Posted on 12/23/2005 6:59:32 PM PST by Roscoe Karns
POSTED: 3:46 pm EST December 23, 2005
President George W. Bush poses a curious contradiction: He admits his decision to attack Iraq was based on faulty intelligence, but he insists that it was the right step to take.
"My decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision," he told an audience at the Woodrow Wilson International Center on Dec. 14.
Well, let's think about that: 2,161 Americans killed in action; thousands maimed for life; 30,000 Iraqis, "more or less," as Bush put it, have been killed and thousands more wounded.
Iraqi cities have been battered by U.S. bombing, car bombings, kidnappings and religious strife. Don't forget the billions in U.S. tax dollars spent every month on the war.
Top American officials can only sneak into Iraq, unannounced or undercover and heavily protected in armored vehicles -- not exactly as conquering heroes.
Was this war worth it, and for whom? For the families who will never see their sons and daughters again? For the children who may never climb on their fathers' knees again?
How about the Iraqis who were subjected to a "shock and awe" unprovoked attack that has left parts of their country destroyed and a colonial-style takeover by the U.S.?
Was it worth it for the thousands of anonymous detainees -- neither charged, tried nor convicted -- in U.S.-run prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Baghdad, and Bagram, Afghanistan, some subjected to torture and some who died in the hands of their captors?
In the same speech last week to the Woodrow Wilson International Center, Bush tried to justify his attack on Iraq because there was a threat which he now admits was based on phony intelligence.
"We removed Saddam Hussein from power because he was a threat to our security, pursued and used weapons of mass destruction," Bush said. "He sponsored terrorists."
But, Bush granted, "much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong."
The president has hesitantly come to grips with a fundamental truth that has been long established by independent commissions and congressional committees.
The president continued: "Yet it was right to remove Saddam Hussein from power."
In his own world, Bush apparently doesn't see any clash between those statements. I'm suffering whiplash.
The truth is Saddam did many terrible things, but he did not sponsor terrorism, much as Bush tries to link him to al-Qaida. He was secular and kept his distance from Osama bin Laden, a religious fanatic.
The president ignores the fact that American and U.N. weapons inspectors never found those weapons of mass destruction, even though U.S. forces have occupied the country for more than two years.
Bush should stop twisting the facts.
Why at this stage do Americans still have to speculate about the real reasons Bush was so eager to go to war against Iraq? His latest explanation is that his grand plan for spreading democracy throughout the Middle East was behind the attack.
The speculation for his reasons to go to war have centered on the U.S. need to secure Iraq's oil -- the second-largest reserves in the Middle East -- the desire to protect Israel from hostile neighbors and the drive to settle a personal vendetta against Saddam, who tried to assassinate his father.
There also is the episode recounted by writer Mickey Herskowitz, who had interviewed then-Gov. Bush extensively for a campaign autobiography he was ghost-writing for Bush. Herskowitz said Bush was thinking of invading Iraq in 1999 and told him that a successful leader needs to be seen as a commander in chief, indicating that presidents need a war to gain political clout.
That's a scary thought.
Back to his Woodrow Wilson comments:
"I know that some of my decisions have led to terrible loss -- and not one of those decisions has been taken lightly," Bush declared. "I know this war is controversial -- yet being your president requires doing what I believe is right and accepting the consequences."
He added he has "never been more certain that America's actions in Iraq are essential to the security of our citizens."
It is good that he has taken the blame, relieving the historians of making that decision -- not that it would have been a tough call for them.
But Bush will never be able to admit that the invasion was a mistake. How could he look into the faces of parents of a killed GI and tell them that their son or daughter died because of his mistake?
I hate the MSM.
Let me see:
just to name a few...
All the left has is emotional manipulative crap like this. Factless and baseless. Standard issue left wing rant that sways no one.
Relax Helen, there'll be a few million Chillins strewn across the countryside by the time you shuffle off to Buffalo, have a little faith in the RATs, to aid and abet the enemy,,,ya ole fart.
When you view Helen Thomas's commnets in the context that see is of Arab descent, you realize how vile her repetition of Muslim propaganda really is.
helen, why don't you ask Santa Claus for a BRAIN this year. Maybe he's got an extra one for you.
No Helen is happy, when they were passing out Brains, she thought they said trains and asked for a slow one. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
:) That made me roar. Ha,ha. :)
What's the chances of Michael Moore being her ilegitimate off spring? There's definitely a resemblance ;-)
I think the "big names" all have staffs working for them. They just glance it over, give their approval, then take all the credit for it.
I'm supporting Iraq! And .. what "it looks like" and what it ends up being could be two very different things.
Iraq is a sovereign nation and they have a right to choose the government they want; even if it's different from ours.
And .. don't ever tell me I can't mention whatever I choose!
She is one of the few who actually read their email...go ahead and write her...tell her how you feel about this.
Wasn't she Miss al Qaida 1914?
every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing?" will echo in your ears.
Great movie.
She's good for what?
She's not on the side of a successful America I do not believe.
She also like Zogby has Middle Eastern heritage to get over as she editorializes.
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