While CIA chief George Tenent denies that his boss and good friend, George W. Bush put any pressure on him or his employees to alter intelligence on Iraq's WMD, the absolute opposite is happening in Britain. The Independent newspaper reported on Feb. 4 that Brian Jones, the former leading expert of WMD in the UK Ministry of Defense, maintains that not a single defense intelligence expert supported Tony Blair's strongest claims of Iraq's WMD capabilities in the September 2002 dossier that formed the basis for much of George Bush's argument to go to war with Iraq. Jones says that intelligence experts questioned everything from Blair's assertion that Iraq was actively producing chemical weapons to the "45-minute claim"--that Iraq could deploy WMD within 45 minutes of a US/UK invasion. Further, Jones said that John Scarlett, the head of the Joint Intelligence Committee (the equivalent position to Condi Rice's job in Bush's cabinet) was responsible for inserting these controversial claims in the dossier. Jones is heading off a similar inquiry to the one proposed here; he claims that the British military intelligence community should not be blamed for Tony Blair's political failures. Will the US Congress push for an inquiry into George Bush's political failures? With Republicans controlling both houses, and this an election year? Don't hold your breath.--Maria Tomchick. Source: "Intelligence chief's bombshell: 'We were overruled on dossier,'" Paul Waugh, The Independent, 2/4/04, http://news.independent.co.uk/low_res/story.jsp?story=487557&host=3&dir=62

Here's an interesting fact that you won't find in the news. Buried deep within an Associated Press wire service article, in paragraph number 22 of 23, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy chief of operations for the US army in Baghdad, told the Associated Press that average daily attacks against US soldiers in Iraq went down to 18 per day in December, but are now back up to 23 per day--the same level as before Saddam was captured. Hhmm. I'd comment, but I think the data speaks for itself.--M.T. Source: US Troops Dying at Rate of Over 1 a Day," Robert Burns, AP, 2/3/04.

George Bush's whole plan to hand over power to a new Iraqi government and start pulling US troops out of the country by June 2004 is based on training and deploying 40,000 new Iraqi paramilitary troops to keep order. Compare this number with the 35,000 police who patrol the streets of New York City, and you'll have an idea of how disconnected the Bush administration is from reality. This past week, the first members of the Iraqi civil defense forces, as they're called, were deployed in Baghdad. The Chicago Tribune sent reporter Evan Osnos to check up on them and see how they're doing in their new jobs. What Osnos found was shocking: the new Iraqi paramilitaries are operating without radios, bullet proof vests, gasoline, or even a single functioning vehicle to take on patrol. Said the unit commander, "...even the pens and paper are from home." They also lack the most basic necessity of an Iraqi security force: concrete barriers to protect their headquarters from suicide car bombers. Of course, there's nothing inside the headquarters to bomb--no furniture and not even any electricity--except, of course, the Iraqi paramilitaries themselves, who are obviously expendable. Wait a minute--didn't Congress vote a few billion dollars to help train and equip these guys? Oh, yeah, that was money to equip Vinnell Corp. shareholders.--M.T. Source: "Gear slow to arrive for Iraqis," Evan Osnos, Chicago Tribune, 2/5/04.

"Homeland" Security Update: it was made public that Workers dismantling an aging nuclear weapon improperly secured broken pieces of a highly explosive component by taping them together, federal investigators found. An explosion could have occurred, they said.

The incident was among several recent safety lapses at the Energy Department's Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas, noted by the independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. In another instance, workers taking apart an old warhead last fall accidentally drilled into the warhead's radioactive core, forcing evacuation of the facility.

In perhaps the grossest understatement to-date of the young millennium, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chairman John Conway mused that the lapse increased the risk of a "violent reaction", from which could be reaped "potentially unacceptable consequences".

Anybody else picturing a groovy Family Circus cartoon just screaming to be drawn? In the background we see a looming mushroom cloud, while in the foreground, the mom admonishes the kids: "This is not acceptable! Who's responsible for this?" As, of course, the ubiquitous "not me" phantom beats a hasty retreat.

Shortly after the above-noted, ah, deficiencies were made revealed, the Bush Administration, in keeping with Dubya's promise to "act, whenever it is necessary, to protect the lives and the liberty of the American people," leapt into action, and is now "looking at waiving some government safety standards at federal nuclear facilities if contractors don't like them--after Congress directed it to start fining the contractors for violations."--Eddie Tews

ETS! Volunteer Opportunity! The ETS! subscriber base is growing--that's good. But the rising tide is fast making the current method of schlepping subscriptions to the post office--busing and walking--impossible. So, we need a motor-car owner to pick up the bulk mailing every-other Wednesday (or Thursday or Friday, if that better fits your schedule) from our office in the University District (at 47th and 12th), and drop it off at the downtown Bellevue Post Office (at Bellevue Way and NE 10th). The postage fees will be pre-paid, and the mailing will be pre-prepared, so the task will consist solely of transporting the mailing, and packing it into three separate mailing bags. Will train. Total time spent inside the Post Office will be about 5 minutes, with no waiting in line. If interested, contact me at (206) 855-0876 or mailto:tews@drizzle.com.E.T.