[antimedia] antimedia: The long, hard slog

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Posted by antimedia:
The long, hard slog
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1154092408.shtml


   This is part four of the Dave Gaubatz story. ([1]Part 1 reveals Dave's
   background and his sterling qualifications for the work he was tasked
   to do in Iraq. [2]Part 2 covers the period of time he spent gathering
   intelligence data in Iraq and the stunning evidence of new WMD and
   banned missiles that he found while there. [3]Part 3 discusses Dave's
   early efforts to get the WMD sites exploited and the reasons those
   efforts failed.)
   This article will show the incredible lengths that Dave went to in an
   effort to get the sites in southern Iraq investigated. Despite
   overwhelming odds and an extremely skeptical attitude by many, Dave
   plowed on, agreeing to interviews, making presentations and calling
   Congressional offices, trying to find someone who would listen to him.
   Early in 2005 (almost two years after first reporting his findings),
   realizing that no one was going to follow up on his intelligence, Dave
   went on a media offensive. He appeared on the [4]Gary McNamara show
   (WBAP, in Dallas), and revealed publicly, for the first time, what he
   had found in Iraq. Since that time he has been on several radio shows
   including the Tony Snow Show, John Batchelor, Darrell Ankarlo
   (Dallas), and other shows. He has also appeared on tv on Fox News Live
   with Eric Shawn, and on the [5]CBN show with Erick Stakelbeck.
   The Dallas Morning News still has not covered his story, and the only
   local tv channel to do so was the CBS affiliate, [6]Channel 11, but
   that wasn't until late in June, 2006.
   Gaubatz conducted his [7]first newspaper interview, with the New York
   Sun, in early February, 2006, revealing that "he found four sealed
   underground bunkers in southern Iraq that he is sure contain stocks of
   chemical and biological weapons. But when he asked American weapons
   inspectors to check out the sites, he was rebuffed."
   The Sun article was discussed at [8]Weeklystandard.com and [9]Global
   Security Newswire and alluded to at [10]Worldthreats.com without
   attestation. No major news media outlet picked up the story.
   About two weeks later, Gaubatz spoke at [11]an intelligence summit in
   Arlington, VA, repeating the information he had given the Sun.
   During the same time frame, Gaubatz began a series of contacts with
   Congressman Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania and Congressman Peter Hoekstra
   of Michigan, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on
   Intelligence, (more about them later) in an attempt to raise
   congressional interest in his finds.
   On April 6, [12]Dave was interviewed by Frontpagemag.com, and late in
   May he appeared on the [13]Assyrian International News Agency network,
   briefly mentioning his find. The national media continued to ignore
   him.
   Finally, on June 23^rd, the same day the local Dallas channel covered
   the story, the NY Times [14]published a story, the title of which was
   For Diehards, Search for Iraq's W.M.D. Isn't Over. The Times story
   didn't attempt to refute Dave's testimony, however the tone was
   obviously condescending.

     The final report of the group, by Charles A. Duelfer, special
     adviser on Iraqi weapons to the C.I.A., concluded that any
     stockpiles had been destroyed long before the war and that
     transfers to Syria were "unlikely."
     "We did not visit every inch of Iraq," Mr. Duelfer said in an
     interview. "That would have been impossible. We did not check every
     rumor that came along."
     But he said important officials in Mr. Hussein's government, with
     every incentive to win favor with the Americans by exposing
     stockpiles, convinced him that the weapons were gone.
     Mr. Duelfer said he remained open to new evidence.
     "I've seen lots of good-hearted people who thought they saw
     something," he said. "But none of the reports have panned out."

   I guess Dave is one of those "good-hearted people who thought they saw
   something" and was spreading "rumors", in the eyes of the Times. Lost
   in the condescension was Dave's impeccable credentials as well as the
   solid evidence of WMD that he and his agents collected.
   What prompted both the Times and the local CBS affiliate to pick up
   the story was probably some meetings that took place in Dallas on June
   14^th and 15^th. On those days, Dave Gaubatz met with DIA and FBI
   agents, at the FBI building in downtown Dallas, and discussed the
   sites in Iraq.

     The DIA/CIA and myself reviewed real time satellite images of the
     grid coordinates. They were as described and the DIA/CIA know the
     intelligence on the sites are accurate.

   Finally, someone was taking Gaubatz's claims seriously.
   Apparently, it was those meetings that prompted the recent flurry of
   activity, culminating in the [15]revelation today that WMD have been
   confirmed at all four sites.
   My next article will detail Dave's frustrating contacts with
   Congressmen Weldon and Hoekstra.

References

   1. http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1153798086.shtml
   2. http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1153893871.shtml
   3. http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1153976802.shtml
   4. http://www.wbap.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.midnighttrucking.com/gmcnamara.html
   5. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/iraq/060330a.aspx
   6. http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_174230205.html
   7. http://www.nysun.com/article/27183
   8. http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2006/02/todays_ny_sun_iraqwmd_piece_an.html
   9. http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2006/2/8/b010ec67-473f-459d-85a0-133ea0254402.html
  10. http://www.worldthreats.com/Monthly%20Analysis/MA_February_2006.htm
  11. http://intelligencesummit.org/speakers/DavidGaubatz.php
  12. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21924
  13. http://www.aina.org/news/20060526103150.htm
  14. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/us/23believers.html?ex=1308715200&en=0414e2e3f9ef4cc7&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss
  15. http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1154055089.shtml