The Iraq War Card

[Secretariat]

In the rush by John McCain and Mitt Romney and their support of GW in the war on Iraq to display how tough they are, perhaps they're missing a few points along the way.

The Center for Public Integrity has a great collection of posts entitled : Iraq - The War Card, Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/Default.aspx?src=project_home&context=key_false_statements&id=946

Take a peek.

Additionally, a great post on Bill Moyers Journal this weekend.


http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01252008/profile4.html

"Let's first connect some dots in the week's news. In Washington, two public interest groups — The Center for Public Integrity and the Fund for Independence in Journalism — finished a report they have been working on for months. It's an old story but with new math. They went through the record and counted every false statement made by the Bush administration in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq and even six months after we were at war. How many?

If you guessed 935, you are right on the button. That's at least the number of times the president and seven of his top officials, including Condoleeza Rice, said Saddam Hussein was a national security threat.

On at least 532 separate occasions those officials told us unequivocally that Iraq had links to Al Quaeda or weapons of mass destruction, or both. Remember when this alarm went off?

CONDOLEEZA RICE: There will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.

BILL MOYERS: It was one of the most smoothly orchestrated and successful propaganda campaigns in our history, and it was one big lie. The war it produced still has no end in sight, five years later.

Now as this report was released in Washington, Secretary Rice was attending a gathering far away in Davos, Switzerland, where the masters of the universe gather every year to assess how they're doing in running the world. Condoleeza Rice delivered what was described as a 'bold' speech, painting one of those rosy scenarios that so endeared her to the nation's press five years ago:

CONDOLEEZA RICE: The U.S. economy is resilient, its structure is sound, and its long-term economic fundamentals are healthy.

Well, I can assure you that America has no permanent enemies. "

[PaceAdvantage]

Did Billo count these false statements as well? My guess is, he did not. That makes him a PROPAGANDIST as well, does it not? Sure it does....yet you buy this shit, HOOK, LINE, and STINKER.

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[hcap]

Retire the video.
Although many Dems thought regime change was necessary, the Dems did not orchestrate the war. Nor the propaganda/PR campaign. Many more dems than repugs did not support the Invasion. A good portion of House dems did not.

The repugs were unanimous and all gung ho

Bush and Blair scared us with mushroom clouds and Iraqi armed missles able to reach our shores in 45 minutes. (later turned out to be constructed of balsa wood). Rummy told us he KNEW where the WMDs were. Without any doubt whatsover.

The rest of the world never bought into the imminent threat scenario. The only major suppliers of troops in the failing so-called "Coalition of the Willing" were the US and the UK.

United States: 250,000 invasion—154,000 current (12/07)
United Kingdom: 45,000 invasion—4,500 current (12/07)
Poland: 194 invasion—2,500 peak—900 current (2/07)
Australia: 2,000 invasion—~1000 current (11/07)

The Security Council did not back the Invasion, 10+million protested worldwide. Without Bushco leading the call for war the dems and the rest of the world would not have attacked. Place the blame where it belongs.

The intelligence was not bought into by many more countries than actually did. The imminence proposition was definitively not bought into by the world and the mushroom cloud boondangle was seriously in question before the invasion. The inspectors were inspecting. There was no reason not to wait for their conclusions.

Stop trying to pass "everyone from all parties, everyone in the world", as bloodthirsty and foolish as YOUSE GUYS and your now politically disavowed leader- George W Churcill/Jesus Christ/ Albert Einstein.

The mission from God routine is done.

[PaceAdvantage]

Nor the propaganda/PR campaign.Oh really? The video above, which you want to CENSOR (or "retire", in your words), is EVIDENCE that not only did Dems participate in the ORCHESTRATION of this war, but they INITIATED the PROPAGANDA/PR campaign!!!

My God man, the dates on some of these clips in the video are WAY BEFORE Bush/Cheney EVER came to town.

Now, they're to be ignored, and Bush/Cheney are to be arrested.....what a laugh riot revisionist you are....

[hcap]

Bush invaded Iraq. Not Clinton, Reid, Pelosi, Kennedy, or Kerry or Gore
Bush invaded. He orchestrated the PR. Not Clinton, Reid, Pelosi, Kennedy, or Kerry or Gore.

Actually the Original bill to remove Saddam was
Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 .
SUMMARY:

(REVISED AS OF 10/05/98 -- Passed House, amended)

Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 - Declares that it should be the policy of the United States to seek to remove the Saddam Hussein regime from power in Iraq and to replace it with a democratic government.

Authorizes the President, after notifying specified congressional committees, to provide to the Iraqi democratic opposition organizations: (1) grant assistance for radio and television broadcasting to Iraq; (2) Department of Defense (DOD) defense articles and services and military education and training (IMET); and (3) humanitarian assistance, with emphasis on addressing the needs of individuals who have fled from areas under the control of the Hussein regime. Prohibits assistance to any group or organization that is engaged in military cooperation with the Hussein regime. Authorizes appropriations.

Directs the President to designate: (1) one or more Iraqi democratic opposition organizations that meet specified criteria as eligible to receive assistance under this Act; and (2) additional such organizations which satisfy the President's criteria.

Urges the President to call upon the United Nations to establish an international criminal tribunal for the purpose of indicting, prosecuting, and imprisoning Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi officials who are responsible for crimes against humanity, genocide, and other criminal violations of international law.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that once the Saddam Hussein regime is removed from power in Iraq, the United States should support Iraq's transition to democracy by providing humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people and democracy transition assistance to Iraqi parties and movements with democratic goals, including convening Iraq's foreign creditors to develop a multilateral response to the foreign debt incurred by the Hussein regime.

.................................................. ...............................

Did not call for an outright invasion. In fact the official US policy was that of containment.

[hcap]

When the bill was signed......

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Iraq_Liberation_Act_of_1998

Speaking on behalf of the bill in the Senate, Trent Lott said:

"The United States has many means at its disposal to support the liberation of Iraq. At the height of the Cold War, we supported freedom fighters In Asia, Africa and Latin America willing to fight and die for a democratic future. We can and should do the same now in Iraq.

"The Clinton administration regularly calls for bipartisanship in foreign policy. I support them when I can. Today, we see a clear example of a policy that has the broadest possible bi-partisan support. I know the Administration understands the depth of our feeling on this issue. I think they are beginning to understand the strategic argument in favor of moving beyond containment to a policy of 'rollback'. Containment is not sustainable.

Jesse Helms, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, commented:

"This bill will begin the long-overdue process of ousting Saddam. It will not send in U.S. troops or commit American forces in any way. Rather, it harkens back to the successes of the Reagan doctrine, enlisting the very people who are suffering most under Saddam's yoke to fight the battle against him."

According to Senator Bob Kerrey:

"Second, this bill is not a device to involve the U.S. military in operations in or near Iraq. The Iraqi revolution is for Iraqis, not Americans, to make. The bill provides the Administration a portent new tool to help Iraqis toward this goal, and at the same time advance America's interest in a peaceful and secure Middle East.

.................................................. ...............................................
Bill Clinton dragged his heels for weeks before signing the bill, and once signed on December 31, 1998, it languished in layers of bureaucracy in Foggy Bottom. Without cash, the INC could not begin to rebuild itself yet the U.S. Department of State refused to disburse the funding.

"In fact, only US$20,000 had been provided between January 1999 and July 2000 to train three Iraqi exiles in non-lethal measures at the Pentagon. If provided with funding, Ahmed Chalabi told U.S. Congressmen on June 28, 2000, 'we can begin humanitarian relief projects within 45 days and begin broadcasting operations in less than 30.'

"'I cannot understand why President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act when he had absolutely no intention of implementing the provisions of that law,' Sam Brownback, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Near East, commented during a 2000 hearing on the issue.

[hcap]

We all were there in March of 03 when Bush invaded.
We were watching and listening all those months before Bushco pulled the trigger. And you want us to believe everyone but Bushco should share the blame.

"Existing records show that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia, or that it has always been at war with Eastasia and allied with Eurasia. Winston Smith's job involves the constant 'correction' of records. 'Who controls the past, ran the Party slogan, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. Winston is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. He knows the offical image of the world is a fluid fiction." 1984-George Orwell


Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.
– George Orwell

[Tom]

You can tell whne you get to him - he posts multiples in a row. :lol:

[chickenhead]

"'I cannot understand why President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act when he had absolutely no intention of implementing the provisions of that law,' Sam Brownback, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Near East, commented during a 2000 hearing on the issue.

Sounds familiar...this is the very same sort of presidential disregard for congressional direction that has had everyone in such a tizzy the last 7 years. People forget that Bush did not invent the notion of broad presidential powers, the main one put to use: telling congress to go f themselves.

[hcap]

You can tell whne you get to him - he posts multiples in a row. :lol:And you can tell when you have nothing to say-you misspell whine
:rolleyes:

[hcap]

Sounds familiar...this is the very same sort of presidential disregard for congressional direction that has had everyone in such a tizzy the last 7 years. People forget that Bush did not invent the notion of broad presidential powers, the main one put to use: telling congress to go f themselves.Bush certainly enhanced the Unitary Executive with Cheney riding shotgun. Cheney will anoint anyone. If his ticker was sound, he would anoint himself. :cool:

But that is beside the point. The previous administration and the Congress were using containment as the official stance towards Iraq and Saddam-no matter what some of the ranting in PA's video shows.

You may argue the old "911 changed everything", and therefore we had to change from containment to pre-emption, but that is another debate.

[chickenhead]

did you see the Frontline on Cheney and executive powers? It had a lot of info I hadn't heard before, good stuff.

[46zilzal]

did you see the Frontline on Cheney and executive powers? It had a lot of info I hadn't heard before, good stuff.
He simply did not obey the law OVER and OVER claiming HE had the executive privilege of the other office.

Informative show, available to watch on line.

[chickenhead]

I always forget about that

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2655260104684404687

I think what you take from it depends on what you think about a whole host of things...but it's a good look at what goes on behind closed doors within an administration, how things are done. I'm always impressed at the interviews Frontline gets.

[riskman]

Why do we continue to have these same arguments over and over again. Maybe we should call Oprah or Dr. Phil, or even Dr. Laura to make a recommendation on how to fix Iraq, the advice would be to start by fixing ourselves. Perhaps instead of "fix," they might use the word "heal" or "improve." Stop overt aggression in our actions and our language, cut out the holier-than-thou platitudes, they would say. Don’t pick fights, start listening, stop labeling, refrain from theft and don’t tell lies about what is really going on.

This advice, if taken, would clear out most of our current members of Congress, before or during the next election. It would put right-wing administration-apologist talk radio and TV completely out of business, and it would crush the emerging left-wing critics who want more government power in order to "fix" someone else. Imagine an America where centralized controls, fear-mongering government spokesmen, and mass-produced White House talking points are rare and unusual. Imagine a Congress that takes its Constitutional role seriously, and can distinguish between real and imaginary national security threats. Imagine political leaders who carefully moderate the coarser public tendencies, instead of exploiting and intensifying them. :eek:

Fix Iraq? We cannot do it, we should not do it, and we must not insist upon trying to do it. It’s not our job, and we have no right. Sadly, it’s not even our responsibility. Americans were told nothing but exagerations before the invasion of Iraq, and still can’t get the truth out of the White House about this never-ending occupation. Neoconservative politicos can’t even agree on why they wanted the war, and now they’re dropping from the team like day-old houseflies over theoretical arguments and occupation reality.

Americans have only a single solemn responsibility – to end it.

In any case, Iraqis won’t be fooled again. We ought to recognize this as an admirable quality, and adopt it ourselves. Instead of fixing Iraq, we ought to focus on fixing our own country.

I believe that if we remember that we ARE the people, and that we only suffer the government that we ourselves consent to suffer, we can indeed fix the mess we have made, and certainly prevent future such disasters in our foreign policy. At least, I hope so.

[JustRalph]

Americans have only a single solemn responsibility – to end it.



not anymore. Not after the first day. We need a strong presence there, and no matter what reason we went in for............we now need to stay and take advantage of our position there. That ship has sailed. Get used to it.

[46zilzal]

not anymore. Not after the first day. We need a strong presence there, and no matter what reason we went in for............we now need to stay and take advantage of our position there. That ship has sailed. Get used to it.
Just like the last century imperialists: the British...They were really beloved too.