Habbush letter
The letter also claims that Hussein accepted a shipment from Niger, an apparent reference to an alleged uranium acquisition attempt that U.S. President George W. Bush cited in his January 2003 State of the Union address.[1] John Conyers, Chairman of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, released a report into the allegations in 2009, in which he concluded that "the Administration figures who ordered and authored the apparent forgery ... remain unidentified".[4]Ayad Allawi, interim Prime Minister of Iraq, was quoted in the original report, offering personal assurance over the document's authenticity: "We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda.Three weeks later, in an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke more broadly on Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations: We haven't really had the time yet to pore through all those records in Baghdad.[9] Ron Suskind, in his 2008 book The Way of the World, claimed that the Habbush letter had been forged by the White House, with the co-operation of senior CIA officials, including Robert Richer, the Associate Deputy Director of Operations.Suskind claimed to have held tape-recorded interviews with Richer, Maguire, and Nigel Inkster of the British Secret Intelligence Service, in which they apparently testified that the White House was behind the forging of the letter.[16] In The American Conservative on August 7, 2008, Philip Giraldi stated that "extremely reliable and well placed source in the intelligence community" told him that Suskind's basic story about the White House ordering the forgery was correct but that some of his details were not.[17] According to Giraldi, his source cleared CIA officials George Tenet, Robert Richer, and John Maguire of involvement, but stated that Dick Cheney ordered the forgery using the Office of Special Plans run by Douglas Feith.
Arabicromanizedal-QaedaTahir Jalil Habbush al-TikritiSaddam HusseinMohamed AttaSeptember 11 attacksuraniumGeorge W. BushState of the UnionRon SuskindCentral Intelligence AgencyWhite Housechain of commandJohn ConyersUnited States House Committee on the JudiciarySaddam Hussein's captureThe Daily TelegraphLondonhijackers in the September 11 attacksCon CoughlinIraqi Interim GovernmentIraqi Intelligence ServicePresident of IraqBa'ath Revolution PartyEgyptianAbu Nidalal-DoraAyad AllawiPrime Minister of IraqDeroy MurdockWilliam SafireNew York TimesVice PresidentDick CheneySaddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegationsBaghdadMichael IsikoffMark HosenballIraqi National CongressAhmed ChalabiThe Way of the WorldRobert Richerinvasion of IraqinsurgencyJordanNigel InksterSecret Intelligence ServiceGeorge TenetJames PavittThe American ConservativePhilip GiraldiOffice of Special PlansDouglas FeithJoe ConasonLewis LibbyA. B. KrongardJohn HannahIraq WarIraq War misappropriationsMohamed Atta's alleged Prague connectionNiger uranium forgeriesConyers, JohnWayback MachineSprengelmeyer, M. E.Giraldi, PhilipGrim, RyanDwyer, JimFroomkin, DanThe Washington PostDisinformationmisinformationAlgorithmic radicalizationAlternative factsBig lieCherry pickingCircular reportingCognitive biasList of cognitive biasesConspiracy theoryDeceptionDenialismDisinformation attackDoublespeakEuphemistic misspeakingFactoidFake newsonlinelist of websitesFallacyList of fallaciesFalse accusationFalse dilemmaFalse flagFear, uncertainty, and doubtFirehose of falsehoodForgery as covert operationGaslightingHalf-truthHistorical negationismInfodemicInternet manipulationManipulation (psychology)Media cultureMedia manipulationPotemkin villagePost-truth politicsPsychological warfareMemetic warfareMilitary deceptionPropagandablack propagandacounterpropagandaState-sponsored Internet propagandaQuote miningScientific fabricationSmearingSocial botTruthinessUrban legendWhataboutismYellow journalismDisinformation by Ion Mihai PacepaDezinformatsia: Active Measures in Soviet StrategyThe KGB and Soviet DisinformationWho's Who in the CIA