Think Progress

Bush Resurrects False Claim That Congress Had “Same Intelligence” On Iraq

In his speech today, President Bush claimed that members of Congress who voted for the 2002 Iraq war resolution “had access to the same intelligence” as his administration. This is patently false.

Nevermind that much of the intelligence offered to the public and to Congress was inaccurate and misleading, or that according to the Downing Street memo and other documents, such intelligence was likely intentionally “fixed.” It is simply not true to state that Congress received the “same intelligence” as the White House:

FACT — Dissent From White House Claims on Iraq Nuclear Program Consistently Withheld from Congress:

[S]everal Congressional and intelligence officials with access to the 15 assessments [of intel suggesting aluminum tubes showed Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear program] said not one of them informed senior policy makers of the Energy Department’s dissent. They described a series of reports, some with ominous titles, that failed to convey either the existence or the substance of the intensifying debate.” [NYT, 10/3/04]

FACT — Sen. Kerrey: Bush “Has Much More Access” to Intel Than Congress:

Former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE), ex-Senate Intelligence Committee vice chairman: “The president has much more access to intelligence than members of Congress does. Ask any member of Congress. Ask a Republican member of Congress, do you get the same access to intelligence that the president does? Look at these aluminum tube stories that came out the president delivered to the Congress — ‘We believe these would be used for centrifuges.’ — didn’t deliver to Congress the full range of objections from the Department of Energy experts, nuclear weapons experts, that said it’s unlikely they were for centrifuges, more likely that they were for rockets, which was a pre-existing use. The president has much more access to intelligence than any member of Congress.” [10/7/04]

FACT — Rockefeller: PDBs, CIA Intel Withheld From Senate:

Ranking minority member on the Senate Intelligence Committee Jay Rockefeller (D-WV): “[P]eople say, ‘Well, you know, you all had the same intelligence that the White House had.’ And I’m here to tell you that is nowhere near the truth. We not only don’t have, nor probably should we have, the Presidential Daily Brief. We don’t have the constant people who are working on intelligence who are very close to him. They don’t release their — an administration which tends not to release — not just the White House, but the CIA, DOD [Department of Defense], others — they control information. There’s a lot of intelligence that we don’t get that they have.” [11/04/05]

FACT — War Supporter Ken Pollack: White House Engaged in “Creative Omission” of Iraq Intel:

In the eyes of Kenneth Pollack, “a Clinton-era National Security Council member and strong supporter of regime change in Iraq,” “the Administration consistently engaged in ‘creative omission,’ overstating the imminence of the Iraqi threat, even though it had evidence to the contrary. ‘The President is responsible for serving the entire nation,’ Pollack writes. ‘Only the Administration has access to all the information available to various agencies of the US government – and withholding or downplaying some of that information for its own purposes is a betrayal of that responsibility.’” [Christian Science Monitor, 1/14/04]

FACT — White House Had Exclusive Access to “Unique” Intel Sources:

“The claim that the White House and Congress saw the ’same intelligence’ on Iraq is further undermined by the Bush administration’s use of outside intelligence channels. For more than year prior to the war, the administration received intelligence assessments and analysis on Iraq directly from the Department of Defense’s Office of Special Plans (OSP), run by then-undersecretary of defense for policy Douglas J. Feith, and the Iraqi National Congress (INC), a group of Iraqi exiles led by Ahmed Chalabi.” [MediaMatters, 11/8/05]




Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date

159 Responses to “Bush Resurrects False Claim That Congress Had “Same Intelligence” On Iraq”

  1. yankeluh Says:

    It is time that we stop using mealymouthed phrases such as "patently false". If something is a lie it is time to call it a lie. If Kerry had taken the gloves off in 2004 he would have won the election. As far as I am concerned the gloves are off now. Bush is a liar, a moron, and has dishonored our country.


  2. Ringo Says:

    This just shows how deep the arrogance runs. He truly belives he can sell the same lies over and over again to the American people and no one is going to call him on it. Keep talking Bush! You're doing the best work anyone can do to ensure your a** us impeached in 2006.


  3. The Muse Says:

    Amazing, maybe we've just come full circle and we'll start hearing all the false claims again...

    ...the smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud,

    Saddam was aiding terrorists,

    Saddam was seeking uranium from Niger...

    Get rid of them all!

    New on EWM: “Rove out, Rover in.”
    Scaled down agenda includes a “war on gingivitis” and plans to occupy Aruba.


  4. Citizen80203 Says:

    It is the addict thrashing against the wall, only they happen to be traitors to America as well. Hopefully the Senate investigations will commence in January 2006.


  5. Pete Bogs Says:

    they may have had some of the same intelligence, but they weren't all members of WHIG... those were the only people who knew the full story - that intelligence was either bad or an outright lie... that's why they got together to contrive, spin and smear their way to Iraq...


  6. kindness Says:

    Somebody needs to tell dumbya, his first term is over, he's now in his second term. Me thinks he's confused and still thinks he can spout any old bullshit and the masses will throw flowers at his feet. What, no hummis?


  7. Anti Warhol Says:

    It is absolutely possible that Congress had the same intelligence as the President. Why? Because it might be the case that Bush only ever saw the cherrypicked intel himself. If the WHIG group was intent on this war, no matter what, and Bush was waffling - or they were trying to insulate him if they ever got caught - its possible they fed him the same crock of shit.

    I'm not interested in bringing Bush down as much as I'm interested in getting to the bottom of the intel screw ups.


  8. Mary Poppin Says:

    How could the congress have the same information as the White House because the WH keeps everything a secret. Old Bushie is a total liar.


  9. Corrryn Says:

    Translation of Democrats: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!


  10. wisedup Says:

    does bushie even know how to tell the truth???? NO. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED......how is he going to 're-write' that one??????????


  11. Citizen80203 Says:

    Mary Poppin

    It was the Senate Intel Committee that "presented" the Senate with filtered intel. The NIE or National Intelligence Estimate went through a "revision" that inserted the cherry picked NeoCon "proof" that finally make it to both houses so they could "ponder" and make a "informed decision" upon the Use Of Force in Iraq.

    All the above can be translated as follows: A conspiracy of lies to achieve the NeoCon wet dream of remaking Iraq. Which begs, who are the traitors in the Bush Administration and Congress who did this? Hence, the Dems demanding phase 2.


  12. Magnum DB Says:

    I heard countless word-for-word lines in this speech that I heard in other speeches, and I am fine with that. Because in doing that, he's keeping the people from trusting him again, and the last thing we need is for the sometimes brainless Americans to fall back into trusting him.

    I say brainless, because I'm shocked there are still over 30% in this country who trust him! And over 30% who don't think Cheney has anything to do with the CIA leak.

    Come on now people, grow a brain.


  13. AJR1111 Says:

    Best line from Bush speech today -- how true it is, he doesn't even know:

    "Evil men obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously, and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply."


  14. Citizen80203 Says:

    Corrryn (another GOP bitch boy)

    Actually, you came here rant, throw your sh*t, and to cry. So maybe, you should keep it as an inner voice before you post.


  15. Lesly Says:

    Corrryn wrote:

    Translation of Democrats: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!

    Do you mean "Waaaah! They get to go to hell in a handbasket with us"?

    Or "Waaaah, you're only allowed to point out the obvious if you win elections"?


  16. Pablo in Mexico Says:

    Old Georgie Boy, born with a silver foot in his mouth, just cant keep away from telling his lies, all made up for him by Rove.

    This pot smoking cocaine sniffing awol sad sack of shit should be taken back into the national guard. He did a great job of guarding the texas gulf shore while in the guard. He is needed again, but this time in Iraq.


  17. Ryan Neat Says:

    Republicans are pathological liars, and psychopathic lunatics. This is just one more example of both.


  18. jerry7 Says:

    "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda. (Applause.)"

    from bush's speech at the Greece Athena Middle and High School may 2005 on social security. note the applause in parentheses... those are the people we need to watch out for. who could sit there and applaud a statement like that? freaks!!!! in any event they just repeat the same lies over and over and over. big lie theory...

    to corrryn: you need to turn off the tv and read a book that was not published within the last 20 years. i am not a democrat nor republican because i have discovered the truth of the two party distraction so don't interpret my direction as partisan by any means... but in all honesty you should stop letting the current bunch of corrupt politicians catapault their propaganda onto you. it has caused you to not understand what is going on which is exactly their goal... good day.


  19. Jesus Christ God of WAR Says:

    Again, there is a vast difference between the Truth and Opinion.

    Repugs can't seem to get this through their pointy leetle heads.

    A lie is a lie is a lie. And Bush lies. All the time.


  20. Ryan Neat Says:

    Bush lied.

    The war is illegal.

    Bush should be impeached.

    End of discussion that should be needed!


  21. Hank Says:

    Corryn, #9, your post looks so lonely here. Even NED and aphrodite don't have the stomach to try and put up any kind of positive attack for Bush's sorry ass. And all you can muster for a defense of our president is "Waaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!" as a way of attack? If I wasn't a rightwinger, I would say that was a silly-assed, childish post, indeed.

    Correct me if I'm wrong but, it's not Waaaaaaaaaaahhhh!! you are starting to hear from the democrats, but "Whoa!!" The Bushitting doesn't appear to be working any more. I mean, that crying you claim to be hearing just may be the Democrats crying for joy.

    Hey, what your take on the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll showing that as of two days ago, 39% of Americans now think the Bush Administration is LESS ETHICAL than other recent administrations, and only 29% (probably mainstream Republicans) think it is more ethical? I mean, are we getting our Repugnican asses whipped, or what?


  22. hardass Says:

    LIES ! lies , lies and more lies . Such mandacity !

    When cornered ,attack . It feels , it smells ,it sounds like Karl Rove . The sob pulling strings again on that puppie puppet , the puppet is more agitated this time . Can the end be near?


  23. hardass Says:

    Would somebody in that white house give a B J to that president so we can find reasons to empeach .


  24. Lesly Says:

    hardass, hehehe


  25. progressive and proud Says:

    I really want him out of office, but I just can't do it hardass. Although, if we could just catch him and Karl on a lonely night, it would be gold.


  26. progressive and proud Says:

    And what's with waaaaaah? Is that the dumbest post ever? Geez, cut and paste or something if you have no material. What a dolt.


  27. I-RIGHT-I Says:

    FACT — Sen. Kerrey: Bush “Has Much More Access” to Intel Than Congress:

    Translation: "Bush has more intel than I do" And of course that's a fact.

    Congress doesn't need to know everything and they know they don't need to know but the fact is THEY KNEW ENOUGH AND NOT ONE ITEM OF INTEL HAS BEEN PROVEN TO BE FALSE OR MISLEADING...according the senate reports anyway.

    But hey, what the hell. Can anyone blame Bush for keeping knows traitors and enemy collaborators in the dark. No. What we can blame him for is not having them shot at sunrise.


  28. I-RIGHT-I Says:

    Bush lied.

    The war is illegal.

    Bush should be impeached.

    End of discussion that should be needed!

    Comment by Ryan Neat

    Clinton had 80+ Texas men woman and children slaughtered in Waco, Tx. Why is he still breathing?

    He allowed terrorists to train and plan the mass slaughter of 3000 americans in the heart of NYC AFTER the trade center had already been bombed by the SAME PEOPLE. Why is he still breathing?


  29. Ryan Neat Says:

    MizzIWrongY,

    Bahaha, that's just so stupid it doesn't even deserve a response. You're such a retard you can't even construct a rational argument, because your comments are just stupid...

    Here's all that matters.

    Bush lied.

    The war is illegal.

    Bush should be impeached.

    End of discussion that should be needed!


  30. Ryan Neat Says:

    Republicans profewsionally lie, all of your talking points are already debunked, and don't deserve discussion trolls!

    REPUBLICANS ARE TRAITORS!


  31. Citizen80203 Says:

    I-right-I

    Like I posted earlier traitor, here is your blindfold. Now put your back against the wall and be a man for once in your pathetic life.


  32. Ryan Neat Says:

    Soldiers in Iraq burned innocent children and women to death with Chemical WMDs. REPUBLICANS ARE FASCIST!


  33. Gregor Samsa Says:

    It does not matter what te actual reason for invading Iraq was: Iraqis are lucky the U.S. invaded their country: If Saddam Hussein were still in power, his thugs would be conducting illegal searches and breaking into homes at night, throwing innocent people in secret prisons in order to torture, sodomise, and kill them. Those thugs would be using chemical weapons to kill people in droves, reducing entire cities and neighbourhoods to rubble, and doing other equally barbaric things.

    Hussein was such a mean, horrible, ruthless tyrant. Iraq needed to be liberated; it was the moral thing to do. I am happy that he is going to be tried for war crimes.

    Now that, thanks to the U.S. of A., Iraq is free, those nasty things no longer hap... oh... well... umm... hmm... well, why focus on the negative things, anyway? Look! They just had elections! Iraq is free!

    (Typical tangential reply from a neocon apologist when told the invasion of Iraq was illegal and immoral)


  34. Neil Sagan Says:

    The argument goes like this: I bought the intel, you bought the intel, I asked you to vote for war authorization, you voted for war authorization. If I misled the country into war then you misled the country into war.

    I'm not buying it.

    George Bush and the cabal brought this country into war in Iraq in a strategic blunder in the war on terror.

    The horribly misguided neo-con argument couldn't even survive the light of day. War making in Iraq could be accomplished only with lies about mushroom clouds and ties with Al Qaeda. What a bunch of highly educated self-righteous warmongers. The sole superpower ought to set an example of restraint never mind respecting the lessons learned in 200 years of American history.

    If Bush lied this country into war, congress owes it to the American people to impeach. That's not just my opinion; over half of the citizen’s in this country feel the same way. An impeachment is a trial. Bush deserves an up or down vote in the senate on the issue of whether he lied to take this country to war in Iraq.


  35. I-RIGHT-I Says:

    Conservative talk-show host Bill O'Reilly is ready to scratch San Francisco off the map of the United States. Gone. Coit Tower? Terrorists can blow it up, and the rest of the country shouldn't care.

    The Fox News talk-show host and one-man conservative media juggernaut has concluded that the United States and San Francisco just don't go together anymore. Voting to oppose military recruitment in public schools and to ban handgun ownership, as San Franciscans did Tuesday, means the city should be cut off from federal dollars. And then some.

    "You know, if I'm the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium and I say, 'Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds,' " O'Reilly said Tuesday on his radio show as San Franciscans were approving the two measures. Perhaps, he didn't realize that he'd be speaking mostly to foreign tourists and suburbanites if he were standing in Union Square.

    "Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead," O'Reilly went on. "And if al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."

    Soldiers in Iraq burned innocent children and women to death with Chemical WMDs. REPUBLICANS ARE FASCIST!

    Comment by Ryan Neat

    I feel sorry for the straight and honest people that might live in queer city but I wouldn't mind at all if SF got wiped out. The town is lousy with Ryan Neats.


  36. Roger Drowne EC Says:

    Just Finished Up-Date 2 Help

    End PLUTOCRACY in the USA Today

    At...

    http://www.TheBuffaloParty.com

    Ck it out

    U ( Potential - Buffalow ) U

    Thank U, Staff@TheBuffaloParty.com
    .


  37. I-RIGHT-I Says:

    If Bush lied this country into war, congress owes it to the American people to impeach. That’s not just my opinion; over half of the citizen’s in this country feel the same way.

    Comment by Neil Sagan

    Since when do a few nutballs like you constitute over 50% of this country?


  38. Lesly Says:

    IRI wrote:

    I feel sorry for the straight and honest people that might live in queer city

    Sure you do.


  39. Missy Says:

    Fact, all lies.


  40. Jesus Christ God of WAR Says:

    ... and I fail to see how the Iraqi's are any better off today than they were under Saddam. Blunder. In spades!

    Please remember, 63% of Iraqis wanted the US there... _before_ Abu Ghraib... and 9% of the Iraqis want the US there _after_ the revelations of Abu Ghraib.

    Repugs == Retards


  41. The Subjective Scribe Says:

    Debunking Bush claim

    Bush and company will do and say anything to try to shift any responsibility for mistakes or failures they've made from the beginning. If they mislead, distort and confuse enough, they hope you will be deceived enough that you can't hold them account...


  42. WC Says:

    #28 quote:

    He allowed terrorists to train and plan the mass slaughter of 3000 americans in the heart of NYC AFTER the trade center had already been bombed by the SAME PEOPLE. Why is he still breathing?

    Comment by I-RIGHT-I — November 11, 2005 @ 4:36 pm

    Better question: why did Pres. Bush & Co. brush off the PDB of Aug. 6, 2001 as "historical" information, not to be taken seriously, instead of acting on it?

    Tell us, I-RIGHT-I, have you ever read the PDB? I just did. Why, I do believe the very issue you bring up in your post, "He allowed terrorists to train and plan the mass slaughter of 3000 americans..." is addressed in that PDB.

    And I do recall that an FBI operative (can't recall her name) tried her best to alert her superiors that 2 of the terrorists involved in 9/11 were receiving flight instructions here in America, but a lid was put on that intel.


  43. Swingly Says:

    We have to start attacking them with their own ammunition... somehow!! Now till the next election, they're going to repeat and repeat and repeat that the Iraq war was the fault of Democrats!!!! Repeated ad nauseam until 50% of the population starts to believe! Jesus Christ!! How do we get rid of these traitors and liars??


  44. Missy Says:

    Sorry didn't finish. "Fact, all lies from the Bush administration." (at least in my eyes.)


  45. mparker Says:

    Now the Reptilican talking point liars will attempt to blame everyone else for the war in Iraq. Please repeat after me:
    BUSH'S WAR, BUSH'S WAR, BUSH'S WAR, BUSH'S WAR!

    Not Saddam
    Not the terrorists
    Not Clinton
    Not the Democrats
    Not the French
    Not the U.N.

    With immesurable hubris and with the full knowledge of his deciet, this war was waged in the name of God and the spirit of patriotism. Bush's war is as tragic and costly as it is criminal and disgraceful. This bungled misadventure represents the needs of a single man for glory. This glory to foster his "capital" and that "capital" expended on a second idealogical war against the middle class, the poor of America as well as our Veterans.


  46. amydemiceli Says:

    impeaching him would only buy the republican party more time,

    "its just that bush, not all R's"

    no one is ready to pull the troops out, no one that would replace him. He deserves to be yanked out, but i think we deserve a chance to watch him further hang himself, i think it will turn out better for this country in the long run. god, hes not even a full year into his second term, this could be REALLY ugly


  47. Neil Sagan Says:

    By a margin of 50% to 44%, Americans say that President Bush should be impeached if he lied about the war in Iraq, according to a new poll - ZOGBY

    According to Mr I-RIGHT-I 50% of americans are nutballs like me.

    Mr I-RIGHT must be on e of the 55% who don;t consider themselves nutballs nor beleive the president should be impeached if he lied abour reasons for going to war in Iraq.


  48. Swingly Says:

    No. 33 - "It does not matter what te actual reason for invading Iraq was: Iraqis are lucky the U.S. invaded their country".
    OK, I'm sure Iraqis are surely happy that they have no water, no electricity, no gas, and that about an average of 100 innocent civilians are killed every day.


  49. Darth Filibustrous Says:

    This is URGENT. Repubs are making the "But the Dems had the same intel" their mantra.

    We need to counter this. I hope ANY Dem on MSM talk shows can quickly respond with these points. Mainly highlight TWO things: the Energy Dept dissent and the OSP-Chalabi connection.


  50. mparker Says:

    All the old lies are new again.


  51. Keith H. Says:

    He can spit lies from that shit eating pie hole till his favorite mule girlfriend heads for the barn, it aint changin' nothin'. He's gonna wake up tomorrow and be the same dumbass loser he is today. Fvck him, feed him fish heads.


  52. Neil Sagan Says:

    By a margin of 50% to 44%, Americans say that President Bush should be impeached if he lied about the war in Iraq, according to a new poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, the highly-regarded non-partisan polling company. ZOGBY


  53. Neil Sagan Says:

    I didn't realize 50% of the people in this country were nutballs.


  54. Greenback Says:

    Chalabi is a main contributor of the false information to invade Iraq. He's been arrested and did time for bank fraud and forgery. He's intimate with every major neocon, especially Wolfowitz. He's presently in DC being treated to private consultations with White House officials; all the while an investigation is taking shape as to why we invaded Iraq. He should be brought in for questioning by an independent investigating commitee.


  55. Jeremy Says:

    U-RIGHT-U,

    Since when was 50% a small minority of nut balls?

    Your the one ranting in here how San Francisco should be wiped out.

    You sound like a terrorist to me.


  56. AvengingAngel Says:

    The Niger uranium fraud. The al-Libi fabrications. White House pressure on the CIA.

    "The Iraq Intel Stonewall Crumbles."


  57. Jon Says:

    For more background on Iraq intelligence stonewalling by the White House and the Congressional GOP, see:

    "Finding the Truth About Pre-War Intelligence"


  58. cynicon implant Says:

    The Dems are attempting to rewrite history. Let's take a stroll down memory lane and see what they were saying prior to the Iraq invasion:

    Here is Clinton himself, speaking in 1998:

    If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons-of-mass-destruction program.

    Here is his Secretary of State Madeline Albright, also speaking in 1998:

    Iraq is a long way from [the USA], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risk that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.

    Here is Sandy Berger, Clinton’s National Security Adviser, who chimed in at the same time with this flat-out assertion about Saddam:

    He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983.

    Finally, Clinton’s Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, was so sure Saddam had stockpiles of WMD that he remained “absolutely convinced” of it even after our failure to find them in the wake of the invasion in March 2003.

    Nor did leading Democrats in Congress entertain any doubts on this score. A few months after Clinton and his people made the statements I have just quoted, a group of Democratic Senators, including such liberals as Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, and John Kerry, urged the President

    to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons-of-mass-destruction programs.

    Nancy Pelosi, the future leader of the Democrats in the House, and then a member of the House Intelligence Committee, added her voice to the chorus:

    Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons-of-mass-destruction technology, which is a threat to countries in the region, and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.

    This Democratic drumbeat continued and even intensified when Bush succeeded Clinton in 2001, and it featured many who would later pretend to have been deceived by the Bush White House. In a letter to the new President, a number of Senators led by Bob Graham declared:

    There is no doubt that . . . Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical, and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf war status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies.

    Senator Carl Levin also reaffirmed for Bush’s benefit what he had told Clinton some years earlier:

    Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations, and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them.

    Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton agreed, speaking in October 2002:

    In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical- and biological-weapons stock, his missile-delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al-Qaeda members.

    Senator Jay Rockefeller, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, agreed as well:

    There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years. . . . We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction.

    Even more striking were the sentiments of Bush’s opponents in his two campaigns for the presidency. Thus Al Gore in September 2002:

    We know that [Saddam] has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.

    And here is Gore again, in that same year:

    Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter, and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power.

    Now to John Kerry, also speaking in 2002:

    I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force—if necessary—to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.

    Were they all lying?


  59. Swingly Says:

    Everyone that thinks the mantra has begun is right:

    Bush Aide Fires Back at Critics On Justification for War in Iraq

    By Peter Baker
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Friday, November 11, 2005; Page A01

    The White House went on the offensive in the debate over the Iraq war yesterday, insisting that U.S. intelligence had compiled a "very strong case" that Saddam Hussein harbored banned weapons and accusing congressional critics of hypocrisy because many of them voted for force three years ago.

    Bristling from fresh assaults on its justification for war, the White House dispatched national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley to the briefing room to issue a rebuttal to "the notion that somehow the administration manipulated prewar intelligence about Iraq." The administration's judgment on the threat posed by Iraq, he said, "represented the collective view of the intelligence community" and was "shared by Republicans and Democrats alike."

    We have to have our own mantra: IMPEACH, IMPEACH, LIAR, LIAR!!


  60. jparker Says:

    #9

    Translation of Democrats: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!

    Comment by Corrryn — November 11, 2005 @ 3:40 pm

    Now, by "waaaahhhh", do you mean something like this?:
    http://redstate.org/story/2005/11/9/95826/5067

    God that's funny....


  61. Swingly Says:

    # 58 - You are forgetting that the UN Inspectors happen to find a small arsenal of weapons that were destroyed before the war, so Bush attacked an un-armed country!! So statements by Clinton, Albright, etc. are HISTORY.... We're talking about NOW, and the horrors of an unnecessary war that was created by the hawks...


  62. Hackthemedia.com Says:

    The Talking Point's in Bush's Speech Have Already Been Debunked

    Bush went on the offensive today, criticizing the ongoing investigations into the fiasco that was pre-Iraq War intelligence. The talking points in the speech seem to be the standard ones that the blogosphere has already addressed...


  63. jparker Says:

    #9

    Translation of Democrats: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!

    Comment by Corrryn — November 11, 2005 @ 3:40 pm

    Now, by "waaaahhhh", do you mean something like this?:
    http://redstate.org/story/2005/11/9/95826/5067

    God that's funny. The rats are jumping ship....here's hoping you stay on board, Corrryn..


  64. Jesus Christ God of WAR Says:

    Repugs == Retards

    They're too stupid to know when the tide has turned against them with a little truth over opinion. And they're powerless to tell the truth, because they apparently don't know how.

    The MSM is reporting that "Most Americans Say Bush Not Honest"

    "...Almost six in 10 now say Bush is not honest, and a similar number say his administration does not have high ethical standards..."

    from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051111/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_ap_poll

    So, trolls, you have an even worse problem on your hands. Can you and Saint Bush fix it? Probably not. Start telling the truth and maybe things will change. But I know you can't tell the truth. You have your much vaunted "opinions" based on nothing that you cling to. Fools.


  65. duhgopmustend Says:

    ...
    ....
    ... "were they all lying?" ..

    comment by cynicon implant

    They were wrong or mislead what is your point? None of them are president. We expect the president to place our men and boys in harms way only as a last resort. That clearly was not the case. The lies leading to war were exposed and known by many that have internet access even as it occured. The fact that
    some were equally fooled and stupid does not excuse
    Bush. Office of Special plans cherry-picked info that Cheney wanted to prop his cause for war, same office
    downplayed any data to the contrary. The DSM and PNAC doc all pointed to the fact that Bush wanted his war.
    Bush himself talked about how being a "war president" would help hime jam in his extreme right wing agenda, he said that prior to the war. so please stfu.


  66. Gregor Samsa Says:

    No. 33 - “It does not matter what te actual reason for invading Iraq was: Iraqis are lucky the U.S. invaded their country”.
    OK, I’m sure Iraqis are surely happy that they have no water, no electricity, no gas, and that about an average of 100 innocent civilians are killed every day.

    Comment by Swingly — November 11, 2005 @ 5:10 pm

    Swingly - You obviously replied without reading the whole post first.


  67. Pablo in Mexico Says:

    Years ago Georgie Porgie went AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard.

    Today is Veterans Day, and I hope and pray that ll veterans, active duty personnel and their organizations remember that, once again, Georgie Porgie was AWOL.

    For as many years as I can remember, and I am two years older than dirt, the President of the United States of America has been at Arlington Cemetery to present a wreath to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

    Not this year though. Rove has regained his arrogance and convinced POTUS that he had better made a speech about how his critics are beating up on him.

    I hope every American remembers that on this Veterans Day their president was AWOL.


  68. Steven Souter Says:

    Finally, Bush is fighting back against the lying liberals who hate America.


  69. Citizen80203 Says:

    “While it’s perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of these traitors in the white house, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that treason began.”

    Official A hole


  70. Darth Filibustrous Says:

    Bush money quote from today's speech:

    "We've captured or killed several of bin Laden's most 'serious' deputies"


  71. Darth Filibustrous Says:

    Then he quotes Zarqawi 3 times and Zawahiri 3 times, all based on a fake "letter". Then he spends two paragraphs bashing Democrats. This is America's President on Veteran's Day. What a low life.


  72. thicketed Says:

    As a waiter from wisconsin I knew
    the intelligence was faulty.

    they have no excuse.

    they must face the music.


  73. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    I guess George Needs to Spend OUR Tax Money on this Propaganda As Well. The GAO report on BUSH Propaganda is Here:

    http://www.freepress.net/docs/gao_armstrongwilliams.pdf


  74. GDM Says:

    When all else fails, blame the democrats. One problem with that, most of the country will not buy it this time. It's a shame that on Veteran's Day we are once again reminded of what a feeble commander-in-chief we have.


  75. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    Its Just Media Hype of Rove to Delay the Inevitable Fall of the Bush co..

    In Essence;
    Polishing a Turd.


  76. ganesah Says:

    Downing Street Memos. They cooked the books and got nailed. The true-believer rethugs will whine and piss all over themselves not to see the truth. WHAAAAAAAAA...the sound of rethugs in retreat. If there was a god crashcart and shrub would have been struck down today for their outrageous hypocrisy. The majority of Americans are putting as much distance between themselves and this evil administration as possible. I know Jerry Kilgore is really happy he hung his hat on shrub.


  77. Swingly Says:

    To Gregor Samsa - Oops!! Sorry - did not realize you were being cynical!! Was listening to Fox Report - just to hear what they were saying... They're also blaming the Dems!! Arghhh!!! Nauseating!!


  78. Forestgunk Says:

    "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." Joseph Goebbels


  79. Innocent Bystander Says:

    I guess the "I'm a uniter, not a divider" is no an longer operative phrase. Having an AOL-deserter use Veteran's day to justify his lies for war while throwing political bombs at more than 50% of the vets who are Democrats is an insult that transcends bad taste.

    Clearly, he's thrown down the challenge. Democrats had access to the same intelligence? I think that lie can be rather easily refuted. So, if proven that all the facts were held back from the Senate, we can point to this speech as another bald faced lie told to the American people. Too bad we have to wait until the 2006 midterms to take back the House and Senate so we can impeach this little prick.


  80. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    UFOs? Dunno where that Came From..

    I suppose they want the Board to talk about UFO's.

    Not Biting the Bait.

    The military Has Been and Remains at Least 40 Years ahead of the Public.

    Sure they Got Secret Aircraft, Just Like the SR-71 Was.


  81. Marie Says:

    Olbermann's Countdown just had a bit wherein the Congress was in no way in possession of the same intel as the prez. They rec'd the "selected" info that everyone else did.
    Bushie also quoted from the recent "letter" between Al Zaqawi and Al Zawahiri to bolster his case -- that LETTER HAS BEEN DEBUNKED AS FALSE!!
    Even when he is trying to improve his image, he can't keep from lying -- he is pathological.


  82. For Truth Says:

    I right I,

    Why was Saddam supported by us in the 80's?

    I have asked this to the Right side many times, never an answer.


  83. Innocent Bystander Says:

    "As a waiter from wisconsin I knew
    the intelligence was faulty.

    they have no excuse.

    they must face the music."

    Yeah, me too, I knw. But, then again, if I was wrong, I wasn't responsible to 100's of thousands of constituents. As a Senator, I would assume the President is genuinely interested in protecting the safety of this country. I'd assume he isn't playing politics and setting up a hidden agenda to further his partisan political interests. Now we all know better.

    Bush has damaged the Office of the Presidency....how will another President be able to gain bi-partisan support for a real gathering storm? This idiot needs to be impeached.


  84. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    Heck, Lets take the Technology Bait a Little Bit Further to Illustrate what I mean.

    Lets take the Minuteman Missile.
    It had a C.O.P>100

    No its not Free energy, dont Confuse C.O.P with it.
    Anyway, this C.O.P efficiency was Patented used on the Minuteman Missile.

    Obviously the Poster of the UFO 'secret', isnt Familiar with EM


  85. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    Lemme see if I got this Right.

    Bush is an Ivy League Liberal
    Kerry Was An Ivy League Liberal

    The Radical Conservative Democrats whom Joined Hands with the Radical Republican Conservatives became
    the Radical NEO-Cons.

    Who is Bush is Attacking?
    Easy. HIMSELF =)

    Keep it Up Bush, its Just what we Want you to Do,
    Divide the Senate, So Americans can kick the Pork Barrel Monkies out And Replace them.


  86. Current Era Blog » As the PR Machine Cranks Says:

    [...] The first of many evolving strategies… Bush Resurrects False Claim That Congress Had “Same Intelligence” On Iraq [...]


  87. For Truth Says:

    I think a major difference between Libs and Conservs is that Conservs want instant results, they don't seem to see the bigger picture. Going to war without giving the weapons inspectors the time they asked for, going to war without the United Nations backing, Repubs tend to have more money, they get what they want when they want it, Repubs live in the WWII era, when kicking ass still worked.

    Libs feel that mucking around the world will cause generational hatred toward the US, and severe blowback for generations to come, we are looking at the longer term outlook, not the quick fix.

    I feel we now should not pull out of Iraq, but the job needs to be finished as soon as possible. The quick fix stance was already taken, so lets quickly finish this. Repubs are always about winning at all costs, sometimes winning is not quickly apparant, which Repubs can't understand.


  88. Susan Says:

    Never in American history has a President of the United States "used" Veterans Day to play politics.
    My father is turning over in his grave. If he were here on earth he would spit in Bushie's face.

    Yes, Bushie is the most low down scoundrel that ever lived. He just proved that real war veterans are not the type of people he respects.

    Impeach the traitor now. Allow my father and all veterans who died for this country rest in peace.


  89. Ronda Says:

    George Bush is a Liar. The senate did not have access to the same intelligence as the White House.


  90. Mama Says:

    I Right, 9-11 was in 2001 which was three years AFTER Clinton launched cruise missiles on Bin Laden in Afghanistan, nine months after Clinton left office and told Bush that Bin Laden was the single greatest threat to US security and about a month after Bush received a Presidential Briefing which warned that Bin Laden was preparing to attack America and might do so via high jacked airliners . . . . Bush received this briefing while he was on an extended vacation in Crawford. So yeah, I guess you were right, it's all Clinton's fault.

    By the way, I remember that day in 1998 when Clinton launched the cruise missels and how the right wing claimed it was a "stunt" to divert attention from Clinton's legal troubles. Troubles resulting from lawsuits and investigations which were orchestrated by the right wing. Perhaps had the right left Clinton alone to do his job, he might have caught or killed Bin Laden before 9-11.

    I also remember when Andrew Card interrupted Bush on Sept 11 to tell him America was "under attack" during Bush's visit to a grade school class room in Florida. Bush's reaction was much like a deer in headlights, but without the intelligence . . .

    Before, Sept 11, 2001, Republicans were too busy closing down the government, investigating and impeaching the president to be concerned about matters like national security. So yeah I can see how you can come to the conclusion that Clinton is responsible for 9-11, the invasion of Iraq, the poor intelligence related to WMD, the current massive budget deficits and the first indictment of a white house official in over 130 years.


  91. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    #76
    Roves PR engine is Already out of Gas, and is Under close Scrutiny, by the GAO. Report on BUSH Pr Below

    http://www.freepress.net/ docs/ gao_armstrongwilliams.pdf

    That Duck has been Shot Before It even Left the Ground. --AJ

    So Has This One:
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9686462/

    Muuuuhahaha MUUUhahaha.

    Whats Next ROTT ROVER?


  92. Mama Says:

    Susan, my thoughts exactly. When I heard Bush condemning the Democratic critics of the war during his verterns day speech I thought what an A-HOLE, he's politicizing Verterns Day! Nothing is sacred with this ass hole. But he never served and could never know the meaning of service; that's a job to be born by those less fortunate than he . . .


  93. Phillip Says:

    Go ahead Bush. Try revising history. Your lies have caught up to you. Poor little rich brat.


  94. For Truth Says:

    Never in American History have we ignored the Geneva conventions.

    Never in American History have we gone to war based on a potential threat.

    Never in American History have we ignored the United Nations.

    Never in American History have we set up a network of secret prisons.

    Never in American History has the federal deficit been where it currently is.

    Don't check out 911blimp.com, it might get you thinking about Pearl Harbor.


  95. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    Try this Link, Above was Fubarred.
    GAO PDF BUSH PROPAGANDA

    http://www.freepress.net/docs/gao_armstrongwilliams.pdf


  96. For Truth Says:

    Never in American History has an Administration been so secretive, spending record amounts on secrecy.


  97. Flunky The Clown Says:

    GRIM REAPER IN BUSH PHOTO!!? On the MSN home page click on "Bush blasts war critics" news topic.

    Look at the upper right hand corner of the video launch photo to what appears to be a pail white face with hood??? Could it be that the grim reeper was present?? Freaky


  98. For Truth Says:

    911blimp.net still works, just checked it.


  99. For Truth Says:

    Yeah it's freaky, but it's just some shit on the right side of that guys jacket that looks like a white face.


  100. Susan Says:

    #104 Flunky, yep thats my dad letting Bushie know his days are numbered.

    Soon Dad will be able to rest in peace.


  101. James Spaulding Says:

    It is amazing that this moron still believes he can give the same debunked speach of patent lies when all factual revelations point to a transparent con-job by a group of lunatic that have completely lost touch with reality......call the men-in-the-white-coats and have "dubbya" committed before he totally destroys this country and the entire human race!

    George Bush: "Never again"


  102. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    Google for and read this Free Online Book

    Final Warning
    (Loaded with Facts, useful for American Citizens to Fight back against the runaway Politics)
    http://www.kemet.dsl.pipex.com/nwobooks.html

    Skip Over the Satanic Parts,
    Key in ON The FACTS presented

    Now Rush Dimbulb, Will try to Say this is Conspiracy theory.
    it is Not.
    Many NWO quotes Here BY REPUBLICANS and DEMOCRATS alike.
    http://www.kemet.dsl.pipex.com/nwoquotes.html#BushLite

    George Herbert Walker Bush President of U.S.: 1989 ~ 1993. CFR Director, Trilateralist, CIA Director, Yale Skull and Bones Society. Addressing the General Assembly of the UN. 1st February, 1992

    "It is the sacred principles enshrined in the United Nations charter to which the American people will henceforth pledge their allegiance."

    Thats a Fascist For Ya, Hand over our Soverignity to a UN thats mostly Militaristic Countries.


  103. Acksyn_JAcksyn Says:

    105

    Yupp that is Strange looking.
    Perhaps Bush's Days Are Numbered....


  104. For Truth Says:

    Everything is black or white with the Repubs, your either with us or against us, protesting the war means you hate America. Life is full of grey area.


  105. Susan Says:

    I don't know if any of you heard Ed Shultz show today. Veterans were calling in ensuring the American people that they do not support the criminal in charge. They were appalled at Bushies remarks today.

    One guy called in crying. His father served in WWII, he served in Viet Nam and his brother served in Iraq. He was so upset at they way Bushie dishonored their service.

    Our veterans support the impeachment of the entire Bushie regime.


  106. I-RIGHT-I Says:

    One guy called in crying. His father served in WWII, he served in Viet Nam and his brother served in Iraq. He was so upset at they way Bushie dishonored their service.

    Our veterans support the impeachment of the entire Bushie regime.

    Comment by Susan

    I think that's bullshit. Twenty or so years between siblings is rather uncommon. What isn't uncommon is Leftist weasels lying to grab air time to support the Left.

    What I've heard over and over again from the MEN DOING THE FIGHTING is they wish Bush would clobber the treasonous Democrats who as a political tactic give aid and comfort to the enemy while denigrating the job they do over there. I'm wondering if some of these guys when they get back home don't take matters into their own hands as it concerns these villainous bastards like Kerry, Kennedy, Schumer and the rest. Wouldn't that be fun to watch on CNN? We could call it, "Post Iraq Patriot Syndrome". How's that sound?

    Of course just because I would contribute heavily to their defense fund should they be caught in no way means I endorse or encourage this kind of Red Blooded American behavior.


  107. NAVY VET Says:

    #87
    The righties don't want to talk about the '80s. We supported Saddam because we wanted him to destroy Iran. Mostly because of Iran's overtaking of the US embassy and holding the employees hostage for over a year. They also don't want to talk about Reagan/Bush1 supplying chemical weapons during the early '80s which were used to kill thousands of Iranian troops and used against the Kurds. Look for the pictures of Rumsfield kissing Saddams ass.


  108. I-RIGHT-I Says:

    I voted for this man and I've never cast a more significant ballot.

    President Bush Delivers Remarks on the War on Terrorism (George W. Bush, November 11, 2005, Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania)

    At this hour, a new generation of Americans is defending our flag and our freedom in the first war of the 21st century. The war came to our shores on September the 11th, 2001. That morning, we saw the destruction that terrorists intend for our nation. We know that they want to strike again. And our nation has made a clear choice: We will confront this mortal danger to all humanity; we will not tire or rest until the war on terror is won. (Applause.)

    In the four years since September the 11th, the evil that reached our shores has reappeared on other days, in other places -- in Mombasa and Casablanca and Riyadh and Jakarta and Istanbul and Madrid and Beslan and Taba and Netanya and Baghdad, and elsewhere. In the past few months, we have seen a new terror offensive with attacks on London and Sharm el-Sheikh, another deadly strike in Bali, and this week, a series of bombings in Amman, Jordan, that killed dozens of innocent Jordanians and their guests.

    All these separate images of destruction and suffering that we see on the news can seem like random, isolated acts of madness -- innocent men and women and children who have died simply because they boarded the wrong train, or worked in the wrong building, or checked into the wrong hotel. Yet, while the killers choose their victims indiscriminately, their attacks serve a clear and focused ideology -- a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not insane.

    Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; and still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision: the establishment, by terrorism, subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom. These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Hindus and Jews -- and against Muslims, themselves, who do not share their radical vision.

    Many militants are part of a global, borderless terrorist organization like al Qaeda -- which spreads propaganda, and provides financing and technical assistance to local extremists, and conducts dramatic and brutal operations like the attacks of September the 11th. Other militants are found in regional groups, often associated with al Qaeda -- paramilitary insurgencies and separatist movements in places like Somalia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Chechnya, Kashmir and Algeria. Still others spring up in local cells -- inspired by Islamic radicalism, but not centrally directed. Islamic radicalism is more like a loose network with many branches than an army under a single command. Yet these operatives, fighting on scattered battlefields, share a similar ideology and vision for the world.

    We know the vision of the radicals because they have openly stated it -- in videos and audiotapes and letters and declarations and on websites.

    First, these extremists want to end American and Western influence in the broader Middle East, because we stand for democracy and peace, and stand in the way of their ambitions. Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, has called on Muslims to dedicate, their "resources, their sons and money to driving the infidels out of our lands." The tactics of al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists have been consistent for a quarter of a century: They hit us, and expect us to run.

    Last month, the world learned of a letter written by al Qaeda's number two leader, a guy named Zawahiri. And he wrote this letter to his chief deputy in Iraq -- the terrorist Zarqawi. In it, Zawahiri points to the Vietnam War as a model for al Qaeda. This is what he said: "The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam -- and how they ran and left their agents -- is noteworthy." The terrorists witnessed a similar response after the attacks on American troops in Beirut in 1983 and Mogadishu in 1993. They believe that America can be made to run again -- only this time on a larger scale, with greater consequences.

    Second, the militant network wants to use the vacuum created by an American retreat to gain control of a country -- a base from which to launch attacks and conduct their war against non-radical Muslim governments. Over the past few decades, radicals have specifically targeted Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and Jordan for potential takeover. They achieved their goal, for a time, in Afghanistan. And now they've set their sights on Iraq. In his recent letter, Zawahiri writes that al Qaeda views Iraq as, "the place for the greatest battle." The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. We must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war against the terrorists. (Applause.)

    Third, these militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia. Zawahiri writes that the terrorists, "must not have their mission end with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq." He goes on to say: "[T]he jihad ... requires several incremental goals. ... Expel the Americans from Iraq. ... Establish an Islamic authority over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraqo Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq."

    With the greater economic, military and political power they seek, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction; to destroy Israel; to intimidate Europe; to assault the American people; and to blackmail our government into isolation.

    Some might be tempted to dismiss these goals as fanatical or extreme. They are fanatical and extreme -- but they should not be dismissed. Our enemy is utterly committed. As Zarqawi has vowed, "We will either achieve victory over the human race or we will pass to the eternal life." (Applause.) And the civilized world knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and genocide before leaving the stage of history. Evil men, obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience, must be taken very seriously -- and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply.

    Defeating the militant network is difficult, because it thrives, like a parasite, on the suffering and frustration of others. The radicals exploit local conflicts to build a culture of victimization, in which someone else is always to blame and violence is always the solution. They exploit resentful and disillusioned young men and women, recruiting them through radical mosques as pawns of terror. And they exploit modern technology to multiply their destructive power. Instead of attending far-away training camps, recruits can now access online training libraries to learn how to build a roadside bomb or fire a rocket-propelled grenade -- and this further spreads the threat of violence, even within peaceful democratic societies.

    The influence of Islamic radicalism is also magnified by helpers and enablers. They've been sheltered by authoritarian regimes -- allies of convenience like Iran and Syria -- that share the goal of hurting America and modern Muslim governments, and use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West, on America, and on the Jews. This week the government of Syria took two disturbing steps. First, it arrested Dr. Kamal Labwani for serving as an advocate for democratic reform. Then President Assad delivered a strident speech that attacked both the Lebanese government and the integrity of the Mehlis investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister.

    The government of Syria must do what the international community has demanded: cooperate fully with the Mehlis investigation and stop trying to intimidate and de-stabilize the Lebanese government. The government of Syria must stop exporting violence and start importing democracy. (Applause.)

    The radicals depend on front operations, such as corrupted charities, which direct money to terrorist activity. They are strengthened by those who aggressively fund the spread of radical, intolerant versions of Islam into unstable parts of the world. The militants are aided as well by elements of the Arab news media that incite hatred and anti-Semitism, that feed conspiracy theories, and speak of a so-called American "war on Islam" -- with seldom a word about American action to protect Muslims in Afghanistan and Bosnia and Somalia and Kosovo and Kuwait and Iraq; or our generous assistance to Muslims recovering from natural disasters in places like Indonesia and Pakistan. (Applause.)

    Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened by the actions in Iraq -- claiming that our presence in that country has somehow caused or triggered the rage of radicals. I would remind them that we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001. (Applause.) The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue, and it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse. The government of Russia did not support Operation Iraqi Freedom -- and, yet, the militants killed more than 150 Russian schoolchildren in Beslan.

    Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence: the Israeli presence on the West Bank, the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago. In fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world. No act of ours invited the rage of killers -- and no concession, bribe, or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder. On the contrary, they target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence. Against such an enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never back down, we will never give in, we will never accept anything less than complete victory. (Applause.)

    The murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals is the great challenge of our new century. Yet in many ways, this fight resembles the struggle against communism in the last century. Like the ideology of communism, Islamic radicalism is elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to speak for the Muslim masses. Bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims, "what is good for them and what is not." And what this man who grew up in wealth and privilege considers good for poor Muslims is that they become killers and suicide bombers. He assures them that this road -- that this is the road to paradise -- though he never offers to go along for the ride. (Applause.)

    Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy teaches that innocent individuals can be sacrificed to serve a political vision. And this explains their cold-blooded contempt for human life. We have seen it in the murders of Daniel Pearl and Nicholas Berg and Margaret Hassan and many others. In a courtroom in the Netherlands, the killer of Theo Van Gogh turned to the victim's grieving mother and said, "I don't feel your pain ... because I believe you're an infidel." And in spite of this veneer of religious rhetoric, most of the victims claimed by the militants are fellow Muslims.

    Recently, in the town of Huwaydar, Iraq, a terrorist detonated a pickup truck parked along a busy street lined with restaurants and shops, just as residents were gathering to break the day-long fast observed during Ramadan. The explosion killed at least 25 people and wounded 34. When unsuspecting Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast are targeted for death, or 25 Iraqi children are killed in a bombing, or Iraqi teachers are executed at their school, this is murder, pure and simple -- the total rejection of justice and honor and morality and religion. (Applause.)

    These militants are not just the enemies of America or the enemies of Iraq, they are the enemies of Islam and they are the enemies of humanity. And we have seen this kind of shameless cruelty before -- in the heartless zealotry that led to the gulags, the Cultural Revolution, and the killing fields.

    Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies. In truth, they have endless ambitions of imperial domination -- and they wish to make everyone powerless, except themselves. Under their rule, they have banned books, and desecrated historical monuments, and brutalized women. They seek to end dissent in every form, to control every aspect of life, to rule the soul itself. While promising a future of justice and holiness, the terrorists are preparing a future of oppression and misery.

    Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples -- claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent. Zarqawi has said that Americans are, "the most cowardly of God's creatures." But let us be clear: It is cowardice that seeks to kill children and the elderly with car bombs, and cuts the throat of a bound captive, and targets worshipers leaving a mosque.

    It is courage that liberated more than 50 million people from tyranny. It is courage that keeps an untiring vigil against the enemies of rising democracies. And it is courage in the cause of freedom that will once again destroy the enemies of freedom. (Applause.)

    And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom -- by distrusting human creativity and punishing change and limiting the contributions of half a population -- this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible, and human societies successful. The only thing modern about the militants' vision is the weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past -- a declaration of war on the idea of progress itself. And whatever lies ahead in the war against this ideology, the outcome is not in doubt. Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation and decline and collapse. Because free peoples believe in the future, free peoples will own the future. (Applause.)

    We didn't ask for this global struggle, but we're answering history's call with confidence, and with a comprehensive strategy. Defeating a broad and adaptive network requires patience, constant pressure, and strong partners in Europe and in the Middle East and North Africa and Asia and beyond. Working with these partners, we're disrupting militant conspiracies, we're destroying their ability to make war, and we're working to give millions in a troubled region a hopeful alternative to resentment and violence.

    First, we're determined to prevent attacks of the terrorist networks before they occur. We are reorganizing our government to give this nation a broad and coordinated homeland defense. We're reforming our intelligence agencies for the incredibly difficult task of tracking enemy activity -- based on information that often comes in small fragments from widely scattered sources, both here and abroad. And we're acting, along with governments from other countries, to destroy the terrorist networks and incapacitate their leadership.

    Together with our partners, we've disrupted a number of serious al Qaeda terrorist plots since September the 11th -- including several plots to attack inside the United States. Our coalition against terror has killed or captured nearly all those directly responsible for the September the 11th attacks. We've captured or killed several of bin Laden's most serious deputies, al Qaeda managers and operatives in more than 24 countries; the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, who was chief of al Qaeda's operations in the Persian Gulf; the mastermind of the bombings in Jakarta and Bali; a senior Zarqawi terrorist planner, who was planning attacks in Turkey; and many of their senior leaders in Saudi Arabia.

    Because of this steady progress, the enemy is wounded -- but the enemy is still capable of global operations. Our commitment is clear: We will not relent until the organized international terror networks are exposed and broken, and their leaders are held to account for their murder. (Applause.)

    Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes, and to their terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation. (Applause.) The United States, working with Great Britain and Pakistan and other nations, has exposed and disrupted a major black-market operation in nuclear technology led by A.Q. Khan. Libya has abandoned its chemical and nuclear weapons programs, as well as its long-range ballistic missiles.

    And in the past year, America and our partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative have stopped more than a dozen shipments of suspect weapons technology, including equipment for Iran's ballistic missile program. This progress has reduced the danger to free nations, but it has not removed it. Evil men who want to use horrendous weapons against us are working in deadly earnest to gain them. And we're working urgently to keep the weapons of mass murder out of the hands of the fanatics.

    Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes. State sponsors like Syria and Iran have a long history of collaboration with terrorists, and they deserve no patience from the victims of terror. The United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them, because they're equally guilty of murder. (Applause.)

    Fourth, we're determined to deny the militants control of any nation, which they would use as a home base and a launching pad for terror. This mission has brought new and urgent responsibilities to our armed forces. American troops are fighting beside Afghan partners and against remnants of the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies. We're working with President Musharraf to oppose and isolate the militants in Pakistan. We're fighting the regime remnants and terrorists in Iraq. The terrorist goal is to overthrow a rising democracy, claim a strategic country as a haven for terror, destabilize the Middle East, and strike America and other free nations with increasing violence. Our goal is to defeat the terrorists and their allies at the heart of their power, so we will defeat the enemy in Iraq. (Applause.)

    Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a comprehensive plan. Our strategy is to clear, hold, and build. We're working to clear areas from terrorist control, to hold those areas securely, and to build lasting, democratic Iraqi institutions through an increasingly inclusive political process. In recent weeks, American and Iraqi troops have conducted several major assaults to clear out enemy fighters in Baghdad, and parts of Iraq.

    Two weeks ago, in Operation Clean Sweep, Iraq and coalition forces raided 350 houses south of Baghdad, capturing more than 40 of the terrorist killers. Acting on tips from local citizens, our forces have recently launched air strikes against terrorist safe houses in and around the towns of Ubaydi and Husaybah. We brought to justice two key senior al Qaeda terrorist leaders. And in Mosul, coalition forces killed an al Qaeda cell leader named Muslet, who was personally involved in at least three videotaped beheadings. We're on the hunt. We're keeping pressure on the enemy. (Applause.)

    And thousands of Iraqi forces have been participating in these operations, and even more Iraqis are joining the fight. Last month, nearly 3,000 Iraqi police officers graduated from 10 weeks of basic training. They'll now take their places along other brave Iraqis who are taking the fight to the terrorists across their own country. Iraqi police and security forces are helping to clear terrorists from their strongholds, helping to hold onto areas that we've cleared; they're working to prevent the enemy from returning. Iraqi forces are using their local expertise to maintain security, and to build political and economic institutions that will help improve the lives of their fellow citizens.

    At the same time, Iraqis are making inspiring progress toward building a democracy. Last month, millions of Iraqis turned out to vote, and they approved a new constitution that guarantees fundamental freedoms and lays the foundation for lasting democracy. Many more Sunnis participated in this vote than in January's historic elections, and the level of violence was lower.

    Now, Iraqis are gearing up for December 15th elections, when they will go to the polls to choose a government under the new constitution. The new government will serve a four-year term, and it will represent all Iraqis. Even those who voted against the constitution are now organizing and preparing for the December elections. Multiple Sunni Arab parties have submitted a list of candidates, and several prominent Sunni politicians are running on other slates. With two successful elections completed, and a third coming up next month, the Iraqi people are proving their determination to build a democracy united against extremism and violence. (Applause.)

    The work ahead involves great risk for Iraqis and for American and coalition forces. We've lost some of our nation's finest men and women in this war on terror. Each of these men and women left grieving families and left loved ones at home. Each of these patriots left a legacy that will allow generations of fellow Americans to enjoy the blessings of liberty. Each loss of life is heartbreaking. And the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come. (Applause.)

    The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we've ever faced, unconstrained by any notion of our common humanity or by the rules of warfare. No one should underestimate the difficulties ahead, nor should they overlook the advantages we bring to this fight.

    Some observers look at the job ahead and adopt a self-defeating pessimism. It is not justified. With every random bombing, with every funeral of a child, it becomes more clear that the extremists are not patriots or resistance fighters -- they're murderers at war with the Iraqi people themselves.

    In contrast, the elected leaders of Iraq are proving to be strong and steadfast. By any standard or precedent of history, Iraq has made incredible political progress -- from tyranny, to liberation, to national elections, to the ratification of a constitution -- in the space of two-and-a-half years. (Applause.)

    I have said, as Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down. And with our help, the Iraqi military is gaining new capabilities and new confidence with each passing month. At the time of our Fallujah operations a year ago, there were only a few Iraqi army battalions in combat. Today, there are nearly 90 Iraqi army battalions fighting the terrorists alongside our forces. (Applause.) General David Petraeus says, "Iraqis are in the fight. They're fighting and dying for their country, and they're fighting increasingly well." This progress is not easy, but it is steady. And no fair-minded person should ignore, deny, or dismiss the achievements of the Iraqi people. (Applause.)

    And our debate at home must also be fair-minded. One of the hallmarks of a free society and what makes our country strong is that our political leaders can discuss their differences openly, even in times of war. When I made the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, Congress approved it with strong bipartisan support. I also recognize that some of our fellow citizens and elected officials didn't support the liberation of Iraq. And that is their right, and I respect it. As President and Commander-in-Chief, I accept the responsibilities, and the criticisms, and the consequences that come with such a solemn decision.

    While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. (Applause.) Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs.

    They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein. They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. And many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: "When I vote to give the President of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat, and a grave threat, to our security." That's why more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate -- who had access to the same intelligence -- voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power. (Applause.)

    The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges. (Applause.) These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them. (Applause.) Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. (Applause.) And our troops deserve to know that whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory. (Applause.)

    The fifth element of our strategy in the war on terror is to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East. This is difficult, and it's a long-term project, yet there is no alternative to it. Our future and the future of the region are linked. If the broader Middle East is left to grow in bitterness, if countries remain in misery while radicals stir the resentment of millions, then that part of the world will be a source of endless conflict and mounting danger, in our generation and for the next.

    If the peoples of that region are permitted to choose their own destiny, and advance by their own energy and participation of free men and women, then the extremists will be marginalized, and the flow of violent radicalism to the rest of the world will slow and eventually end. By standing for hope and freedom of others, we make our own freedom more secure.

    America is making this stand in practical ways. We're encouraging our friends in the Middle East, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to take the path of reform, to strengthen their own societies in the fight against terror by respecting the rights and choices of their own people. We're standing with dissidents and exiles against oppressive regimes, because we know that the dissidents of today will be the democratic leaders of tomorrow. We're making our case through public diplomacy -- stating clearly and confidently our belief in self-determination, and the rule of law, and religious freedom, and equal rights for women -- beliefs that are right and true in every land and in every culture. (Applause.)

    As we do our part to confront radicalism and to protect the United States, we know that a lot of vital work will be done within the Islamic world itself. And the work is beginning. Many Muslim scholars have already publicly condemned terrorism, often citing Chapter 5, Verse 32 of the Koran, which states that killing an innocent human being is like killing all of humanity, and saving the life of one person is like saving all humanity. (Applause.) After the attacks July -- on July 7th in London, an imam in the United Arab Emirates declared, "Whoever does such a thing is not a Muslim, nor a religious person." The time has come for responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends, and defiles a noble faith. (Applause.)

    Many people of the Muslim faith are proving their commitment at great personal risk. Everywhere we've engaged the fight against extremism, Muslim allies have stood up and joined the fight, becoming partners in this vital cause. Afghan troops are in combat against Taliban remnants. Iraqi soldiers are sacrificing to defeat al Qaeda in their country. These brave citizens know the stakes -- the survival of their own liberty, the future of their own region, the justice and humanity of their own tradition -- and the United States of America is proud to stand beside them. (Applause.)

    With the rise of a deadly enemy and the unfolding of a global ideological struggle, our time in history will be remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers. And yet this fight we have joined is also the current expression of an ancient struggle -- between those who put their faith in dictators, and those who put their faith in the people. Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision -- and they end up alienating decent people across the globe. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure -- until those societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent -- until the day that free men and women defeat them.

    We don't know the course of our own struggle will take, or the sacrifices that might lie ahead. We do know, however, that the defense of freedom is worth our sacrifice, we do know the love of freedom is the mightiest force of history, and we do know the cause of freedom will once again prevail. (Applause.)

    Thank you for coming. May God bless our veterans, may God bless our troops in harm's way, and may God continue to bless the United States of America. (Applause.)


  109. Susan Says:

    Excuse me retard, I wrong 1, can you say career military or are you too stupid?

    Of course, a moron like you believes that there are no troops in Iraq who are at the age of 40 and over.

    Go enlist and see for yourself retard.


  110. The Moderate Voice Says:

    Bush Attacks Iraq War Critics As Undercutting War Effort

    On Veterans Day, a day when Americans from all walks of life and political parties are asked to unite in honoring veterans and their sacrifices, President George Bush delivered a major address defending his Iraq war policy and essentially accusing war ...


  111. eternalhope.blog-city.com Says:

    George Bush pronounces judgement on self in speech.

    In his latest speech on Iraq, George Bush once again sounded like the broken record that he always is. In so doing, he has pronounced judgement on himself for repeatedly lying about <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Iraq</coun



  112. Neil Sagan Says:

    The Plame CIA leak case is not hurting Bush because of faulty intelligence. It's hurting Bush because it suggests that top White House officials knew intelligence was faulty — and didn't want that fact to come out.


  113. T Mennino Says:

    The Plame CIA leak case is hurting Bush because it suggests that top White House officials knew intelligence was faulty — and didn't want that fact to come out.


  114. Neil Sagan Says:

    I-RIGHT-I’s contributions to this thread demonstrate that (1) anyone can offer an opinion. (2) Opinions do not require any specific knowledge about the topic. (3) When you're in over your head, just go off on a rant about Iraq veterans coming home and massacring other American citizens. What an ass. Let's get this discussion back on track.

    Ignore the ill-informed provocateur.


  115. Neil Sagan Says:

    The Plame CIA leak case is hurting Bush because it suggests that top White House officials knew intelligence was faulty — and didn’t want that fact to come out.

    If Bush lied this country into war, congress owes it to the American people to impeach. That’s not just my opinion; over half of the citizen’s in this country feel the same way.

    An impeachment is a trial. Bush deserves an up or down vote in the senate on the issue of whether he lied to take this country to war in Iraq.


  116. KillCon2006 Says:

    Clinton had 80+ Texas men woman and children slaughtered in Waco, Tx. Why is he still breathing?

    Pluck the Right I out

    Clinton didn't go far enough. And I say that as a person who used to be sympathetic to your position. That wasn't politics. That was dumbass law enforcement and they sure as hell haven't gotten any smarter. After the last few years, I no longer have any sympathy for the right. Destroy them all. They are the greatest threat to this country.


  117. KillCon2006 Says:

    Clinton had 80+ Texas men woman and children slaughtered in Waco, Tx. Why is he still breathing?

    Let's be blunt. If Clinton had really cracked down on the reich wing like he should have, a certain Federal building in Oklahoma City where over 4 times as many as men, women and children died wuld still be standing and those men, women and children would still be alive. Thanks to you idiotic, crtpto-fascist goons, when the Demcrats do take back both houses of Congress in 2006 and the WH in 2008, we will have all the "legal" tools necessary to eliminate the reich wing once and for all. You thought Waco and Ruby Ridge was bad, huh? You ain't seen nothing yet.

    Comment by cynicon implant

    How did this one escape from Waco?


  118. KillCon2006 Says:

    I feel sorry for the straight and honest people that might live in queer city but I wouldn’t mind at all if SF got wiped out. The town is lousy with Ryan Neats.

    Comment by I-RIGHT-I

    See what I mean? Clinton didn't go far enuogh. Track this down and put it in prison for life. Torture is still legal, right?


  119. Monica Smith Says:

    Just in case there's any doubt, this memorandum makes sure that the disclosure of information will be unequal. Oddly enough, the Vice President is not mentioned.

    THE WHITE HOUSE

    Washington

    October 5, 2001
    MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE
    THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
    THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
    THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
    THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
    THE DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

    SUBJECT; Disclosure to the Congress

    As we wage our campaign to respond to the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, and to protect us from further acts of terrorism, I intend to continue to work closely with the Congress. Consistent with longstanding executive branch practice, this Administration will continue to inform the leadership of the Congress about the course of, and important developments in, our critical military, intelligence, and law enforcement operations. At the same time, we have an obligation to protect military operational security, intelligence sources and methods, and sensitive law enforcement investigations. Accordingly, your departsment should adhere to the following procedures when providing briefings to the Congress relating to the information we have or the actions we plan to take:

    (i) Only you or officers expressly designated by you may brief
    Members of Congress regarding classified or sensitive law
    enforcement information; and
    (ii)The only members of Congress whom you or your expressly designated
    officers may brief regarding classified or sensitive law enforcement
    information are the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader,
    the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, and the Chairs and Ranking
    Members of the Intelligence Committees in the House and Senate.

    This approach will best serve our shared goals of protecting American lives, maintaining the proper level of confidentiality for the success of our military, intelligence, and law enforcement operations, and keeping the leadership of the Congress appropriately informed about important developments. This morning, I informed the House and Senate leadership of this policy which shall remain in effect until you receive further notice from me.

    (Signed) George Bush


  120. abhorrent Says:

    Notwithstanding whether or not Bush lied to get us into the Iraq fiasco, we must recognize that we deposed a legally constituted government.

    Now that we acknowledge that the reasons given for doing so have been found to be wrong, free Saddam and give him back his country. I am sure he will stabilize the situation and remove the terrorists from his country and prevent civil war from continuing.

    Your comments, please.


  121. kestrel Says:

    And I do recall that an FBI operative (can’t recall her name) tried her best to alert her superiors that 2 of the terrorists involved in 9/11 were receiving flight instructions here in America, but a lid was put on that intel.

    Comment by WC — November 11, 2005 @ 5:01 pm

    Coleen Rowley.
    http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020603/memo.html


  122. yebby61 Says:

    Claiming Congress sees the same intel as the President is just flogging the truth with a wet aluminium tube. Not since FDR, has a presidency kept so many secrets from Congress. Does anyone remember "The Manhattan Project"? Even Truman, FDR's V-P didn't know of the atom bomb project until FDR died, with a war on two fronts still being fought. When a president doesn't want something known, it isn't even known to the angels.


  123. 911 Says:

    http://www.physics.byu.edu/research/energy/htm7.html

    Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?

    By Steven E. Jones

    Department of Physics and Astronomy

    Brigham Young University

    Provo, UT 84604

    ABSTRACT


  124. ron hankins Says:

    Give us and the US a break Mr. Bush we've had 5 years of your repetitive drone of false statements.


  125. Angellight Says:

    The Republican's argument for the pre-empted war on Iraq is that Saddam was a grave and serious threat; however now, and because of the war, Bush has unleashed many more Saddams... in the quise of, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, insurgents, suicide bombers and other foreign terrorists who are really grave threats and worse as seen by the recent escalation of terrorism events in London and Jordan. Oh! by the way, (WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO the real GRAVE and SERIOUS threat,  OSAMA BIN LADEN?)


  126. ourgaurd Says:

    Wasn't it Georgie that said: "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." ?????

    Guess he really believes the crap he spews.....what a lying, thieving, pansy-***ed, putz this imposter is.


  127. The Deke Says:

    112 was an interesting post. " Everything is black or white with the Repubs" according to For Truth. Look at your own words. You believe that every single Republican thinks exactly the same way. Statistically, that is a positively inane assertion. Broaden your mind and leave room for the possibility that not every Republican thinks the same way.

    For example. George Bush is a Republican. He nominated Harriet Miers to serve on the United States Supreme Court. If you can recall some very recent history, there were numerous Republicans who didn't agree with the President's choice. Ultimately, she withdrew her name from consideration.

    A better example might be abortion. Some Republicans are oppossed to abortion and believe that it is murder. Some Republicans believe that the issue should be decided by state legislatures rather than by the Federal Judiciary. Some Republicans believe that abortion is appropriate only in the first trimester.

    Trying thinking about these issues without the one-sided, black or white perspective that you bring to the discussion, and you might learn that Republicans are not one dimensional.


  128. Sylvia Says:

    Bush is trying to write history.


  129. IraqVet Says:

    #136 - Your post is WELL stated, but corruption is corruption, and within that a crime against humanity is just a simple fact of truth regarding this administration…

    Black or white? Sorry, but many Republicans may not have a view on this subject, but Bush as made his mark on his legacy as the most racial polarizing Governor (President) in history…But many spin the fact that he has done great things for black people, but the truth is that he has done next to nothing and they (Bush) has yet to prove it to the country…black citizens are tired of him and Melhman thinking they can show up at a black function and think they are making inroads with the people…Just because you BUY a black minister, doesn’t make you a friend of my race!

    Abortion? See Rick Santorum! You may have a change of heart on that one! And the moderate Repubs are lost in the chorus of overturn Roe v. Wade!

    But, I agree there are many who do not agree, but they are towing the party line. In that, they are just as guilty of whom they support! 77% of Katrina victims (that were there) said it was about race and class! But they take a poll of some suburb in New York and they get their balance! Condi Rice is the most antithetical woman I have even seen, but hey she represents their race card!

    Clinton can walk in Harlem and be protected better than Bush! Bush can’t walk the streets of New Orleans without an armada to protect him! If HE truly represented the people of America, then a President has little to fear from the people he serves…But hey,
    Reagan, Ford, and Bush (both) feared the people…Carter & Clinton did not. The people embraced a true leader, they scorn a false imitation


  130. cherrylugnut Says:

    Now #58, most of the statements you contribute to dems were 1998. Some of the others were after congress was mislead.

    In 2002 we put inspectors in, who could have cleared it all up. Bush couldn't wait, remember? They hadn't found a thing up until Bush ended their stay. So, considering these facts, at time of the invasion, Bush went to war without any verification there were wmd. Well, except for madeup intel.

    By the way, congress don't get all the info the president gets. So far, he has not shown any justification for murdering, melting, torturing 10s of thousand of people. Including babies, man? 2061 troops killed, the rest, maimed for life. $300 billion spent, 9 billion missing. alot more terrorist now, than we had before.

    He's the president. The commander in chief. He had the intel, so he says. He made the decision to go. He is responsible, its BUSHES WAR period!

    Powell told him, "if you invade, its yours" its his alright.


  131. Michael Thomas Says:

    I read some of these posts and I'm amazed: Apparently, if you voice your opposition to a war that is considered illegal to most of the world and most of its people, some Americans want you dead.

    To me, this is a symptom of moral and mental illness. Hate -- a cancer -- has devoured their conscience. They have sacrifed their humanity for some twisted ideal.

    What happened to the American ideal that everyone has the right to express one's opinion? Now we have people saying that if you do that, you should be shot.

    The dark attiditude is not democratic. It shows an attitude found in the extremist practices of the followers of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and mean-intentioned (but self-rightious) religous leaders of many religions. ("Assassinate Chevez," by Pat Robertson comes to mind.)


  132. cherrylugnut Says:

    No #114 (right), you're wrong. NO ages were stated by Susan. His brother could be serving in Irag at the age of 55, 60, etc. Do you get it, Right!

    Anyway, a lot of older people are fighting these days. heck, Bush sends them all. He don't care.


  133. big enough to admit when I'm wrong Says:

    I RIGHT I;
    Do you read , or watch any news other than fox ever? Every time you post, the rest of us here who lean to the right just cringe. With every ignorant word you spew, you prove the lefties point. Please, SHUT UP!


  134. Seixon Says:

    LOL.

    "More access"

    Shifting the goal posts yet again? Yes, the White House had "more access". To the SAME INTELLIGENCE. Good grief. I also doubt that any Senator, especially like John Kerry who was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or whatever it is, would have been denied getting as much access as the White House had.

    This is of course a red herring, because they still had access to the SAME INTELLIGENCE.

    More access? So? They still saw the SAME INTELLIGENCE.

    The ever-changing arguments of the Democrats reminds of a conspiracy theory. Every time parts of the theory are debunked, new parts are created from whole cloth.

    First the Democrats claimed that the administration pressured the CIA into changing their assessments. Eventually several bipartisan reports concluded this was false.

    Next they claimed that the Democrats did not see the same intelligence, or that the White House some how altered what the Democrats got to see. The intelligence reports also show this to be false.

    Now the Democrats are claiming that the White House had "more access" as if that changes anything about them actually seeing the same intelligence.

    In addition, the Democrats are claiming now, since all the other claims have been debunked, that the administration misused the faulty intelligence that the CIA gave them.

    I'd be willing to make a wager that these claims, too, will also be found to be false and the Democrats will move to the next theory, the next allegation, the next claim.

    Rinse and repeat.



  135. Akkam’s Razor » Up is down…black is white…dogs sleeping with cats…WTF?!? Says:

    [...] The GOP Legislature and the White House is turning back to the same old, tired strategies - “everyone saw the same intelligence on Iraq (which of course, is not true), .  How long till the next “captured Al Qaeda lieutenant, renewed terror threats, and shrill warnings of mushroom clouds coming out of Iran, Syria, or France. [...]


  136. Think Progress » Sen. Roberts Won’t Back Bush Claim That Congress Saw “Same Intelligence” On Iraq Says:

    [...] On Friday, President Bush claimed that members of Congress who voted for the 2002 Iraq war resolution “had access to the same intelligence” as his administration. ThinkProgress posted information debunking that claim. We were assisted this morning by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS). [...]


  137. Save the USA » Bush Forcibly Attacks Iraq Critics ‘rewriting history’ - what about the UAVs Mr. Bush? Says:

    [...] Bush Resurrects False Claim That Congress Had “Same Intelligence” On Iraq [...]


  138. Proud Independant Says:

    The sad truth is that a majority of democrats
    did indeed support the moronic president in going to war.Why ? Because they did not want the repukes to be
    able to accuse them of being weak on national defense.
    Kerry is a good example. Against the first gulfwar which was well motivatedand for the second which was obviously the same type of unmotivated aggression for which Japanese and German politicians were executed after WW2.

    What really drives me nuts in this debate is, however, how nobody makes a distinction between nukes and poison gas & biological weapons. Nukes are the only real weapons of mass destruction. The intelligence on these was clear and IAEA was clear: Iraq had no nuclear program.

    Regarding poison gas even sane people (without any access to CIAs 44 billion budget) could assume that Saddam had it since he had used it against the Iranians. But so what ? Terrorist attacked
    people in Japan with nerve gas and people in the US with anthrax and the result was less than that of normal explosives.

    The big lie was Cheney/Condi/Bush talking about mushroom clouds.There was never any evidence for that. And the French and the Germans and all nations in IAEA knew it. By deliberately equating Iraqs previous mustard gas use with nuclear weapons, the Bush gang managed to confuse Americans to this very day.


  139. Seixon Says:

    Ryan,

    What if Rockefeller, Feinstein, and Kerrey weren't being very honest. Would that blow your mind?

    I bet it would. You called me partisan? You're relying entirely on the statements of Democratic senators. Go read the Robb-Silverman report. Learn something.


  140. Michael Thomas Says:

    Seixon,

    Isn't obvious to you that those guys lied? It takes the word of a Republican or Democrat to convince you? Key word here is OBVIOUS. I understand that all politcians lie some of the time. These guys lie consistently. How can you not see that?


  141. Ryan Neat Says:

    Seixon,

    What you're a partisan fool.

    Clearly you don't even have a clue how intelligence works.

    1) The agencies ALL report to the whitehouse

    2) Only the foreign senate intelligence committee is even permitted to see the classified reports.

    3) Those classified reports are prepared by the agencies, but the whitehouse DECIDES what's seen.

    The only thing dishonest is yor intellect. You are a FOOL!

    Now, again courtesy of eriposte, let's take a look at one direct excerpt from The Robb-Silverman Report:

    3. Senate and House Intelligence Committees knew that uranium from Africa claim was baseless, before Joseph Wilson's op-ed in 2003

    This is the only significant new finding for me in this report and it means that any Senate or House Intelligence Committee member who kept claiming, after June 19, 2003, that there was still evidence supporting the claim that Saddam Hussein was seeking significant quantities of uranium from Africa was simply a brazen liar.

    On June 17, 2003, CIA produced a memorandum for the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) stating that "since learning that the Iraq-Niger uranium deal was based on false documents earlier this spring we no longer believe that there is sufficient other reporting to conclude that Iraq pursued uranium from abroad." [216] The NIO for Strategic and Nuclear Programs also briefed the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, on June 18 and 19, respectively, on the CIA's conclusions in this regard. [217]

    Why didn't I know about this before? Well, because the Senate (SSCI) Report conveniently left it out as the Robb-Silberman report points out

    Maybe there was a second Robb-Silverman Report on WMD. The one eriposte quotes from is very clear that there was no doubt that WMD intelligence depended on an unrealiable source who was a known liar and everybody that was interested in the truth knew it.


  142. bp59 Says:

    Clinton couldn't keep his dXXX in his pants, but Bush has screwed this country and all our children for years to come..

    ...record deficits
    ...bad war we can't fix
    ...no respect from around the world
    ... more dangerous terrorists
    ...spiralling medical and prescription costs
    ...horrible energy policy


  143. Seixon Says:

    What you’re a partisan fool.

    As opposed to you? Damn there goes my irony meter again!

    1) The agencies ALL report to the whitehouse OMG really?

    2) Only the foreign senate intelligence committee is even permitted to see the classified reports.

    Bzzzt wrong.

    3) Those classified reports are prepared by the agencies, but the whitehouse DECIDES what’s seen.

    Bzzzt wrong again. The White House has no say in that at all. You are gulping up big lies churned out to you by your favorite propaganda factory.

    Go read the intelligence reports. Then you might learn how things work, as you have apparently absolutely no clue other than what your propaganda masters at the DNC are feeding you for dinner.


  144. VirusHead » Blog Archive » Bush Deeply Irresponsible Says:

    [...] Progress Report addresses the three basic lies, or um, historical revisions: 1) Claim: Congress had access to the same intelligence as the White House prior to the war; This is false. According to the Washington Post, Bush and his aides had access to “much more voluminous intelligence information than did lawmakers, who were dependent on the administration to provide the material.” Even Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) acknowledged that the differences in intelligence seen by Congress and the White House “may be a concern to some extent.” [...]


  145. MO Says:

    Why do we have to put up with this lying scum? Why are there not impeachment procedings going on right now?
    What recourse do we, the American people, have? We have to sit and wait for a Republican Congress to admit what a failure they are and their hero GW is. That will not happen. These people, Democrats too, will never admit they were wrong and people died.


  146. LANCE Says:

    Any Democrat in Congress who doesn't stand up for me and won't fight to remove Bush will NOT get my support in 2006.

    Bush has disgraced America and sh*t on the American people and it's time for his "Dark Ages" mentality to go.


  147. RE Cochrane Says:

    The point is that most Democrats caved in politically to the Whitehouse push for war. If one looks at the date of hawkish comments by prominent Democrats like John Kerry and Hillary Clinton one sees that they came late in 2002 or early 2003. In effect they were following the train, and by that time the invasion was looking inevitable.


  148. Think Progress » Richard Clarke Debunks “Same Intelligence” Myth Says:

    [...] If anyone can say definitively whether Congress receives the “same intelligence” as the White House on the most sensitive national security issues, it is long-time U.S. intelligence czar Richard Clarke. [...]


  149. Don Mersel Says:

    I am very upset that Congress has become a rubber stamp for the Executive branch. The gold star goes to those Congressmen and Senators who actually thought through the claims made to them by this administration and voted with their conscience and intelligence and not their irrational fear of loss of popularity.
    The 2000+ dead Americans cannot be brought back to life. The innocent Iraqis cannot be brought to life. The severely injured cannot turn back the time.
    But those who voted for a war of choice can reverse the damage that has been done by not letting any more damage be done in the future.
    We might have to put up with 3 more years of this horrible administration. But we need to vote in Democrats and Republicans who are independent thinkers and will form the majority who will overturn the darkest period of American History. Yes. I said Republicans. There are some out there who are waking up to their party going down in flames in 2006 and 2008 if they don't reclaim the high ground.
    The Republicans have no copyright on patriotism, family values, or common sense. We have to take back the Congress and the White House to repair the damage done and move on to a better, brighter day in America.


  150. Oliver Willis » Reality Vs. Bush Says:

    [...] Bush Resurrects False Claim That Congress Had “Same Intelligence” On Iraq [...]


  151. Think Progress » Facts Be Damned, White House Clings to “Same Intelligence” Myth Says:

    [...] In fact, even the White House admits this isn’t true. As McClellan went on to acknowledge a moment later, Congress did not have access to the Presidential Daily Briefs (the intel summaries President Bush receives each morning). The White House says this fact is irrelevant, however, because those briefs were found to be even “more alarmist” and “less nuanced” than the intelligence Congress had: MCCLELLAN: I saw there’s a reference to the Presidential Daily Brief, where the Silberman-Robb commission already addressed that issue and said that, if anything, that the Presidential Daily Brief was less nuanced than the intelligence that members of Congress saw and that we saw as well. [...]


  152. Think Progress » Scottie in Denial: White House Still Clinging to “Same Intelligence” Myth Says:

    [...] In fact, even the White House admits this isn’t true. As McClellan went on to acknowledge a moment later, Congress did not have access to the Presidential Daily Briefs (the intel summaries President Bush receives each morning). The White House says this fact is irrelevant, however, because those briefs were found to be even “more alarmist” and “less nuanced” than the intelligence Congress had: MCCLELLAN: I saw there’s a reference to the Presidential Daily Brief, where the Silberman-Robb commission already addressed that issue and said that, if anything, that the Presidential Daily Brief was less nuanced than the intelligence that members of Congress saw and that we saw as well. [...]


  153. Steve Walters Says:

    Dear Think Progress,

    I´m posting this email to as many like minded sites and individuals I can find because frankly, I do not like where this is going.

    I would like to draw your attention to an article which I found which puts things in perspective.
    The site also contains a rather disturbing ´Declaration of War´ against the United States, which in my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. (Hopefully!!!)

    Judge for yourself.

    From http://globalfreedomparty.com
    "Every American should be forced to see “Beyond Treason” as German civilians were forced, by order of then Gen. Eisenhower, to visit the Nazi death camps immediately after liberation in 1945. Justice would be further served if the Americans responsible for the use of uranium munitions were tried for war crimes in the very same court in Nurenberg, Germany, in which Herman Goring and other Nazi bigwigs were judged. This should include former commanders-in-chief George H. W. Bush and William Clinton."

    and http://globalfreedomparty.com/dow.htm
    "We, the Global Freedom Party, speaking on behalf of the United States of Europe, hereby declare war on the Federal Government of the United States of America, their plutocrat advisories in the Industrial and Military complex and their foreign collaborators. We will use all of our powers and means to bring down the United States goverment, plus expose and bring to global justice the individuals and corporations who have commited crimes against humanity and nature collaborating with the United States. We will use all of our powers and means to hinder, boycott, sabotage and prevent American goods and services to enter and be used in the United States of Europe and allied states."

    Say what? The United States of Europe???

    Sincerely,

    Stephen Walters.


  154. P.L. Parker Says:

    IMPEACHMENT? The president is guilty of HIGH TREASON punishable by execution not just impeachment. And every one of his minions as well. Want the truth? Get the truth at http://www.infowars.com


  155. Bushrat Says:

    The simple fact that the twin towers were obviously brought down by demolitions (as witnessed by the New York fire fighters) and NOT the heat generated from the fires (which is no where near hot enough to melt steel) should be all that's needed to empeach and hang Bush for treason!


  156. Emboldened » Blog Archive » The Fix Was In Says:

    [...] We were told that Saddam was reconstituting his nuclear program and Iraq had WMDs. This was why we went to war, to protect the US from an attack by Iraq or its surrogates with WMDs. It was a pretty straightforward reason that we were told would be immediately proved true once our weapons inspectors got on the ground in Iraq and would look with a keener eye than any UN inspectors would dare use. [...]


  157. Kemet/ Says:

    Please note, I am responding to post No. #109 above by Acksyn_JAcksyn. The reason being I have transferred my Web Site and the URL has therefore changed, main URL is now New World Order - Virtual (Multimedia) Library
    http://www.911kemet.co.uk/ I have edited the phrases below (emphasised) to include the new URLs.

    Final Warning
    (Loaded with Facts, useful for American Citizens to Fight back against the runaway Politics)

    http://www.911kemet.co.uk/nwobooks.html#Final_Warning

    Many NWO quotes Here BY REPUBLICANS and DEMOCRATS alike.
    http://www.911kemet.co.uk/nwoquotes.html

    All the best,

    Kemet/



Jump to Top

About Think Progress | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy (off-site) | RSS | Donate
© 2005-2009 Center for American Progress Action Fund
View Most Popular

Advertisement

What We're About

Featured

image
Subscribe to the Progress Report



imageTopic Cloud


Visit Our Affiliated Sites

image image
Reports


Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.

Name:
Email:
Tip:
(required)


imageArchives


imageBlog Roll