Bush, Lies, and Illegal War
Yesterday, it was announced that a study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements to brainwash America into invading Iraq.
The study calls the administration’s 935 lies “methodical,” and explains how they were “amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts.”
Lies They Knew Were Lies And Lies They Knew They Knew They Didn’t Know Were Lies
A friend of mine, commenting on the story, wondered if the study addressed the issue of whether, at the point the statements were made, were the lies known to be lies?
Well, I say there’s this: It was knowledge as far back as July, 2002, when the Downing Street Memo was written by Sir Richard Dearlove, head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, after a visit to Washington:
C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime’s record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.
Remember, this memo was written 9 months before we invaded. And over those nine months Bush and company stepped up the brainwashing of America with a deluge of WMD lies and “mushroom clouds over America” scare tactics.
Saddam’s Silly Drones
Some of their lies that were silly then, are hillarious now. Remember this outlandish lie from October 2002:
President Bush addressed the threat in October in Cincinnati, making his first big case outlining Iraq’s defiance.
“We’ve also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical and biological weapons across broad areas,” Bush said in preparation for a congressional vote authorizing the use of force against Iraq. “We’re concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVs for missions targeting the United States.”
The president noted, however, that sophisticated delivery systems aren’t required for a chemical or biological attack. “All that might be required are a small container and one terrorist or Iraqi intelligence operative to deliver it,” he said.
Still Drinking the Kool-Aid
In fact, there was no real intelligence remotely suggesting that Saddam could use drones to spray chemicals on American cities. That was just one of the 935 bald-faced lies this administration used to dupe (some) Americans…especially the folks that still proudly have “W” stickers on their cars ;-)
Nevertheless, some of the folks who bought those lies hook, line, and sinker, are now buying the propaganda on Iran. Many are still refusing to ask the administration to pony up hard evidence to support their claims, and still refusing to impeach opportunistic traitors.
Next time you wonder why an abused wife won’t simply leave the jerk that’s punching her in the face every night, ask yourself why Americans haven’t impeached Cheney and Bush yet. There are a lot of common answers from both sets of victims.
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January 24th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Just as long as you package the bullshit, the right way; the American public will stand in line to buy it.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
You are correst, sir. The U.S. definitely has quite a case of battered woman syndrome.
January 25th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Yep, if you look at Dubya objectively, he’s about the best darn BS packager around. Seriously, that’s probably why the PNAC neocons stole him a couple of elections and made him the president. I suppose after years of installing puppet dictators around the world, they decided we needed one at home.