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The Ghost of Machiavelli, The
WMD Hunt Ends
- By Anthony Wade
-
- January 14, 2005
-
- Did you see it happen yesterday? Did you catch the news? It
was probably buried as the fourth item, or maybe on page 17 of
your local paper. The search is over. After two years and
thousands of dead bodies, the search is over. What did we find?
Nothing. Yesterday, the White House confirmed that the search for
weapons of mass destruction was officially over, without finding
as much as a used slingshot.
-
- You remember weapons of mass destruction, don’t you? It was
what we were sold this loser war with. It was rammed down the
throat of America, with the image of 911 still burned in our
minds. It was the fear card, and it was played quite masterfully.
You see, George Bush intended to invade Iraq from the moment he
walked in the White House. White House insider Paul O’Neill
confirmed this. 911 only provided a convenient backdrop.
-
- But Bush had a problem. Saddam had technically not done
anything to deserve invading. He was finally cooperating with
inspectors and he certainly had no involvement with 911. The only
link to terrorism he had was with Israel, not the US. Bush had to
make his case before Congress, to our elected officials, to us. He
had to provide a good enough reason to justify the war plans he
had from day one. The Bushies tossed around some ideas and came up
with one they felt they could sell the best to the American
people, fear. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, because we
should never forget WHY our kids are dying. It is not
freedom, it is not democracy, it is to protect us from a threat
that never existed. They are dying because of weapons of mass
destruction, that simply did not exist.
-
- The following are Bush quotes, for why we needed to go to war
with Iraq:
-
- “The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical
weapons…And according to the British government, the Iraqi regime
could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45
minutes.” [Source: White House Web site]
-
- "We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a
growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be
used to disperse chemical and biological weapons across broad
areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these
UAVs for missions targeting the United States." [Source: White
House Web site]
-
- “The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its
nuclear weapons program…Iraq could have a nuclear weapon in less
than a year.” [Source: White House Web site]
-
- "Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat
gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot
wait for the final proof - the smoking gun - that could come in
the form of a mushroom cloud." [Source: White House Web site]
- "If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today — and
we do — does it make any sense for the world to wait?" [Source:
White House Web site]
-
- "There was a risk – a real risk – that Saddam Hussein would
pass weapons, or materials, or information to terrorist networks."
[Source: White House Web site]
-
- “We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological
laboratories.” [Source: White House Web site]
-
- "Here's what -- we've discovered a weapons system, biological
labs, that Iraq denied she had, and labs that were prohibited
under the U.N. resolutions." [Source: White House Web site]
-
- “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein
recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
[Source: White House Web site]
-
- “Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had
the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and
VX nerve agent.” [Source: White House Web site]
-
- "From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late
1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are
designed to produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from
place to a place to evade inspectors." [Source: White House Web
site]
-
- From our Vice-President:
-
- “[Saddam] is actively pursuing nuclear weapons at this time.”
[Source: CNN Web site]
-
- “We believe Saddam has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear
weapons.” [Source: Meet the Press transcript]
-
- "[T]he reporting that we had prior to the war this time around
was all consistent with that -- basically said that he had a
chemical, biological and nuclear program, and estimated that if he
could acquire fissile material, he could have a nuclear weapon
within a year or two." [Source: Waxman Database]
-
- “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has
weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing
them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against
us.” [White House Web site]
-
- What do all of these statements have in common? They were
lies. These are just examples, there are hundreds more. There is
also Colin Powell’s lie-infested presentation to the United
Nations, which will unfortunately tarnish what was a respectable
career. Do you remember back then? Do you remember Condi Rice
scaring us with visions of mushroom clouds? Do you remember then,
when Bush came to us and explained that we were going to war, to
ensure our safety. That safety was never in question, it turns
out.
- Years later we look back on this as an afterthought. I have
listened to the folks on the right who make the argument that
Saddam was a bad guy, so who cares if there are no WMD? I assume
the mother who has to bury her child for a lie cares that there
are no WMD. Here is the point that keeps escaping the war mongers.
Without the WMD argument, there is no war. It would never have
been approved. That is precisely why the President must make his
case before Congress.
-
- After the war had begun, and after it was becoming obvious
that we were duped, Paul Wolfowitz finally admitted that the
entire WMD rationale, was more a bureaucratic decision, then an
accurate one. The exact quote was, “For
bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass
destruction, [as justification for invading Iraq] because it was
the one reason everyone could agree on.” This all seems to fade
into the collective memories of the American people. It just
doesn’t seem right. Even though the White House made it official
yesterday, we had confirmation in the summer when the final report
came in. But it was an election season, and those seeking to
protect Bush, hushed the issue.
-
- Where is the outrage? Why is
everyone so accepting of the fact that we are at war,
illegitimately? The first great political philosopher of
the Renaissance was Nicolo Machiavelli, and he proffered the
notion that the ends justify the means. This essentially means
that if the end result is palatable, then who cares how you got
there. We cannot live in a Machiavellian society. We cannot extend
that much power to any president. It is vital to the underpinnings
of our society that we maintain checks and balances. If the
president no longer has to concern himself with why we wage war,
then we have left democracy and have headed toward fascism. We
cannot turn over our collective conscience to any one man.
-
- The precedent set here is that a future president can cook
intelligence to serve any purpose he wants. He can then present it
to congress to sell a war. When the original reason is debunked,
he can simply find any redeemable result of the war and simply
change the reasons for the war in the first place. Was Saddam a
bad guy? Absolutely. Was that a good enough reason to blow up the
entire country, kill scores of people, and begin a decade long
occupation? Absolutely not. How can I say that? Because if it was,
then the president should have presented that to the American
people and see if it would have been enough. There should never be
a bureaucratic reason to go to war. There should never be the need
to have to have a cover story that everyone can “agree on”.
-
- The ghost of Machiavelli is alive and well and residing in the
White House. The ends do not justify the means. We did not need
the White House to announce that the hunt was over because
according to their own words, the hunt never really mattered. The
reason why we are at war, never mattered. The reason why tens of
thousands of people are dead, never mattered. The reason why every
day we see more of our children die in the sands of a desert we
had no business being in, never mattered. The sobering reality
however, is that the American people seem to agree with the fact
that it never mattered.
-
- The blasé attitude this country has toward this president
waging war without justification has led to Bush being brazen
enough to not even be remotely contrite about the entire affair.
This Friday, an interview Bush gave Barbara Walters will air. In
it, Bush is asked about if this war was worth it, given that now
we know there was no WMD. In light of the deaths of 1,300 service
people, tens of thousands of deaths of civilians, and staring at a
decade long occupation; this is what Bush has the nerve to say:
-
- "The removal of Saddam Hussein has made America safer
because a dictator, a tyrant, a thug, with whom we had been at war
in the past, who was destabilizing a vital part of the world, who
was paying the families of suicide bombers, is no longer in
power," Bush said. "And he no longer has the capacity to
reconstitute a weapons program. … Yes, it's worth it."
-
- Buoyed by the fact that the lies used to start the war were
accepted, Bush obviously has no qualms about continuing the
prevarications. The facts are that America is NOT safer now than
before the war, because this war has created more hatred and
terrorism toward the US. The facts are that Saddam was not a
destabilizing force in this region because the UN sanctions had
crippled his country and its infrastructure. The fact is that the
money paid to families of suicide bombers was Israel’s problem,
not ours. The fact is that he was no where near being able to
reconstitute any weapons programs. I am sorry, but the fact is
that this war was not worth it.
-
- Bush did not come to Congress, to us, and say that war was
necessary because Saddam was destabilizing the region. Bush did
not come before us and say that war was necessary because Saddam
was a tyrant, or a thug, or that he paid families of suicide
bombers. He did not ask for war powers because we had been at war
with him in the past. No, he came to us and asked for war because
of weapons of mass destruction, period. That was why we allowed
him the awesome power to wage war. It is the only reason that
justifies the war. It is the only thing that can make the effort
“worth it”. But we let this walk on by. We allow the most powerful
man in the world, with the most powerful military in the world, to
create any reason to wage war, after the fact. In doing so, we
transfer all power to him and leave democracy in ruins. We
embolden him and legitimize an illegitimate war. We send a message
to the world that war is a casual matter now.
-
- The announcement came yesterday with little fanfare, ho-hum,
no big deal. THE REASON WHY WE WENT TO WAR AND HAVE KILLED
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAS TURNED OUT TO BE FALSE. Just another day
at the office, let me check my stock portfolio, who won the Jets
game…
-
- Somewhere, the ghost of Machiavelli is smiling.
-
Anthony Wade is
co-administrator of
a website devoted to educating the populace to the
ongoing lies of President George W. Bush and seeking his removal
from office. He is a 37-year-old independent writer from New York
with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A
Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor
working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can
have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and
excess.
Anthony Wade’s
Archive:
http://www.opednews.com/archiveswadeanthony.htm
Email
Anthony:
takebacktheus@gmail.com
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