Bush, still trying to sell the Iraq war: Part One (9/26/2006)

President Bush’s policy of pre-emptive war, as an excuse to invade Iraq, was a first in U.S. history and is a disaster. Nearly 3000 American soldiers have died; nearly 20,000 have been wounded, over a quarter of them seriously; tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis have been killed; and many coalition troops, contractors, and humanitarian and media people have been kidnapped and/or killed. What is Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s cold-hearted response to these deaths and Iraq’s destruction? “stuff happens.” Already $300 billion of our taxes has been spent, much of it unaccounted for or misused. Our international goodwill is shot. Does any country still hold us in high esteem?

But, no end is in sight to this war. Bush admits it will continue for the rest of his term. Some estimate we will be in Iraq for another 10 to 20 years! Is this the future we want for our children? Consider what led us into this horrible situation. Bush’s team wanted to invade Iraq long before the 9/11 terrorist attacks; when 9/11 happened, they used it to build a false premise to attack Iraq. Bush claimed Iraq had WMDs, uranium for nuclear weapons, and movable bioterrorism labs. All lies. Prior to his invasion of Iraq, he told us the war would be quick, Iraqis would hail us as liberators, and Iraqi oil would pay for it. More lies. In May 2003, Bush said, “mission accomplished,” that major operations were over, and that the battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on 9/11. Former terrorism czar Richard Clarke commented that this was like saying that the Japanese attacked us on December 7, 1941 and war with Mexico is what they got.

In December 2001, Dick Cheney said that links between 9/11 and Iraq “pretty well confirmed” that hijacking ringleader Mohammed Atta had met with Iraqi intelligence. The CIA reported there is no “credible information” that this meeting ever took place, and the whole concoction was based on a single unreliable source. The 9/11 Commission also concluded that this meeting never took place. But in 2004 Cheney still continued his spin: “We have never been able to confirm that, nor have we been able to knock it down, we just don’t know…I can’t refute the claim, I can’t prove the claim, I just don’t know.”. Tragically, the administration lies persist; nearly half of the U.S. still believes Iraq was behind the 9/11 attacks.

But when it suits his purpose, Bush denies that his administration ever linked the 9/11 attacks with Iraq. For example, on August 27, 2006, he said “Nothing, nobody has ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attacks.” Yet, he continues to argue that we are fighting there so we don’t have to fight here; his bizarre logic is that if we leave Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, then 9/11 will happen again.

Bush’s policies have produced civil war in Iraq, bred more terrorists, and further destabilized the Middle East. International experts point out that foreign and military policy normally is based upon intelligence—that is, objective assessment of facts. But the Bush regime has reversed this process; a new policy is set, and then intelligence must provide the facts to justify it. Now Bush’s cabal of neocons wants to bomb Iran.

Most Americans and most of the world oppose the Iraq war. Bush grows more desperate; he wants to scare us by falsely linking the Iraq war to terrorism. Yes, we must contain terrorism, but Bush policies only expand it. We need leadership that can inspire and unite us, not divide us with lies, fear mongering and name-calling. As the November election nears, think about what led us into this war and ask your candidates where they stand.

- Judith Kohler

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