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Who Is Lying About Iraq? A campaign of distortion aims to discredit the liberation.
Wall St. Journal ^ | Nov. 14, 2005 | NORMAN PODHORETZ

Posted on 11/14/2005 5:45:43 AM PST by conservativecorner

Among the many distortions, misrepresentations and outright falsifications that have emerged from the debate over Iraq, one in particular stands out above all others. This is the charge that George W. Bush misled us into an immoral or unnecessary war in Iraq by telling a series of lies that have now been definitively exposed.

What makes this charge so special is the amazing success it has enjoyed in getting itself established as a self-evident truth even though it has been refuted and discredited over and over again by evidence and argument alike. In this it resembles nothing so much as those animated cartoon characters who, after being flattened, blown up or pushed over a cliff, always spring back to life with their bodies perfectly intact. Perhaps, like those cartoon characters, this allegation simply cannot be killed off, no matter what.

Nevertheless, I want to take one more shot at exposing it for the lie that it itself really is. Although doing so will require going over ground that I and many others have covered before, I hope that revisiting this well-trodden terrain may also serve to refresh memories that have grown dim, to clarify thoughts that have grown confused, and to revive outrage that has grown commensurately dulled.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iraqwarfacts; podhoretz
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1 posted on 11/14/2005 5:45:44 AM PST by conservativecorner
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To: conservativecorner

To liberals and Democrats---truth is whatever they want to believe and you wont talk them out of it with facts.


2 posted on 11/14/2005 5:52:11 AM PST by sgtbono2002
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To: conservativecorner
With the MSM carrying the water for the Dems on this "Big Lie", it is difficult for the average Joe to filter out the lies and focus on the facts, even if there is an inclination and time to do so.

There needs to be a "527" campaign launched to educate the public...the MSM will receive much needed revenues but eventually the truth will out...keep showing pictures with dates of the Dems touting the theory that Saddam had wmd's...day after day...attack the media with copies of their own "copy" with dates in the late 90's (long before Bush was running much less elected) that show the MSM knows and reported it when the Dems promoted it.

3 posted on 11/14/2005 5:52:31 AM PST by MarkT
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To: conservativecorner

The MSM and the Democraps seems to SPIN this ,some what successful.

Think of the IDIOTS that believe this crap !!


4 posted on 11/14/2005 5:53:19 AM PST by Zenith
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To: conservativecorner

Great article -- must read -- we already know -- shows how if you tell a lie often enought the peasants will believe.


We must speak out more. and fight harder as this should remind all of us the time in history, 1930's to be accurate when Hitler was spinning his truth.

Remember, journalism is a trade not a profession.


MSM has a hatrid for the current administration.


5 posted on 11/14/2005 5:53:26 AM PST by CHICAGOFARMER (concealed carry)
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To: sgtbono2002

ping


6 posted on 11/14/2005 5:54:00 AM PST by StatenIsland
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To: conservativecorner

Had Saddam Hussein lived up to the agreement he made in 1991 to save his regime, we would not have been left wondering if he had chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. In the aftermath of 9/11/01, this is all the justification that was needed to remove his regime through military force. Of course, Hussein also had ties to terrorists and he tried to kill a former President of the United States. Why are the nimwits on the left still arguing over whether the war in Iraq was justified?


7 posted on 11/14/2005 5:56:01 AM PST by advance_copy (Stand for life, or nothing at all)
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To: conservativecorner

*


8 posted on 11/14/2005 5:56:26 AM PST by Sam Cree (absolute reality)
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To: MarkT

It wouldn't hurt to also trumpet that coalition forces in Iraq found the raw materials, the parts, the recipes/plans for WMDs.

Just because they hadn't yet been assembled into actual weapons somehow is supposed to mean that saddam is just some misunderstood proponent of peace on earth, persecuted by the eee-vil Americans.


9 posted on 11/14/2005 6:00:24 AM PST by Let's Roll ( "Congressmen who ... undermine the military ... should be arrested, exiled or hanged" - A. Lincoln)
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To: conservativecorner
Good article, although I only skimmed it. I feel as though I have read this type of article already many times, because I have.

[I actually started a long post here about my utter contempt for those who keep perpetuating this "big lie" about Bush, but I gave up. It's all been said already. They make the most scurrilous charges against Bush & co, but when people answer back by questioning their patriotism, they get all offended. Their own words - condemning the likes of Delay and Frist without a trial, yet worrying whether or not a suspected terrorist is questioned forcefully, for example - damn them more than I ever could. What more can I say? They are not on our side.]
10 posted on 11/14/2005 6:03:29 AM PST by cvq3842
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To: conservativecorner

Podhoretz nails it. Whole lotta lyin' necessary on the Democratic side - including the Democrats in the media - in order to keep this story going.


11 posted on 11/14/2005 6:03:44 AM PST by popdonnelly
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To: conservativecorner
There must be another election coming up in Iraq, our liberals sure do know how to campaign for the enemies.

These people are in a perpetual state of campaigning.
12 posted on 11/14/2005 6:07:27 AM PST by Just mythoughts
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To: conservativecorner

Bump. No registration req'd at opinion journal, everyone should read the whole thing, and slap Libs in the face with it.


13 posted on 11/14/2005 6:12:03 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
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To: conservativecorner
I do have a PS - maybe not the most coherent, but sometimes my passion overcomes my reasoning ability.

No one likes war, or casualties. But there are things worse than war.

Do war opponents want to put Saddam back? Or let Zarqawi have the country? When you ask the Democrats this they always act offended that you would ask them to do something other than EXPLOIT people's natural aversion to seeing our troops in harm's way and B*TCH AND MOAN rather than present real solutions.

Isn't it funny how, after threatening Bush 41 with impeachment if he exceeded the UN resolutions and "went to Baghdad," the Dems excused Clinton's dithering on Iraq by saying "Bush 41 didn't finish the job?" And isn't it curious how many of the same folks who are so darned sure that "Bush lied" are without a doubt the same ones who BELIEVED Clinton when after a mere three weeks in office got on TV and told the American people that "I tried my best, huh huh, and I can't keep my promise - I'll have to raise your taxes." Where was the outrage on the left for that?

I don't think the Bush white house is adequately getting the message out. there is something to be said for moving forward and not going on defensive by always answering criticism, but there's danger in the other extreme as well. Let's hope Bush is now on the right track.
14 posted on 11/14/2005 6:12:18 AM PST by cvq3842
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To: conservativecorner; bad company

bump and ping and post:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1228236/posts


15 posted on 11/14/2005 6:13:16 AM PST by rightinthemiddle (I know my enemy. I have Cable TV.)
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To: conservativecorner
And so long as we are hunting for liars in this area, let me suggest that we begin with the Democrats now proclaiming that they were duped, and that we then broaden out to all those who in their desperation to delegitimize the larger policy being tested in Iraq--the policy of making the Middle East safe for America by making it safe for democracy--have consistently used distortion, misrepresentation and selective perception to vilify as immoral a bold and noble enterprise and to brand as an ignominious defeat what is proving itself more and more every day to be a victory of American arms and a vindication of American ideals.

This final paragraph in Mr. Podhoretz's fine article clarifies the criminal contempt for the truth that the Democrat party is engaged in. Anti-Americanism in the pursuit of political gain is a vice so horrible that it must be repudiated in the strongest possible manner.

The complete dismantling of the anti-war movement is an absolute necessity if we are to remain a people of dignity and honor.

Let the special prosecutor interview each of these liars, senators especially, and find them guilty of criminal fraud. Then, and only then, will the charges against Libby have any merit whatever.

16 posted on 11/14/2005 6:14:46 AM PST by Louis Foxwell (THIS IS WAR AND I MEAN TO WIN IT.)
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To: MarkT

What has to happen is you need to have a "USA Today" type of paper where you can take all the AP submitted articles and edit them to tell the truth, rather than the bias.

Between that and Fox you will cover the masses. We already know more people are rejecting liberal propaganda. Just look at circulation numbers of the fish wrap and viewing numbers of MSTV.


17 posted on 11/14/2005 6:15:26 AM PST by EQAndyBuzz (Liberal Talking Point - Bush = Hitler ... Republican Talking Point - Let the Liberals Talk)
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To: cvq3842

You should hear the idiot I work with. He said Saddam should be put back in power and no WOT. If we get attacked again "so what". This is a drunken hick that relies on dart shooting for stimulation. Hard to comprehend this kind of thinking. But this is someone who did not give a shit about 9/11 also. Go figure.


18 posted on 11/14/2005 6:16:20 AM PST by angcat
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To: MarkT
Bush WMD Response to Target Bill Clinton

One of the centerpieces of President Bush's counter-offensive against his Iraq war critics will be a Republican National Committee commercial focusing on a speech given by former President Bill Clinton.

U.S. News & World Report says the RNC ad will spotlight Clinton's Feb. 17, 1998 speech on Iraq, where the former prez "guaranteed" that Saddam Hussein would use his weapons of mass destruction.

"Let's imagine the future," Clinton said seven years ago. "What if [Saddam] fails to comply [with U.N. sanctions], and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of weapons of mass destruction and continue to press for the release of the sanctions and continue to ignore the solemn commitments that he made?"

Clinton warned: "He will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction.

"And some day, some way, I guarantee you, he'll use the arsenal."

Other soundbytes from Democratic flip-floppers will feature WMD warnings from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

19 posted on 11/14/2005 6:26:41 AM PST by conservativecorner
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To: EQAndyBuzz

Great article but liberals won't read it, the msm won't reprint it, the msm tv talking heads will not talk about it {except to lie about it} so the average joe that doesn't get wrapped in politics will never hear or see it and could care less. The great thing about a democracy is that not everyone votes. There are so many ignorant people that can name every hollywood star but not know the name of the VP or their senator. These yoyos don't vote, and shouldn't. The reason some of them show up at the polls are cigarettes, booze and bucks. If you wonder why the President's poll numbers are in the 30's, it is because they are over polling demonRATS and adults over 18. These are not likely voters nor even registered voters. Who cares what some nose picker from chicago, philly or la la land says about their trust in Bush?


20 posted on 11/14/2005 6:27:42 AM PST by USS Alaska (Nuke the terrorist savages - In Honor of Standing Wolf)
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