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Add to My Group(s)
Add to My Group(s)
By Lonna Gooden VanHorn (about the author)
Become a Fan -- Page 2 of 3 page(s)
In a memo President Bush sent on March 18, 2003, notifying Congress that he was launching the war against Iraq, he declared that he was acting,
to "take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."
Bush invoked this justification even though his administration had never offered a shred of evidence tying Saddam to 9/11. But the Saddam al-Qaeda link was the key to the administration 's exploitation of the ignorance of the American people. Bush and team continually threw out new accusations and then backed off, knowing that few people were paying close enough attention to recognize that previous charges had collapsed like a row of houses of cards. "
It was a drawn out pattern of deceit. As have been virtually all aspects of his presidency.
Happily for the administration, after more than a year of such obfuscation, by the early spring of 2003, more than 70% of Americans believed Iraq was involved in 9/11, although the people in the administration knew that was not the case.
The most recent in a stream of government operatives, Paul Pillar, who was national intelligence officer for the Middle East from 2000 to 2005, has now come forward and stated the Bush administration simply was not interested in obtaining accurate intelligence in order to make an informed decision about whether or not to go to war, they only wanted intelligence that would shore up the decision they had already made.
They had been intent on going to war with Iraq since the early days of their administration. September 11th gave them what Condi Rice called "opportunities " to advance their agenda. Confused and frightened people are easier to lead. And the media did its part by doing little to investigate Bush administration claims or to hold them accountable for their words.
Even after the war began, the lies continued. At a press conference where reporters actually have an opportunity to question the president, Bush said "We gave him [Saddam] a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn 't let them in. " On July 14, 2003, the press corps just let that outrageous lie go by, and there was no widespread discussion of it on the media talk shows in the days and weeks following.
Limbaugh, et. al. would have screamed for weeks and everyone would have known about it if such a blatant lie had been told by Clinton. Can anyone doubt this?
On September 17, 2003, in response to a minor spurt of actual serious questioning by the press, Bush himself was forced to say "We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in the events of 11th September. "
Too bad the media did not spend as many weeks discussing that pronouncement as they did the stain on Monica 's blue dress.
On a positive note, more than 80% of the troops surveyed said they did not hold a negative view of Iraqis because of continuing attacks against them, but a majority of respondents (53%) said if it wants to control the insurgency, the U.S. should double both the number of troops and bombing missions -- an option no one in Washington is considering. Such a response would almost certainly require a draft, and clueless as they are, the chicken hawk-in-chief and his 5 deferment sidekick do realize that if they reinstated the draft, their self-satisfied, rich and upper middle-class supporters--faced with the possibility of having to go to war themselves or of their kids having to go to war -- would rise up out of their complacency and demand the troops come home now.
If a fair draft were reinstated, the war mongering neocons know they would lose much of their already diminishing support.
Proving that our soldiers are more decent than their commander-in-chief and his Veep, even though 85% of them believe Iraqis were involved in 9/11, a majority of troops -55% - are against using harsh interrogation methods or torturing prisoners something Bush and Cheney both insist they will do if they want to.
72% of American troops in Iraq believe the U. S. should leave the country within the next year. 29% believe we should pull out our troops immediately while only 23% said they should stay "as long as they are needed. " But, our "commander-in-chief, " the "Coward Cast in Bronze, " http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_lonna_go_060214_a_coward_cast_in_bro.htm says we must stay the course.
A soldier who served two tours in Iraq as an Arab interpreter, and who is better informed than most of his fellows had this to say about "staying the course. "
"There are battles which need to be fought and there are battles which serve no good purpose. Afghanistan and Bin Laden lay forgotten as if they were discarded toys left by a spoiled child. Iraq is the new frontier of poor foreign policy and poor planning. Even the soldiers can see it. Why do you think nobody is re-enlisting? They don't want ...to fight a lo[o]sing battle and to die for an empty promise ...that somehow staying in Iraq makes America safer.
Become a Fan -- Page 2 of 3 page(s)
to "take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."
Bush invoked this justification even though his administration had never offered a shred of evidence tying Saddam to 9/11. But the Saddam al-Qaeda link was the key to the administration 's exploitation of the ignorance of the American people. Bush and team continually threw out new accusations and then backed off, knowing that few people were paying close enough attention to recognize that previous charges had collapsed like a row of houses of cards. "
It was a drawn out pattern of deceit. As have been virtually all aspects of his presidency.
Happily for the administration, after more than a year of such obfuscation, by the early spring of 2003, more than 70% of Americans believed Iraq was involved in 9/11, although the people in the administration knew that was not the case.
The most recent in a stream of government operatives, Paul Pillar, who was national intelligence officer for the Middle East from 2000 to 2005, has now come forward and stated the Bush administration simply was not interested in obtaining accurate intelligence in order to make an informed decision about whether or not to go to war, they only wanted intelligence that would shore up the decision they had already made.
They had been intent on going to war with Iraq since the early days of their administration. September 11th gave them what Condi Rice called "opportunities " to advance their agenda. Confused and frightened people are easier to lead. And the media did its part by doing little to investigate Bush administration claims or to hold them accountable for their words.
Even after the war began, the lies continued. At a press conference where reporters actually have an opportunity to question the president, Bush said "We gave him [Saddam] a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn 't let them in. " On July 14, 2003, the press corps just let that outrageous lie go by, and there was no widespread discussion of it on the media talk shows in the days and weeks following.
Limbaugh, et. al. would have screamed for weeks and everyone would have known about it if such a blatant lie had been told by Clinton. Can anyone doubt this?
On September 17, 2003, in response to a minor spurt of actual serious questioning by the press, Bush himself was forced to say "We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in the events of 11th September. "
Too bad the media did not spend as many weeks discussing that pronouncement as they did the stain on Monica 's blue dress.
On a positive note, more than 80% of the troops surveyed said they did not hold a negative view of Iraqis because of continuing attacks against them, but a majority of respondents (53%) said if it wants to control the insurgency, the U.S. should double both the number of troops and bombing missions -- an option no one in Washington is considering. Such a response would almost certainly require a draft, and clueless as they are, the chicken hawk-in-chief and his 5 deferment sidekick do realize that if they reinstated the draft, their self-satisfied, rich and upper middle-class supporters--faced with the possibility of having to go to war themselves or of their kids having to go to war -- would rise up out of their complacency and demand the troops come home now.
If a fair draft were reinstated, the war mongering neocons know they would lose much of their already diminishing support.
Proving that our soldiers are more decent than their commander-in-chief and his Veep, even though 85% of them believe Iraqis were involved in 9/11, a majority of troops -55% - are against using harsh interrogation methods or torturing prisoners something Bush and Cheney both insist they will do if they want to.
72% of American troops in Iraq believe the U. S. should leave the country within the next year. 29% believe we should pull out our troops immediately while only 23% said they should stay "as long as they are needed. " But, our "commander-in-chief, " the "Coward Cast in Bronze, " http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_lonna_go_060214_a_coward_cast_in_bro.htm says we must stay the course.
A soldier who served two tours in Iraq as an Arab interpreter, and who is better informed than most of his fellows had this to say about "staying the course. "
"There are battles which need to be fought and there are battles which serve no good purpose. Afghanistan and Bin Laden lay forgotten as if they were discarded toys left by a spoiled child. Iraq is the new frontier of poor foreign policy and poor planning. Even the soldiers can see it. Why do you think nobody is re-enlisting? They don't want ...to fight a lo[o]sing battle and to die for an empty promise ...that somehow staying in Iraq makes America safer.
Bio: Lonna Gooden VanHorn was born and raised on a small farm in Minnesota. She is the mother of 6, a grandmother, and the wife of a Vietnam veteran.
Formerly a person who did not "get involved" in controversy, the constant lies and (more...)
Formerly a person who did not "get involved" in controversy, the constant lies and (more...)
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