Remembering Mushroom Clouds and Freedom Fries
With the recent Congressional debate about the War in Iraq, there’s been a rash of water-cooler talk among conservatives asserting that, leading up to the U.S. Invasion of Iraq, most countries thought Iraq had WMD, including the UN, and that in the end, it just turned out that Saddam was bluffing. This is often backed up with a suggestion to go ahead and look it up, check it out.
So, I did. What I found was a good reminder of why this war was wrong, wrong, wrong…soooooo very wrong.
And it’s understandable why people believe the lies that got us into it, because their only blunder was believing their President, who is still lying overtime. Anyway, unless otherwise noted, most of the facts below came from an article at Wikipedia, which, unlike our “unbiased” news media, sticks to the facts and culls the spin: Opposition to the Iraq War.
Most Countries Supported the Iraq Invasion
WRONG!
In Europe, the governments of Spain, Italy, Germany, and of course France, were VERY much against a U.S. invasion of Iraq, and they didn’t think Saddam had WMD, either. Our Congressional leaders made fun of the French (for being correct, it turns out…), and we renamed fried potato sticks “Freedom Fries.” How intelligent does that look now?!
In addition, the Pope publicly spoke out against a rush to war before we invaded. The World Council of Churches spoke out against it before we invaded, too.
As for people outside governmental institutions…
The Largest Mass Protest in History
On February 15, 2003, worldwide protests drew millions of people across the world. It is generally estimated that over 3 million people marched in Rome, between one and two million in London, more than 600,000 in Madrid, 300,000 in Berlin, as well as in Damascus, Paris, New York, Oslo, Stockholm, Brussels, Johannesburg, Montreal - more than 600 cities in all, worldwide. This demonstration was listed by the 2004 Guinness Book of Records as the largest mass protest in history.
Even the UN Thought Saddam Had WMD
WRONG!
Exactly a month to the day before we invaded Iraq, CBS news reported this: Inspectors Call U.S. Tips ‘Garbage’. The article reports: “So frustrated have the inspectors become that one source has referred to the U.S. intelligence they’ve been getting as ‘garbage after garbage after garbage.’ In fact, Phillips says the source used another cruder word.”
Saddam was Bluffing About WMD
Saddam publicly stated that he had no WMD. True.
Saddam said he had no chemical labs. True.
Saddam said he wasn’t trying to get Uranium from Africa. True.
Telling the truth isn’t bluffing. And, besides, calling somebody’s bluff isn’t a justifiable excuse to send boys and girls into harm’s way.
Facts and Lies
And so the choice was Saddam Hussein’s choice. He could have not fooled the inspectors. He could have welcomed the world in. He could have told us what was going on. But he didn’t. And so we moved.
~President Bush, July 7, 2006 (LIE)
… We worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did, and the world is safer for it.
~President Bush, March 21, 2006 (LIE)
U.N. weapons inspectors entered Iraq on November 27th, 2002.
~PBS Newshour, citing Associated Press, quoting UN Weapons Inspector Dimitri Perricos (FACT)
Inspectors searched for illegal weapons, finding few and only minor violations, “no evidence that Iraq was pursuing a nuclear weapons program,” and “no mobile facilities for producing weapons.”
~Arms Control Today, the publication of the Arms Control Association, citing UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix (FACT)
Their work still incomplete but progressing, weapons inspectors fled Iraq in March 2003 when the U.S. advised them to leave, because an American attack was imminent.
~USA Today, carrying an Associated Press article, citing Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (FACT)
After the invasion of Iraq, the Bush Administration would not allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return to Iraq.
~Sydney Morning Herald, quoting White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (FACT)
So, to recap: Don’t believe the regurgitated lying “we had to invade” spin again. Only a dog eats its own vomit.
Read More: Iraq, War, Bush, Saddam, iraq-war, bush administration, republicans, war on terror, middle east
Related Articles
With 15 to 20 minutes coverage on Nichole, followed by another prolonged segment on Brittany throw in a few commercials not much time left for the news. An uninformed public can be swayed very easily.
Pete: people will devote hours per day keeping up with Britney and other stars in the news, but if these same stars dare offer up one political opinion, the they get berrated for it. Seems to me Britney and her ilk have become the modern palace Jokers; we want them to entertain, shave their heads, act stupid in public so we can have somebody to laugh down at.
You and I will have a good laugh at these antics.
Untold thousands will mimic her, and that’s so tragic.
It always pisses me off this “if we know then what we know” bullshit. The non presence of WMD’s was not an idea that just occurred recently. It was known from the beginning, those in power chose to ignore it.
I am really enjoying the false flag series also…