ^ Grim, Ryan (August 20, 2008). "Conyers investigating Suskind allegations". Politico. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ Dwyer, Jim (September 9, 2008). "Missions of Hate and Love, With 9/11 at the Center". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ Conyers, John (January 16, 2009). "Learning the Lessons of the Bush Imperial Presidency". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
Further reading
- Froomkin, Dan (August 5, 2008). "A White House Forgery Scandal?". The Washington Post.
- Froomkin, Dan (August 6, 2008). "The White House's Weak Denials". The Washington Post.
External links
- Interview with Ron Suskind – Part I, Democracy Now.
- Interview with Ron Suskind – Part II, Democracy Now.