[antimedia] antimedia: Navigating the Washington maze

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Posted by antimedia:
Navigating the Washington maze
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1154229297.shtml


   This is part five 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. [4]Part 4 deals with the herculean efforts Dave
   performed in his effort to get his story told and [most importantly]
   the sites investigated.)
   This article deals with Dave's efforts to get Congress involved and
   the odd journey that took him on. In February, 2006, after speaking,
   by invitation, at [5]an intelligence summit in Arlington, VA, Dave was
   contacted by Congressman Peter Hoekstra's office. Over a series of
   phone calls, Gaubatz discussed what he knew about the sites with
   members of Hoekstra's staff and answered their questions during the
   calls.
   Later, Congressman Curt Weldon's office contacted Gaubatz and arranged
   a meeting between the Congressman and two of his aides and Gaubatz, in
   the Congressman's office, on March 16^th. According to Gaubatz, at
   that meeting

     [Weldon requested I re-write all of the intelligence infromation I
     had obtained in 2003. He did not want to request the report from
     DOD because they may try and take credit for finding the WMD.
     Congressman Weldon had me send the report to his staff member
     (REDACTED) at his private residence. He did not want the
     intelligence package to go through the Congressional mail because
     he was afraid someone may see it and know he was working on a WMD
     matter without any other committee members knowledge.

   Although the contents are not specified, I have seen a copy of a FedEx
   message, sent to Weldon's staff member on March 20, 2006. I have also
   seen an email from that same staff member acknowledging receipt of the
   package. According to a source in AFOSI, no official request has ever
   been received for the 36 IIRs that Dave and his team of agents
   submitted while in Iraq.
   Readers may recall that Congressman Weldon has almost single-handedly
   kept the Able Danger investigation going, against [6]tremendous
   opposition and stonewalling from DIA and the DoD, ridicule from the
   media and 9/11 Commission members and great political risk. Although
   it seems odd that Weldon might want to conceal something from his
   fellow committee members, I'm not the least bit surprised that he
   would [7]distrust the DoD.
   The following months saw a flurry of phone calls back and forth,
   between Gaubatz, Weldon and others in Weldon's office, discussing
   details, clarifying information and, according to Gaubatz, planning a
   trip to Iraq to investigate the sites. That is where the story gets
   strange.
   According to Gaubatz, Weldon and Hoekstra wanted to travel to Iraq,
   along with Gaubatz and four Iraqi witnesses who were brought to
   America for their protection. There were three possible scenarios;
   they would go to Iraq and find the weapons, they would go to Iraq and
   not find any weapons, or they would go to Iraq and discover that the
   sites had already been emptied by someone else.
   The first option would result in a triumphant press conference
   announcing the discovery. The other two would result in silence about
   what they had found because the information would be very damaging to
   the administration. Once the political calculations began, Gaubatz
   wanted no part of the affair and rescinded his offer to go to Iraq.
   As soon as Gaubatz backed out, things began to get nasty. According to
   Gaubatz, the Iraqi witnesses, for whom a return to Iraq would be a
   death sentence, have been told not to talk to anyone about the
   ill-fated trip. Federal, AFOSI agents, have been told to remain quiet
   as well. (The threat to them is obvious, if they don't.)
   I contacted the Congressmen's offices asking for comment, however I
   have not received a response from either office.
   As you know, if you read my blog, Senator Santorum has now [8]publicly
   stated that the existence of WMD at the sites has been confirmed. This
   has been done through the study of satellite imagery.
   AFOSI agents are still stationed near An Nasiriyah. They have asked
   for the 36 IIRs so they could follow up, but their request has not
   been fulfilled. However, without tasking orders, heavy equipment and
   manpower, they will not be equipped to exploit the sites. These same
   officers have also found that many of the Iraqi sources Gaubatz and
   his team collected evidence from have been assassinated.
   Whatever the truth is about the past five months, it is well past time
   for our government to set aside politics and exploit the sites. We
   cannot afford to leave WMD sitting around, waiting for terrorists to
   grab them and use them against innocent civilians.
   Leave the press out of it. Ignore the political implicaitons. Secure
   the weapons and destroy them now.

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.antimedia.us/posts/1154092408.shtml
   5. http://intelligencesummit.org/speakers/DavidGaubatz.php
   6. http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1148272584.shtml
   7. http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1140474785.shtml
   8. http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1154055089.shtml