'A Case Not Closed' Jude Wanniski October 1, 2002

Memo To: President George W. Bush
From: Jude Wanniski
Re: Recommended Reading

Dear Mr. President:

The reports that you have been citing Saddam Hussein’s attempt to kill your father have been troubling some Americans that you have a personal stake in your plans for U.S. military action to destroy him and his regime. I’ve made several attempts to get your close advisors to read and pass on to you the Seymour Hersh article that appeared in the November 1, 1993 New Yorker. It is entitled, “A Case Not Closed,” and directly challenges the core argument that Baghdad was in any way involved in the alleged “episode” in Kuwait City, where a bomb was supposedly found near a hotel where your father was staying on a visit after he had left the presidency. I believe if you had read the article you would at least be asking for a review of these charges, as it has never made any sense to me that Saddam Hussein would do anything so foolish. Hersh found that the Iraqi who was arrested on the charge, and who confessed to having been sent by Iraqi intelligence to do the job, had been tortured by Kuwaiti police into that confession. After he was sentenced to death, he told the Kuwaiti court that he had not been sent by the government.

If you do decide to give the order to war with Iraq, I think it would be better that you did not have this misinformation bearing on the decision. It is a lengthy article, but I think you should read it in its entirety. I’m grateful to the editors of The New Yorker who have recovered it from their archives, posting it on their website to make it easier for interested parties to access it.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?020930fr_archive02

Sincerely,

Jude Wanniski