Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson (US Army, retired) was the chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. He became known as a mouthpiece of Powell, in that he would verbalize what the Secretary of State would or could not say. He retired from government service in January 2005 at the same time as Powell. Subsequent to their retirement, he and Powell had a falling out over Wilkerson's strident criticism of the administration of George W. Bush. The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The term Chief of Staff can refer to: The White House Chief of Staff, the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. ... Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. ... General Colin Luther Powell, United States Army (Ret. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in January • 29 Ephraim Kishon • 25 Philip Johnson • 23 Johnny Carson • 22 Parveen Babi • 20 Jan Nowak-Jeziorański • 17 Virginia Mayo • 17 Zhao Ziyang • 15 Ruth Warrick • 14 Rudolph Moshammer Recent deaths Ongoing events • Tsunami relief... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and former governor of Texas. ...

History

Wilkerson was born in Gaffney, South Carolina, a son of a Second World War B-17 bombardier and navigator and National Guardsman. His family moved to Houston, Texas, where he graduated from high school. After three years of studying philosophy and English literature at Bucknell University and newly married, he dropped out in 1966 and volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War. Speaking to the Washington Post, Wilkerson stated, "I felt an obligation because my dad had fought,and I thought that was kind of your duty."^[1] Wilkerson arrived as an Army officer piloting an OH-6A scout helicopter and logged about 1100 combat hours over a year. He went on to Ranger and Airborne schools before getting his B.A. in English literature and graduate degrees in international relations and national security. He attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and later returned there to teach. He later served as acting director of the Marine Corps War College at Quantico. Gaffney is a city located in Cherokee County, South Carolina. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... A B_17 nicknamed Sally B in England in 2001 The B_17 Flying Fortress was the first mass_produced, four_engine heavy bomber. ... It has been suggested that National Guard Bureau be merged into this article or section. ... Houston redirects here. ... Official language(s) None. ... Bucknell University is a highly competitive private university located along the Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 60 miles (97 km) north of Harrisburg. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 230,000 South Vietnamese wounded: 300,000 US dead... ... The Hughes H-6 is a family of light utility and assault helicopters of the United States Army. ... Logo of the Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC) of the United States Navy is an education and research institution that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. ... A side street in Newport, Rhode Island, showing the historic buildings near the waterfront Newport is a city located in Newport County, Rhode Island, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Providence. ... Quantico,_Virginia - The town. ...

Wilkerson spent years in the Navy's Pacific Command in South Korea, Japan and Hawaii, where he was well-regarded by his superiors. These recommendations led in early 1989 to a successful interview to become the assistant to Colin Powell, who was then finishing his stint as National Security Advisor in the Ronald Reagan administration and moving to a position in Army Forces Command in Atlanta. He continued this supporting role as Powell became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, through the Gulf War, following Powell into civilian life and then back into public service when President George W. Bush appointed Powell Secretary of State. Official language(s) Hawaiian and English Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 43rd 28,337 km² n/a km 2,450 km 41. ... General Colin Luther Powell, United States Army (Ret. ... -1... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the top uniformed officer of the United States military, and the principal military advisor to the President of the United States. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and former governor of Texas. ... In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ...

Wilkerson was responsible for the one-week review of information from the Central Intelligence Agency that was used to prepare Powell for his February 2003 presentation to the United Nations Security Council. His failure to realize that the evidence was faulty has been blamed on the limited time he had to review the data. The subsequent developments led Wilkerson to become disillusioned: "Combine the detainee abuse issue with the ineptitude of post-invasion planning for Iraq, wrap both in this blanket of secretive decision-making . . . and you get the overall reason for my speaking out."^[1] The CIAs seal features an eagle atop a sixteen-point compass. ... The United Nations Security Council (Arabic:مجلس الأمن الأمم المتحدة; Chinese: 联合国安全理事会; French: Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies; Russian: Совет Безопасности Организации Объединённых Наций; Spanish: Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas) is the most powerful organ of the United Nations (UN). ...

Wilkerson teaches a special topics course on the National Security Council at the College of William & Mary. He also instructs a senior seminar in the Honors Department at the George Washington University entitled "National Security Decision Making". He and his wife Barbara have two children; his son is an Air Force navigator while his daughter was in the Army but has since returned to civilian life. The College of William and Mary in Virginia is a public, liberal_arts university located in Williamsburg, Virginia. ... The George Washington University (GWU) is a private university in Washington, D.C., founded in 1821 as The Columbian College. ...

Iraq War Intelligence was "a Hoax"

During an October 19, 2005 speech at the New America Foundation, Wilkerson gave a stinging criticism of the entire intelligence community which compiled the Iraq War Intelligence. He had criticism for U.S. intelligence agencies as well as the international community including the French, Germans, and British who all believed the intelligence prior to the Iraq War. The New America Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy institute and think tank located in Washington, DC which is attempting to promote innovative political solutions that transcend conventional party lines - what they call Radical centrist politics. ...

"I can’t tell you why the French, the Germans, the Brits and us thought that most of the material, if not all of it, that we presented at the U.N. on 5 February 2003 was the truth"

(video[1] , Transcript [2])

In an interview that aired on PBS in Spring 2006 Wilkerson claimed that the speech Powell made before the United Nations on Feb. 5, 2003, laying out a case for war with Iraq, included falsehoods of which Powell had never been made aware. He said, "My participation in that presentation at the UN constitutes the lowest point in my professional life. I participated in a hoax on the American people, the international community and the United Nations Security Council." 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A hoax is an attempt to trick an audience into believing that something false is real. ...

He stated in the interview that he was "intimately involved in the preparation of Secretary Powell for his five February 2003 presentation at the UN Security Council" and that neither CIA Director George Tenent nor the CIA analysts involved in furnishing Powell with the information on mobile biological laboratories that he would use in his speech gave any indication that there were disputes about the reliability of the informants who had supplied this information.

Wilkerson still sees this lapse as the result of a profound intelligence failure, saying, "I have to believe that. Otherwise I have to believe some rather nefarious things about some fairly highly placed people in the intelligence community and perhaps elsewhere."

Wilkerson also agreed with the interviewer that Vice President Cheney's frequent trips to the CIA would inevitably have brought "undue influence" on the agency. When asked if Cheney was "the kind of guy who could lean on somebody" he responded, "Absolutely. And be just as quiet and taciturn about it as-- he-- as he leaned on 'em. As he leaned on the Congress recently-- in the-- torture issue."

Wilkerson stood strongly by his earlier description of Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld as having formed a cabal to hijack the decision-making process, emphasizing both their determination to ignore the Geneva Conventions and the "inept and incompetent" planning for post-invasion Iraq. And he concluded, "I'm worried and I would rather have the discussion and debate in the process we've designed than I would a diktat from a dumb strongman. . . . I'd prefer to see the squabble of democracy to the efficiency of dictators." A cabal is a number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in a church, state, or other community by intrigue. ...

References

1. ^ ^a b Breaking Ranks, Washington Post, 19 January 2006

... January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Department of State Biography: Lawrence B. Wilkerson, November 28, 2003.
• SourceWatch profile of Lawrence Wilkerson
• Colonel Finally Saw Whites of Their Eyes, Dana Milbank, The Washington Post, 20 October 2005
• Transcript of Wilkerson's speech at the New America Foundation, Washington Note Archives, October 19, 2005.
• Lawrence Wilkerson. The White House Cabal, Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2005.
• Transcript of Wilkerson interview, BBC Today program, 29 November 2005
• Interview with Lawrence Wilkerson: "A Leaderless, Directionless Superpower", Der Spiegel, December 6, 2005
• Breaking Ranks, The Washington Post, 19 January 2006
• Transcript of Wilkerson Interview, PBS NOW (series), "Iraq Pre-War Intelligence," February 3, 2006. "... I'd prefer to see the squabble of democracy to the efficiency of dictators."
• "They Have Stolen My Party and I Want it Back", blog piece, The Washington Note, 22 March 2006