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Opinion: Trump is right about Bush, 9/11, and Iraq
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 2-19-2016 | HELDON RICHMAN

Posted on 02/22/2016 8:13:01 PM PST by Citizen Zed

All we need to know is that Bush and his top people, starting with Vice President Dick Cheney, were too busy in their first eight months in office to bother about al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Too busy doing what? Among other things, they were too busy looking for an excuse to overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Bush's father, George H. W. Bush, had left Saddam in power after sending the U.S. military to reverse Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991. But the elder Bush and successor Bill Clinton enforced killer economic sanctions, on the pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction but actually in hopes of driving Saddam from power. Saddam wouldn't cooperate in his own regime change, however, so Bush Jr., Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, and their neoconservative brain trust were determined to complete the mission.

Because of this obsession, warnings from the CIA and counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke about al-Qaeda, which had previously attacked U.S. government assets and the World Trade Center in the 1990s, fell on deaf ears, despite growing signs that Bin Laden was determined to strike the U.S. Even the prospect of aircraft hijackings was raised.

Clarke wrote in his book, Against All Enemies, that when he finally managed to get a cabinet-level meeting on al-Qaeda, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz objected that "I just don't understand why we are beginning by talking about this one man, bin Laden." Clarke responded, "We are talking about a network of terrorist organizations called al-Qaeda, that happens to be led by bin Laden, and we are talking about that network because it and it alone poses an immediate and serious threat to the United States."

(Excerpt) Read more at chicago.suntimes.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: 2016election; election2016; florida; georgewbush; jebbush; newyork; texas; trump
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What say you Frank Luntz?...
1 posted on 02/22/2016 8:13:01 PM PST by Citizen Zed
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To: Citizen Zed

If that is true, then Code Pink is right about Bush, 9/11, and Iraq.


2 posted on 02/22/2016 8:20:23 PM PST by MarvinStinson
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To: MarvinStinson

Yes. Broken analog clock and all that. Maybe the reason Bush never fought back was because they couldn’t.


3 posted on 02/22/2016 8:25:22 PM PST by SubMareener (Save us from Quarterly Freepathons! Become a MONTHLY DONOR!)
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To: Citizen Zed

If you look at the Iraq war from a pure neutral point of view. It does not make any sense whatsoever! Just like Libya makes no sense! Just like what we are doing in Syria makes no sense! 911 had nothing to do with Iraq! Yet we spent all of out time, blood and money in there! For what reason? Trump is 100 percent right on this one! Take off the GOP filtered glasses and you will agree!


4 posted on 02/22/2016 8:29:49 PM PST by rwoodward ("god, guns and more ammo")
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To: MarvinStinson

And dont give me that Code Pink bullcrap! What if Code Pink were a group of veterans? Would you then agree? Code Pink is a bullshit straw-man Saul Alinsly arguement.


5 posted on 02/22/2016 8:33:13 PM PST by rwoodward ("god, guns and more ammo")
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To: rwoodward

You and Cindy Sheehan are ideological twins. Congrats.


6 posted on 02/22/2016 8:35:05 PM PST by ilgipper
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To: Citizen Zed

The only lie that W told then was that Islam was or is a “religion of peace”. Those who think that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were the only threat/perps of 9/11, just haven’t been paying attention. There is a world of Islamic terror/totalitarianism out there, and Bush sought to take out its heart. He tried, and missed. There are plenty more where Saddam and Osama came from, and they are multiplying as we argue about this nonsense.


7 posted on 02/22/2016 8:38:42 PM PST by Richard Axtell (The March to the Abyss is speeding up.)
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To: rwoodward

Bush came into office with a grudge against Hussein. Hussein had stayed in power and Bush1 had been kicked to the curb, that didn’t sit well with Bush2. Bush2 staffed his administration with a host of neo-cons who furnished him with exaggerated and false Israeli provided “intelligence” saying that Iraq had WMD’s. Bush2 chose to believe it without considering the source of the info, or questioning their motivation, because it gave him the excuse he needed to take his revenge against Hussein, going so far as to claim that Hussein had tried to kill Bush1.

I have no way of knowing if Bush2 knew the intelligence was cooked, and went ahead and used it anyway, or whether he actually believed it was legitimate.


8 posted on 02/22/2016 8:39:46 PM PST by euram
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To: Citizen Zed

Where is the nutbird alert?


9 posted on 02/22/2016 8:40:05 PM PST by VRWCmember
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To: MarvinStinson

Can somebody tell me what is so damn important to the NYC RINO about Bush, WMD’s and Iraq in todays 2016 election? What is so relative about the subject to today and the state of the nation? It is so yesterday!

We already know the WMD’s were there. We found some. They were known even by Bill Clinton back in the 90’s and most western intelligence agencies. I just do not know the relevance.


10 posted on 02/22/2016 8:42:47 PM PST by biff
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To: Citizen Zed

I call bullshit on the whole Argument here. The policy was set before Bush was in office and reinventing Cheney and the gang spending the first eight months overly focused on Saddam and not al Qaeda is complete and utter bullshit. First, Clinton was president for eight years and didn’t do squat whille we got hit at the WTC, two embassies, and a navy ship. Al queda was not Important to him. Iraq was a constant focus, and for good reason, since the end of GHWBush’s term.

Most of bush’s top level appointments didn’t even make it to office until summer because of the split senate and hangover from the hanging chad election. It’s well documented the primary focus of the top level guys was improved relations with Russia in the early days. This history rewrite from the far left must be rejected wholly and fully.


11 posted on 02/22/2016 8:43:15 PM PST by ilgipper
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To: Citizen Zed
So many here seem to have forgotten the Oil for Food debacle, hussein's SIL defection to Jordan, Iraqi connection to Oklahoma City Bombing, WTC Bombing in 93, attempted assassination of GHW Bush, breaking UN resolutions, refusing inspectors, daily firing on US aircraft, clinton's daily bombing, refusal to account for weapons he admitted that he had, harboring terrorists, Operation Dessrt Fox...

Starting to sound like DU around here.

12 posted on 02/22/2016 8:55:27 PM PST by Eagles6 ( Valley Forge Redux. If not now, when? If not here, where? If not us then who?)
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To: rwoodward

Captains and Kings by Taylor Caldwell.

Mega rich people start wars because it’s good for business. They get other mega rich people in the media to whip up public support, the bought and paid for politicians have no choice but to go along with it. Every 20 years.
Except lately it’s pretty much continuous because the muzzies dance to their own tune.

The book actually focused on JFK and that he was taken out because he didn’t want to go along with this..and who knows if that is true or not. But I have alway felt the basic premise had merit.


13 posted on 02/22/2016 8:56:22 PM PST by Aria (2016: The gravy train v Donald Trump)
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To: Citizen Zed
Bush's father, George H. W. Bush, had left Saddam in power after sending the U.S. military to reverse Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991

What a boatload of distortion. Bush yielded to leftist demands for an "exit strategy". They got what they demanded then blamed him later.

14 posted on 02/22/2016 9:03:45 PM PST by Michael.SF. (That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together,' Cindy Sheehan")
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To: Citizen Zed

The rag who’s largest stockholder also owns a majority share of the Tribune Corp? Pffff...


15 posted on 02/22/2016 9:05:10 PM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: ilgipper
I call bullshit on the whole Argument here.

Same here. Somehow, it is supposed to be Bush's fault that Clinton let all 20 hijackers into this country? I don't think so. And nowhere did Richard Clark give any warning about terrorists already in this country.

16 posted on 02/22/2016 9:05:23 PM PST by Hoodat (Article 4, Section 4)
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To: ilgipper

Remember when Pat Robertson said that 9/11 happened because God had removed his hand of protection from America as a punishment for our past evil deeds like Abortion?

Pat will be interviewing Trump in a couple of days.

I’ll be looking for a sign from God after that event.


17 posted on 02/22/2016 9:07:16 PM PST by Citizen Zed ("Freedom costs a buck o five" - Gary Johnston, TAWP)
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To: Eagles6
Starting to sound like DU around here.

You got that right.

18 posted on 02/22/2016 9:10:35 PM PST by Hoodat (Article 4, Section 4)
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To: Hoodat

Maybe we need a purge...;-)


19 posted on 02/22/2016 9:21:58 PM PST by Eagles6 ( Valley Forge Redux. If not now, when? If not here, where? If not us then who?)
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To: Citizen Zed
What was the context at the time? We were in a state of war with Iraq, under a cease fire.

I left out the 500,000+ people Saddam had killed because, who cares? /s

20 posted on 02/22/2016 9:26:50 PM PST by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason and rule of law. Prepare!)
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