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We no longer have to wonder how many lies the Bush Administration told to sell the Iraq war to the American people. Somebody has counted them.
A joint study by the Fund for Independence in Journalism and the Center for Public Integrity examined the public statements that George W. Bush and seven other top members of his administration made about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and its links with al-Qaida during the two year period following the attacks of September 11, 2001.
What they found was that Bush and his accomplices told at least 935 lies about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction (or trying to acquire them) and its links to al-Qaida. George W. Bush was prevaricator-in-chief with a total of 259 lies (231 about Iraq’s WMDs and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida), but the once-honorable Colin Powell ran a close second with 254 (244 about WMDs and 10 about al-Qaida.
Surprisingly, V.P. Dick Cheney placed next to last, with only 48 lies; but for what Cheney lacked in quantity, he made up with quality. This is my favorite:
· “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.”--V.P. Dick Cheney, 8/26/02
It is simple elegance--the true essence of deceit--poetry from the snarled lips of a master liar.
You can find the study at the Center for Public Integrity’s website, and you can search its database of lies by keywords (i.e. yellow cake, Sarin gas, aluminum tubes) and by who was telling the lies. Then, when people argue, “When did President Bush every lie?”--You can give them 259 examples.
· “In addition to their patently false pronouncements, Bush and these seven top officials also made hundreds of other statements in the two years after 9/11 in which they implied that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or links to Al Qaeda.” ...
· “The cumulative effect of these false statements--amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts--was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war.”
(Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith, Center for Public Integrity)
“There is no doubt” ...that the Bush Administration lied to draw the U.S. into a war with Iraq. Now, the question is: Will anyone ever be held accountable for the death and destruction caused by their lies?
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Rush Limbaugh must have been right. The mistreatment of prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison was just a few National Guard troops “having a good time--letting off a little steam”. How else can you explain the Army throwing out the conviction of the only officer court-martialed in the case--Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, who was in charge of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib (AP, 1/10/08).
Lt. Col. Jordan had already been acquitted of all charges relating to prisoner abuse. The only thing he was convicted of was disobeying an order not to talk about the investigation. His court-martial jury recommended a criminal reprimand (the lightest possible punishment); but, evidently, even that was too much, so the Army has now thrown out the criminal conviction and reduced it to “administrative” punishment, which, in Col. Jordan’s case, means diddily-squat.
The military, in its infinite wisdom, has found that criminal responsibility for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib went no higher in the ranks than Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick, who was paroled after serving about three years of an eight-year sentence. The only soldier still in prison for abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib is former Corporal Charles Graner Jr., who is serving a 10-year sentence for assault, battery, conspiracy, maltreatment, indecent acts and dereliction of duty. Judging from his stiff sentence, Corporal Graner was obviously the mastermind behind the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. Or was he?
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