Monday, March 17, 2008

Liberators or Liars?

Wednesday marks the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war. This is what President Bush said about Iraq five years ago today:
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people.

The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has a deep hatred of America and our friends. And it has aided, trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda.

The danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country, or any other.
This is what the media reported last week:
A detailed Pentagon study confirms there was no direct link between late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the Al-Qaeda network, debunking a claim President George W. Bush's administration used to justify invading Iraq.

Coming five years after the start of the war in Iraq, the study of 600,000 official Iraqi documents and thousands of hours of interrogations of former Saddam Hussein colleagues "found no smoking gun (i.e. direct connection) between Saddam's Iraq and Al-Qaeda," said the study, quoted in US media Thursday.
And this is what McCain and Cheney told Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki today:
...both Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Vice President Cheney vowed “that the U.S. would maintain a long-term military presence in Iraq until al-Qaida is defeated there.”
So much for "Mission Accomplished," and Bush said that on May 1, 2003.

(Cross-posted at BFM. Also check out the great pictures WK posted from the anti-war march held over the weekend by the local chapter of SDS.)

7 comments:

Kathy said...

Cheney is either delusional or simply pushing more propaganda. He's in Iraq today and the news is reporting this:

Cheney: Was There ‘A Link Between Iraq And Al Qaeda? Seems To Me Pretty Clear That There Was’

Lew Scannon said...

Cheney obviously has forgotten that he authorized the fixing of intelligence to prove his point.
Too many people are making money off the war (while the rest of us are making sacrifices)for it ever to end.

Anonymous said...

Mission Definitely Accomplished. Oil is over $100 a barrel, and oil companies have posted record profits year after year since the invasion.

But it is impressive how these guys can continue to repeat their lies in the face of so much contrary evidence.

Kathy said...

Lew, those sacrifices are really galling. I'd like to see some of their children serve in Iraq.

Abi, I think they believe if they say it often enough it will become reality - kinda like the Wizard of Oz.

Mark Prime (tpm/Confession Zero) said...

Liberators or Liars?

I'll take What is a neocon for 2 thousand, Alex.

BeepHrompBeep! Daily double! 4,000!

Anonymous said...

Good stuff, Kathy and I like your new digs.

Kathy said...

Poetryman, very funny!

Expat, thanks.