ted say fraud

Kennedy Says Iraq War Case a 'Fraud'
The Associated Press
Thursday 18 September 2003

BOSTON - The case for going to war against Iraq was a fraud ``made up
in
Texas" to give Republicans a political boost, Sen. Edward Kennedy said
Thursday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy also said the Bush
administration has failed to account for nearly half of the $4 billion
the
war is costing each month. He said he believes much of the
unaccounted-for
money is being used to bribe foreign leaders to send in troops.

He called the Bush administration's current Iraq policy ``adrift."

The White House declined to comment Thursday.

The Massachusetts Democrat also expressed doubts about how serious a
threat Saddam Hussein posed to the United States in its battle against
terrorism. He said administration officials relied on ``distortion,
misrepresentation, a selection of intelligence" to justify their case
for
war.

``There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas, announced
in
January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place
and
was going to be good politically. This whole thing was a fraud," Kennedy

said.

Kennedy said a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office showed

that only about $2.5 billion of the $4 billion being spent monthly on
the
war can be accounted for by the Bush administration.

``My belief is this money is being shuffled all around to these
political
leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops," he
said.

Of the $87 billion in new money requested by President Bush for the
war,
Kennedy said the administration should be required to report back to the

Congress to account for the spending.

``We want to support our troops because they didn't make the decision
to
go there ... but I don't think it should be open-ended. We ought to have
a
benchmark where the administration has to come back and give us a
report,"
he added.

Kennedy said the focus on Iraq has drawn the nation's attention away
from
more direct threats, including al-Qaida, instability in Afghanistan or
the
nuclear ambitions of North Korea.

``I think all of those pose a threat to the security of the people of
Massachusetts much more than the threat from Iraq," Kennedy said.
``Terror
has been put on the sidelines for the last 12 months."

Kennedy was one of 23 senators who voted last October against
authorizing
Bush to use military force to disarm Iraq.

Earlier this year, he supported a Democratic amendment that would have

delayed most of the president's proposed tax cuts, and most spending
increases, until the administration provided cost estimates for the Iraq

war. The amendment failed.
-- -Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island
http://www.anaphoria.com
The Wandering Medicine Show
KXLU 88.9 FM WED 8-9PM PST

Thanks. I saw this last week and of course it didn't get major press.

Buried news.

--
* David Beardsley
* microtonal guitar
* http://biink.com/db