Day: October 27, 2004

Another Drudge Siren…

GERTZ // THURSDAY // WASH TIMES: Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein’s weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned. John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, “almost certainly” removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad.

Russia tied to Iraq´s missing arms; Pentagon: Weaponry relocated before war.

Now does Kerry regret making this his number one issue 6 days before the election?

More: As the story continues to crumble for Kerry, ABC News reports that documents Show Iraqis May Be Overstating Amount of Missing Material.

Note to self – in the future, when a video camera is rolling, resist the temptation to do anything that can incriminate your future political aspirations, like picking ones nose, incessantly combing ones hair, or giving the finger while looking straight into the camera lens. (QuickTime required)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D) of Iowa, wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Iowan in which he claims unequivocally that if Bush is re-elected, “he will have to restart the draft”. The letter goes on to say…

“Americans today have good reasons to fear the return of the draft. George W. Bush may have avoided the draft when he was a young man. But if re-elected, he will not be able to avoid the draft as president.”

Outrageous.

(H/T – The Corner)

Bush at rally in Pennsylvania:

“After repeatedly calling Iraq the wrong war, and a diversion, Senator Kerry this week seemed shocked to learn that Iraq is a dangerous place, full of dangerous weapons…”

“If Senator Kerry had his way… Saddam Hussein would still be in power. He would control those all of those weapons and explosives and could share them with his terrorist friends. Now the senator is making wild charges about missing explosives, when his top foreign policy adviser admits, quote, ‘We do not know the facts.’ Think about that: The senator is denigrating the actions of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts…”

“Our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios, including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops even arrived at the site. This investigation is important and it’s ongoing. And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief.”

(H/T – Drudge)

While there hasn’t yet been a definitive report on the health of Yasser Arafat, evidence points to the fact that he is very ill and may be near death.

The Kerry Spot has further details, and The Daily Recycler has a Fox News TV report.

Still More: A late report from Reuters in Los Angeles.

Michelle Malkin links to those who are familiar with this person who is the focus of a new videotape which purportedly predicts a pre-election day terror event in America.

The siren is out – ABCNEWS holds terror warning video.

MORE: Drudge’s page is getting hammered, so here’s the text of his latest alert.

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED OCT 27, 2004 12:42:01 ET XXXXX

ABCNEWS HOLDS TERROR WARNING TAPE

**Exclusive**

In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. “The streets will run with blood,” and “America will mourn in silence” because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.

ABCNEWS strongly denies holding the tape back from broadcast over political concerns during the last days of the election.

The CIA is analyzing the tape, a top federal source tells the DRUDGE REPORT.

ABCNEWS obtained the tape from a source in Waziristan, Pakistan over the weekend, sources tells DRUDGE.

“We have been working 24 hours a day trying to authenticate [the tape],” a senior ABCNEWS source said Wednesday morning.

The terrorist’s face is concealed by a head dress, and he speaks in an American accent, making it difficult to identify the individual.

A top goverment source tells DRUDGE, US intelligence officials believe the man on tape may be Adam Gadhan – aka Adam Pearlman, a southern California native who was highlighted by the FBI in May as an individual most likely to be involved in or have knowledge of the next al Qaeda attacks.

According to the FBI, Gadahn, 25, attended al-Qaida training camps and served as an al-Qaida translator.

The disturbing tape runs an hour — the man simply identifies himself as ‘Assam the American.

“Kerry has leveled an extraordinarily harsh wartime charge against President Bush. Shouldn’t he at least make sure that such a charge is true?”

Bill Kristol comments on the Kerry campaigns embrace of the missing weapons story and their rush to include it in Kerry’s stump speech and new ad “Obligation”.

The twisting and turning of the missing weapons story continues. The premise of the original story on Monday has not survived to today, and now the NYT attempts to include new accurate information while simultaneously keeping the older story alive for Kerry.