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 has published information debunking that claim. Our position was backed up this morning by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS).
Appearing on Fox New Sunday, Chris Wallace asked, “What about this question, Sen. Roberts, about whether or not — the fact is you didn’t get the same intelligence. Is that a legitimate concern?”
Roberts acknowledged: “It may be a concern to some extent.”
Of course, Roberts immediately began to offer caveats. He argued, for instance, that “we had the same information on the aluminum tubes at the time we went to war as the time that we took another look and said, whoa, wait a minute, this isn’t adding up.” In fact, it’s not true that Congress had the same information as the White House on aluminum tubes. As the New York Times explained, of the 15 assessments of the tubes sent to Congress, “not one of them” informed readers that experts within the Energy Department believed the tubes could not be used to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program.
But this critical point should not be obscured: President Bush’s statement on Friday was absolute. Either Congress did or did not have the “same intelligence” as the White House prior to the war. This morning, not even Sen. Pat Roberts — who has led efforts to delay and downplay the need for investigating prewar intelligence — would back him up.
Crooks & Liars has video, or read the full transcript:
WALLACE: What about this question, Sen. Roberts, about whether or not — the fact is you didn’t get the same intelligence. Is that a legitimate concern?
ROBERTS: Well, it may be a concern to some extent. I don’t share Jay’s view that there’s that much difference between the PDBs and the information we get which is very similar to the Senior Executive Intelligence Brief. I think what happened, if you read the Robb-Silberman report, that it was repetitive. It was a lot like the “slam dunk” statement by former CIA Director George Tenet, who also believed, I’m sure, that there was an imminent threat. I think that again, you know, this administration looked at the available report by the entire community as we did and said it was a danger to our national security, and they went to war. Now, one of the things that I’d like to point out is that we had the same information on the aluminum tubes at the time we went to war as the time that we took another look and said, whoa, wait a minute, this isn’t adding up. Not only ours, but the British, not only that, but the French, not only that, but the Russians, not only that, but the Israelis. This was a worldwide intelligence failure. And as a result, I think everybody mistakenly believed in that product. If you can’t believe the National Intelligence Estimate of 2002 handed to the Congress, if, in fact, that’s not factual, that’s what we’re trying to do today. We don’t accept this intelligence at face value anymore. We get into preemptive oversight and do digging in regards to our hard targets. That’s the difference between then and now.
This blows the GOP frauds out of the water (as if all of us didn’t already know how full of it they are). I just hope that all of these lies, cover-ups and hypocrisies are being permanently recorded by the various blogs that are uncovering them and connecting the dots.
The Bush-defenders, at this point, must be ridiculed and marginalized. There is simply no excuse for continuing to side with such corruption, to do so is traitorous. I was disgusted with Bill Clinton when he got caught up in his tryst and subsequent dishonest cover-up…I would expect the grown-ups from the right apply the same judgement as roles are reversed.
November 13th, 2005 at 12:27 pmI agree, Jay #1, with the one exception that when Clinton embarrassed everyone, he was alone in it. In this case the repercussions in death, destruction, debt and lost credibility will be felt for years and years, affecting the course of history for the world and in particular for the USA.
November 13th, 2005 at 12:32 pmIt’s long past time for everyone to cease the posturing and the parsing and tell the whole truth.
the president saw the same intelligence. He just saw a lot more. That’s what the spin masters are not saying. It’s bullshit. If you get the chance to watch Mehlman on Meet the Press do it. He also made the statement that we had to go into Iraq because we have to stop these leaders before they do something bad. WHAAAAAT the hell?
November 13th, 2005 at 12:41 pmWhat’s that saying about us? We can invade anyone for no real reason, no just cause? Ken, dear, you are making the case for others to invade us because we need to be stopped before we do something bad. What a freaking idiot.
The “what did congress know” matter cuts several interesting directions. The political: how long will Republican members of congress protect Bush as the evidence mounts that Iraq was indeed “sexed-up”?
This hurts their credibility for the sake of protecting a feckless lame duck.
Another issue I’ve been asking about is a story that never got much traction, but needs to be brought up in this context. When did the administration know about North Korea’s restarted nuclear program and why didn’t they share this with congress before the vote on Iraq?
This was obviously a fact that made the Iraq mission a lot less clear cut. If we are to invade a nation we suspect of having WMD, why not invade a nation we KNOW is making WMD?
New on EWM: Bush: “Democrats Killed Jesus, Invented Disco and Drove Me to Drinkâ€
November 13th, 2005 at 12:42 pmRecently, the British government learned that Democrats met with Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem before the Crucifixion.
Marie,
Agreed. NO comparison between the follies of Bill Clinton and the disastrous results of George W. Bush’s reign. Clinton has to live with his sexual indiscretions and his weasel words. The Bushies are war criminals, no comparison, period.
I want to see Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove, Gonzalez and the rest of the psychotic neocon cabal hung on the Mall in D.C. (after they’ve been tried and convicted in the International Criminal Court of course). Nothing short of that Texas justice that they so love would be sufficient. I will not be satisfied until all of them are convicted of war crimes. What they have done in our name, with our treasury, is right up there with the most despicable atrocities committed in world history. No hyperbole intended.
November 13th, 2005 at 12:45 pmJeanne #3,
I watched Mehlman this morning on Defeat The Press, the only difference between Ken and Scott McLellan is that Scotty isn’t nearly as good a liar. Who the f*ck is buying this slime? Anyone? And another point regarding Defeat the Press: Tim Russert doesn’t ask follow-up questions or press issues with Mehlmann but he’s relentless with Dean. He is the greatest whore of all. If ever you needed proof that there is no liberal bias in the MSM, just watch today’s MTP.
November 13th, 2005 at 12:51 pmI posted this in the previous thread. This is also very relevant here since all of the Bush supporters are standing up.
OK… Here is something that all of those Bush supporters CANNOT deny and is the truth.
I was watching the House discussions on TV the other day, because YES they do broadcast them.
There was a Congress man, and OH YEAH it was a Republican. It was the Republican Congress man for Pennsylvania.
He was holding a press conference about the “Cover up†of 9/11. Those were his exact words. He was tired of information from the WH being hidden and people who had knowledge of the incident being gaged. He had documents that showed information was produced while the producers of the information were continuously stating that no such information was ever created.
He had stated that “I have instructed the IG to begin a criminal investigation into 9/11.†So Bush supporters, get ready for your house of cards to come crumbling down very soon, and it is not just the Democrats who now think that there is a “Cover up†over 9/11.
Let’s get ready to party!!!!!!
November 13th, 2005 at 12:55 pmIf we keep knocking on this door, it will eventually open up. As we knock on the american conscience we accumulate more power.
November 13th, 2005 at 1:11 pmIf the door isn’t opened voluntarily, we will soon have the power to knock it down.
This is history in the making. Has a president ever been lynched before?
Word games from BushCo again. Congress “HAD ACCESS TO” is not the same as Congress “SAW” the same intelligence. SEEING the same intelligence would have required asking pefect questions, searching reams of paper to find the hidden qualifiers, such as “the informant is a liar.” See how the game worked?
November 13th, 2005 at 1:15 pmBlessed are all of you who are concerned for the Poor, and Poverty.
November 13th, 2005 at 1:22 pmBless you richly.
LUKE CHAPTER 6
24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
27 ¶ But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies,
#6 Jay: I agree — although watching Melhman today convinced me that he is a more aggressive and prepared liar, he absolutely radiates “bullshit” even when he’s trying his best to project conviction. Also, because he is less muddled than Scotty, his sudden track-jumping and rhetorical-sleights-of-hand are all the more apparent and jarring.
Mehlman would be busted as a prevaricator by even the sloppiest daytime TV judge. Let’s hope he has to testify in a REAL courtroom someday.
November 13th, 2005 at 1:27 pmHeard a quote today that seems very apprapo to the Bush problems - “When the tide is hight the fish feed on the ants, when the tide is low the ants feed on the fish.” Nuff said.
November 13th, 2005 at 1:32 pmTh propaganda pimps of ThinkProgress can cherrypick all they want, the bottom line is, the bipartisan consensus before the war, even before Bush was president, was that Iraq was a threat, had WMD, and supported terrorist groups.
The seditious Democratic leadership is now lying about that for partisan gain, and undermining American troops in the process.
November 13th, 2005 at 1:32 pmCheney uses his own version of “it depends on what the meaning of is, is” in his statements on intelligence. He says “We have evidence of connections between 9/11 and Itaq.” That is true as far as it goes, they DO have evidence of the meeting between Atta and an Iraqi agent in the Czech Republic. Unsaid by Mr. Cheney is that “we also have evidence that such a meeting was impossible because Atta’s phone records show he was in the US at the time of the supposed meeting.” But Cheney did not tell of the phone record information. See how BushCo could tell the truth and LIE TO THE COUNTRY at the same time?
November 13th, 2005 at 1:33 pmWith 44 billion dollars spent in a year for intelligence, one can believe that the US has collected “information as well as misinformation” that would support any argument an administration would like to support.
Jay, “The Bushies are war criminals”
“Jay is a registered sex offender in three states.” Wow, making baseless accusations is easy, isn’t it?
November 13th, 2005 at 1:33 pmCLK, ““we also have evidence that such a meeting was impossible because Atta’s phone records show he was in the US at the time of the supposed meeting.—
No, we have evidence his phone was in the US.
“Anybody who says there is no working relationship between al Qaeda and Iraqi intelligence going back to the early ’90s–they can only say that if they’re illiterate. This is a slam dunk.” — James Woolsey, CIA director under President Bill Clinton, November 2003
November 13th, 2005 at 1:35 pmThe Bush administration has stood in direct opposition to the International Criminal Court, the Geneva Conventions, torture, and the United Nations very existence. What more do you need to know?
I love the smell of desperate Republicans on a Sunday.
November 13th, 2005 at 1:49 pmTh Bush administration has liberated 50 million people from tyranny, while the Democrats have undermined our troops by continually lying about their mission. What else do you need to know?
November 13th, 2005 at 1:51 pm#19 WWallace You are Brainwashed. Old Bushie and the Republican Party are going down. The Dems will take over Congress in 2006 & 2008. Bushie and his Admin will be impeached before 2008.
November 13th, 2005 at 2:06 pm#16
November 13th, 2005 at 2:09 pmwwalace your statement is more than baseless accusations. It’s libelous. I know you think you’re being cute or making a point but libel is an action against an individual.
I can agree with you on one point. All your comments are baseless.
Jeanne, I agree that all the baseless accusations against the president are libelous.
Mary Poppins, you are brainwashed.
November 13th, 2005 at 2:17 pmGo ahead and agree. You’re right all the baseless accusations against the president are libelous. I don’t see too many people resorting to baseless accusations against the president. They don’t have to. There are soooo many true accusations that no one would bother with baseless accusations. Furthermore, those accusing the president of wrong doing tend to have high moral standards. It is important to them to stand behind their accusations with real facts. Unlike you who thinks baseless accusations are ok to spread.
November 13th, 2005 at 2:32 pmNo, Jeanne, the accusations being discussed on this propaganda site are baseless - Bush lied us into war, the war is for oil, Bush is a war criminal, etc. All of that is seditious nonsense.
November 13th, 2005 at 2:36 pmOk, wwalace, whatever. Live in your dream world. The German people lived in theirs and when WW11 was over they had to live in a world that denounced their actions. I will not accept the actions of a white house that entered a country without reason. I will not accept as legitimate a White House that rules in favor of the use torture. I will not accept as legitimate a white house that condones the use of Willie Pete. I will not accept the legitimacy of a white house that has hired hacks and cronies for positions in this government that is rendering this nation weak and vulnerable.
November 13th, 2005 at 2:42 pmLets face it Old Bushie went into Iraq for OIL and to make his buddies richer. Senator Russ Feingold is the only Senator that had enough sense not to vote yes for this unjust war.
November 13th, 2005 at 2:43 pmIt was the SAME INTELLIGENCE.
The presentation of the intelligence was not the same to the Congress as to the president. In fact, the CIA spiced up the intelligence for the president’s daily briefings. The Congress still got to see everything that the White House had access to. The Senate Intelligence Committee could get their hands on anything that the White House had.
You have the intelligence at the CIA.
Now, the CIA gave this to the Congress, and gave it to the White House. All of it is the same intelligence, it was just fed differently to the different entities. And in fact, the case can be made that the CIA was trying to mislead the White House by presenting more alarming information than what they gave to Congress. Based on the SAME INTELLIGENCE.
November 13th, 2005 at 3:00 pmTh Bush administration has liberated 50 million people from tyranny…
_____________
STOP IT! YER KILLIN’ ME! What the hell planet did THAT happen on?
“50 million people liberated.” Oh, for God’s sake — no sane person could say something that silly.
Unbelieveable the hooey that Chimpy’s minions will swallow.
November 13th, 2005 at 3:02 pm#29 Nice try, but wrong…and too late. Most Americans already think Bush lied, no one believes Dick Cheney…and Pat Roberts’ “defense” was practically a knife in the back.
Iraq rebuilding money — Where is it?
Katrina rebuilding money — Where is it?
Terry Schivao — Plug pulled, GOP embarrassed.
Social Security Reform — DOA.
Iran & N. Korea — still makin’ bombs.
Economy and oil prices — dancing as fast as he can.
I could go on. But this guy is basically a “Dead Man Walking” from here on in.
November 13th, 2005 at 3:13 pmdum dumdumdum,
YO, you know,
ITS HAMMERTIME.
DADADADA.
SONG from
November 13th, 2005 at 3:18 pmM.C.HAMMER.
Roberts and his..’well maybe,kinda, could be BS’ is a man sitting on the fence but still kissing bushies lies.
November 13th, 2005 at 3:20 pmNow go back to Kansas, and study your republican bible.
Seixon,
You are completely wrong that the House had the same intelligence that the WH had. In fact, here is some proof on that for you.
A Congressman from Pennsylvania is ordering the IG to open a criminal investigation into the WH for a “Cover up”. So if every party had the same information, why would there be a need for a criminal investigation? The reason being…. There were altered documents and only documents and or information that the WH wanted other people to see distributed.
You really need to do some more home work before you start spewing your garbage. My information is directly from the House taped meetings, which are aired on cable tv to the public. This particular airing happened Friday night 11/11/05.
November 13th, 2005 at 3:38 pm#8 RemoveBush, thanks for that tidbit. Most republicans know that they must join the dems if they are to keep their jobs. Idiots like McCain and Roberts are traitors and are too stupid to realize that they are commiting suicide by siding with Bushie.
If you have any more info on the pug who wants an investigation of 9-11 I’d appreciate it.
I already know that the towers were detonated but it is nice to know that others are seeing the facts also.
November 13th, 2005 at 3:52 pmda dada da
HEY,,YO,, you know,?
ITS HAMMERTIME.
DA DADADA.
SONG from
November 13th, 2005 at 4:09 pmM.C.HAMMER.
“Naturally the common people don’t want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
–Goering at the Nuremberg Trials
November 13th, 2005 at 4:29 pmComment by not_gonna_happen
November 13th, 2005 at 4:39 pmIsn,t it allready happening?
I will watch the rerun of MTPress later tonight because I missed most of it this morning. What I did see what the usual — Russert grilling Dean hard — but Dean not bending and standing up for his position, his party and Americans.
November 13th, 2005 at 5:17 pmI missed the Mehlman part, but if the past is any indication, from what comments I have read here, Russert pussyfooted with the RNC slimebag.
“The Bush administration has liberated 50 million people from tyranny…”
_____________
“STOP IT! YER KILLIN’ ME! What the hell planet did THAT happen on?
“50 million people liberated.†Oh, for God’s sake — no sane person could say something that silly.”
This happened on planet earth. Get real,
and look at the reality on the ground in the middle east:
- 8 million voted in the Iraqi elections in January for the national assembly
- 10 million voted to affirm the Constitution the Iraqis wrote; that constitution makes Iraq a federal, democratic state
- parties are signing up for the December elections, and it looks like the secular centrist parties may have a chance to be the governing majority in Iraq for the next 4 years.
This is a far cry from Saddam’s killing fields, prisons, and baathist police state. Lament the violence and death it is taking to go down that road and the mistakes and errors of the administration if you wish, but the change is real. The administration did promise to remake Iraq as a democratic country as a goal of “Operation Iraqi Freedom” and that promise is one that that they lived up to. Further, the political forces in Iraq itself are extremely mature and responsible for a new democracy, and they are mostly doing the right thing in building the democratic government.
The waves of democratic movement have been felt in Egypt, with more open elections, and in Lebanon, where the ‘ceder revolution’ in the wake of the Harari murder kicked out the Syrians, and elections were held that for the first time in 16 years were not controlled from Damascus.
Wake up and smell the reality beyond the petty artisan bickering… The liberation of Iraq was and is a real thing. A vicious dictator has been replaced with a democratic government in Iraq, and other mideast countries are also going through reforms (eg Saudi Arabia’s recent elections). the progress is real, plapable, and positive. Think Progress!
November 13th, 2005 at 5:20 pmPat, Your admission that “a vicious dictator has been replaced” is refreshing. Until “a vicious dictator” is proven guilty in a court of law of being such, removing him is a an impeachable crime.
Impeach Bushie!
November 13th, 2005 at 5:31 pmI have an excellent way to solve this whole question. Maybe someone has already proposed this, if so, I have not seen it.
The White House releases all National Intelligence Estimates (NIE) for the period in question to the Senate Intelligence Committee. They can black out source names and other so called SECRET information but not the conclusions.
The Senate Intelligence Committee forms a staff of say 5 democrats and 5 republicans, all with security clearances. They go over the material and compare it to what Perle, Wolfowitz, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and all others were telling the public.
This, along with Phase 2 of the Senate investigation should clear the picture somewhat.
Bet you 100 to 1 right now that the White House would fight this tooth, nail and hammer, but it still could be done without their help. The senators go directly to the CIA whom the WH states just about every day is responsible for the “bad intelligence”. I will bet that they would cooperate.
Then, whoever is off base should say no more, drop the subject all together.
Thhink it would work? I do.
November 13th, 2005 at 5:52 pmPat #42,
Here is hardcore conservative and Bush supporter Pat Buchanan concluding that our illegal invasion of Iraq has in fact destabilized the entire Middle East. The full panel agrees, with wingnut Tony Blankley elaborating that the real genius of this plan is destabilize and then rebuild from the ground up. My God these people are loony, next they’ll be telling us that the “mission is accomplished”:
http://dailydissent.org/video/mclaughlin111305.wmv
Pat, you brought a well reasoned argument but you’re wrong. Democracy cannot be violently forced upon a people. Besides, at its core, this war was about controlling Iraq’s natural resources and if you knew anything beyond the rightwing talking points you might not appear so ignorant. Iraq is a DISASTER and I would argue that in the end it’ll be worse than Vietnam because it has unleashed the hatred towards the U.S. of the entire Muslim world. They have long memories and we have needlessly killed so many thousands of innocents…I do not blame the people of Iraq for fighting like hell, I would too.
November 13th, 2005 at 6:15 pm#42 C’mon, Pat…seriously. My sides are splitting. We still don’t control the road from the airport to Baghdad, the Iraqi Constitution is a time-bomb waiting to go off, the odds of a secular government being installed in an honest vote are nil, Egypt’s elections were a farce (most opponents outlawed in advance), Saudi Arabia’s “elections” were a PR stunt with zero impact on the Royal Family’s autocratic rule, and Afghanistan is the world’s biggest narco-state…not counting the 12 square blocks now nominally “ruled” by former Unocal oil consultant Hamid Kharzai.
PS: Where ARE Saddam’s mass graves? We found a couple of small sites leftover from the Iran/Iraq war (in which, incidentally, we supplied armaments to BOTH sides)…but no 400,000 bodies, not even a fraction.
I’m sorry, Pat — tell me AGAIN what good has come from all this death and maiming?
November 13th, 2005 at 6:26 pmRDL,
The argument that things are going well in Iraq brings to mind the old “other than that Mrs. Lincoln how did you like the play”. We have installed a puppet government (see Chalabi, Ahmed) and WE are counting the votes in their elections. I have no faith in our own voting process and I’m supposed to believe that the elections in Iraq have been proof positive of democracy “taking wing” (as the Prez might say). Puhhhleeeeze! Total farce. Everything the neocons do is ideological and predetermined, their ends necessitate their means. Democracy DOES NOT work that way.
November 13th, 2005 at 6:51 pmJay:
If either Allawi or Chalabi come out on top — or ANY secular candidate list wins a majority position in Iraq — we can be pretty sure that a) A purple finger is a purple finger, NOT a vote; and b) the Shi’ites will go nuts. (The Kurds are fine, regardless, since we’ve promised them independence AND a secure pipleline across Jordan (and a piece of Syria) down to Haifa on the Mediterranean.)
The great thing about the Neo-cons is that — while everything they do is predetermined in advance — less than half of it ever works out the way they planned.
Thank God for that.
November 13th, 2005 at 7:09 pmThe technical answer is worst than what American’s have heard to date.. The only Member of Congress with the type of security clearances to see everything are on House and Senate Intelligence Committees. It was the White House’s Intelligence follies that got us into the war in IRaq.
November 13th, 2005 at 7:41 pmIn short, less than 60 of 535 Senators and Congressmen could access most of the info-and that is only most, not all. In short, Senator Roberts was being kind to the Bush admin by saying there was a small problem. It was huge. Congress has to vote on the war based on less than all of the info Bush and Cheney had. None of it included the fact that ALL of their info on the WMD program came from one guy who worked with Chalibi and has since told been discredited. He had no first-hand knowledge. In short, Congress was duped into voting yes. I doubt the Republicans will ever get to part II of the Pre-War intelligence assessment. Why? They would be putting the Prez and his minions in jail eventually.
Repeating the slanders against President Bush and calling me childish names will not change any of the facts I’ve posted. The Democrats’ liesd are undermining the troops; it’s un-American.
November 13th, 2005 at 7:42 pmRyan bin Ladin called me names, how can I go on with my life??? :()
November 13th, 2005 at 7:49 pmUnfortunately for Ryan bin Ladin, calling me names will not change any of the facts I’ve posted. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 7:49 pmRyan bin Ladin, “There’s a lot of intelligence that we don’t get that they have.”
There’s a lot of intelligence a wood post has that you don’t have. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 7:50 pmRyan bin Ladin has never debunked anything in his sorry little life. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 7:51 pmTrue, the president is much more intelligent than either Hanoi John Kerry or Feinstein.
The fact remains, the consensus view was that Iraq was a threat, that Iraq had WMD, and that Iraq supported terrorists. That was the view throughout the Clinton administration as well.
November 13th, 2005 at 7:54 pmRyan bin Ladin is a member of al Qaeda. Watch, he can’t prove otherwise… :()
November 13th, 2005 at 7:55 pmHey Ryan, I think stuttering wwwwwallace wants to do ya..he’s absolutely obsessed. Add obsession to his list of mental disorders and I think you’ve evaluated him quite well.
November 13th, 2005 at 7:59 pmRyan bin Ladin, member of al Qaeda, says, “Congress was fed lies, they believed the lies.”
By whom? Who lied to Bill Clinton to make him sign the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998? :()
November 13th, 2005 at 7:59 pmRepublicans are freaks of nature.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:07 pmRyan bin Ladin says, “Republicans fabricated evidence to pretend Iraq was an ‘imminent threat’”
But Republicans didn’t say Iraq was an “imminent threat.” Democrat Jay Rockefeller said that.
And RBL still hasn’t explained how the Republicans forced Bill Clinton to sign the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998. Of course, RBL is the same guy who admitted in another thread that he can’t tell the difference bwetween a chimp and a human. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 8:10 pmI agree and will add that wwwwwwallace was probably molested by his father too.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:10 pmSomeone should tell national security adviser Stephen Hadley to keep the lies straight. Or has the Bush administration told so many, that no matter what excuse’s they desperately drag out, it’s going to contradict something.
http://hosted.ap.org/ dynamic/ stories/ U/ US_IRAQ?SITE=MIDTF&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-11-13-17-47-36
[i]. . . Hadley said Bush received dissenting views about the accuracy of intelligence and relied on the collective judgment of the intelligence community as conveyed by the CIA director. . .[/i]
Hadley just told us that the Democrats didn’t see the ‘Same Intelligence as the President’™; the Democrats never go to see all, if any, “dissenting viewsâ€.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:12 pmUntrue Kuni. Bill Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act back in 1998. Was that based on Bush’s “lies” too? :()
November 13th, 2005 at 8:15 pmCalling me names will never change the facts I’ve posted. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 8:17 pmWWWWWwwwwallace is a liar, pathalogical liar.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:20 pm“While Bush never uttered the phrase “imminent threat,†Bush did call Iraq an “urgent threatâ€; Vice President Dick Cheney called Iraq a “mortal threatâ€; and other senior White House officials assented (on October 16, 2002 and January 26, 2003) when reporters applied the “imminent threat†characterization.â€
“Anybody who says there is no working relationship between al Qaeda and Iraqi intelligence going back to the early ’90s–they can only say that if they’re illiterate. This is a slam dunk.” — James Woolsey, CIA director under President Bill Clinton, November 2003
“in the post-Sept. 11 world, the unrestrained threat of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein is unacceptable and that his refusal to allow in inspectors is in blatant violation of the United Nations 1991 cease-fire agreement that left him in power.” — John Kerry, Sept. 6, 2002
“There is also no question that Saddam Hussein continues to pursue weapons of mass destruction, and his success can threaten both our interests in the region and our security at home.” — John Kerry, Sept. 6, 2002
“If Saddam Hussein is unwilling to bend to the international community’s already existing order, then he will have invited enforcement, even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act.” — John Kerry, Sept. 6, 2002
“In 1991, the world collectively made a judgment that this man [Saddam Hussein] should not have weapons of mass destruction. And we are here today in the year 2002 with an uninspected 4-year interval during which time we know through intelligence he not only has kept them, but he continues to grow them.”
“I believe the record of Saddam Hussein’s ruthless, reckless breach of international values and standards of behavior which is at the core of the cease-fire agreement, with no reach, no stretch, is cause enough for the world community to hold him accountable by use of force, if necessary. The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but as I said, it is not new.” — John Kerry, October 9, 2002
“Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power. We know he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.” — Al Gore, September 2002
“There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein’s regime poses a threat to his people, his neighbours and the world at large because of his biological and chemical weapons and his nuclear programme. They admitted to vast stores of biological and chemical stocks in 1995. In 1998, as the Prime Minister’s speech a few days ago made clear, even more were documented.” — Bill Clinton, October 2002
“The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow.” — Bill Clinton, 1998
“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. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons” — Hillary Clinton, 2002
“Now, I believe the facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt,” Hillary Clinton told the Senate the day she announced her support for the war.
“There’s a very clear history and intention of not only building stockpiles and adding to what they already have of biological and chemical weaponry, but attempting to obtain nuclear capacity” — Hillary Clinton
“Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., on Thursday praised the Bush administration’s war and nation-building work in Iraq and said he has no serious concerns about the lack of weapons of mass destruction.” — Rapid City Journal; February 20, 2004
November 13th, 2005 at 8:21 pmPoor Susan can’t even spell pathological. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 8:22 pmWhy is anyone so surprised by Bush and his crew’s outrageous complete denial of wrongdoing and attempt to shift the blame to innocents who did nothing wrong (except in this case to trust our President by following him into an unnecessary, disastrous war based on false premises)? It’s the same old story with Bush and the other white male guys in the 6-pack of our Republican leadership - Rove, Bush, Cheney, Frist, Delay and Libby. Two indicted, four to go with one impeachment. These six-pack guys have proven that the only way to hold their lying butts accountable is to wait until they commit one of their many crimes and then drag them before a jury who sends them off to jail where they belong.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:22 pmToo bad for America there’s no law against the six-packer’s totally avoidable incompetent handling of Katrina – caused because they appointed a Republican horse show buddy to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency (how they could entrust FEMA to such a hack crony after 9/11 is baffling). Too bad the “Dark Side†six-pack guys managed to rewrite the laws on terrorism so they will never be sent to jail for the torture committed at their behest. Too bad there’s no law against their total incompetence in post-war Iraq, including all the US troops killed due to lack of timely body armor (as usual, it took public shame and approbation to get them to supply it too late), Rumsfeld tearing up detailed plans to keep the Iraqi peace after the invasion, and their disbanding of the Iraqi army leaving a vacuum for the terrorists to take root. History will treat six-pack guys as what they are, a bunch of six-pack hacks who only care about themselves and their buddies and have no clue how to run what used to be the leading light of the free world.
I hope you don’t think that anybody reads the nonsense you post wwwwallace. You are wasting your time. We’ve heard the lies a million times. Stop lying and get a life already.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:22 pmSusan, you say you didn’t read what I wrote. How do you know I “lied” then? :()
November 13th, 2005 at 8:24 pmYou’re a republican, thats how I know you’re lying wwwwallace.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:25 pmRyan bin Ladin, “Your a classic case…”
That should be “you’re a classic case…” you illiterate chimp. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 8:25 pmcleaner, President Bush didn’t engage in any wrongdoing, therefore the denials of wrongdoing are true and correct.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:26 pmAnother disorder I’m observing is wwwallace’s need for for ridicule. He gets off on it and there is no cure for it.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:27 pmI’m sure the need to be ridiculed comes from the spankings his mother gave him as a child.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:28 pmRyan bin Ladin is only attacking me personally because he’s a racist. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 8:29 pmOh, I didn’t realize the freak was talking about my misspellings.. of course I can’t spell a word that I am not associtated with. Of course, you’ve seen the word pathological so many times in your medical records wwwwallace you’ve come to memorize it.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:31 pmRyan, your chidish name-calling will never change any of the facts I’ve posted. :()
November 13th, 2005 at 8:34 pmWhy are we all piling on Bush? I think we should direct our anger at those who are actually involved in WH decision-making…rather than the guy who reads the cure cards.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:38 pmI agree Ryan, wwwallace clearly suffers from many disorders. Lets not jump the gun and assume that he was abused, in this case it seems he may be the abuser. Abusers have to lie to protect themselves.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:38 pmI agree Ryan, he clearly suffers from many disorders. Lets not jump the gun and assume that he was abused, in this case it seems he may be the abuser. Abusers have to lie to protect themselves.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:39 pmMake that “cue cards.” Damn.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:39 pmNow I’m suffering from double posting. Oh well, its better than being a liar.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:41 pmSo now the wingnuts are making the case that the Bushies never said the Iraq threat was “imminent”. As wwallace noted above it was Jay Rockefeller that said that. As Ryan noted, the images of a mushroom cloud probably don’t qualify huh? They all made the case that Iraq was an imminent threat, use your thesausrus if you must.
Shit-for-brains, if the threat wasn’t imminent, why did we pre-emptively invade a sovereign nation?
November 13th, 2005 at 8:45 pmYeah thats true Ryan. Breaking the cycle is something wwwallace must want.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:46 pmThis is a re-enactment of Bushies response to the fact that Saddam did not have WMD’s. Blame the CIA.
Folks like Joe Wilson proved the intelligence was fixed.
Joe Wilson has had enough of Bushies lies and thanks to him…Libby’s going to jail!
November 13th, 2005 at 8:50 pmLanguage parsing has gotten us one indictment. We’ll get more.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:58 pmThey don’t care if the practice is criminal because they get excited at the thought of becoming Bubba’s girlfriend.
November 13th, 2005 at 9:12 pmYou are very good with your pyschological assessments Ryan. Are you a professional or does this come from dealing with republicans on a daily basis?
November 13th, 2005 at 9:21 pmA simple question. Can you think of any past president who would thumb absently through a book called “My Pet Goat” when the nation was in peril? Should we add this incident to JFK’s ‘Profiles in Courage’?
November 13th, 2005 at 10:02 pmThe pool of s— gets deeper and deeper. The people who are standing in it must not be given a hand up. They have proven time and time again that they; the shoveler, see no wrong with their lies, murders and treason.
November 13th, 2005 at 10:34 pmThe pool of culpability extends back Bush 1 and includes the CLintons
“Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.â€
November 13th, 2005 at 10:43 pmBy the by - Ryan and Susan are the same person
November 13th, 2005 at 10:44 pmVisit the Rove/PlameGate Resource Center for all of your CIA leak scandal needs:
- How it all started
- Latest news and articles
- Key White House briefings
- Scandal timelines
- Key statutes and laws
- Other essential resources
Check out the Rove/PlameGate Resource Center.
November 14th, 2005 at 1:09 amMost folks are missing the obvious.
All politicans do what it takes to look good.
If it was really true that Bush was misled by others
the Republicans would not have wasted a minute in holding hearings to show that everyone was fooled in a war and Bush did nothing wrong.
NOTICE, That not only have Repub’s have failed to have ANY hearing on the subject of lying, Repub’s have specifically told any type of investiagation NOT to look into the very thing that would make Bush look good on the case of lying to war.
The reason, Repub’s can’t hold any real investigation because it would show Bush DID lie and the Repub’s are in collusion about a war cover up.
Notice, also, that ANY document that surfaces tiltes the scale to the conclusion that Bush lied about the run up to the war; Not one is in Bush’s favor. And there is more out there, none of it in Bush’s favor.
Sometimes, It’s not important what was done; But what was NOT done that tells you what is really going on.
As Sherloch Holmes likes to say: “It’s all in the details.”
Put your detective caps on…The game is afoot.
A game that could very easily bring down a president and an entire political party.
November 14th, 2005 at 1:59 amAs much as I find wwallace’s lame defenses of Bushevism laughable, one thing he is right about is that the Dems are on the same page as the GOP as far as American Empire is concerned. Remember the sanctions that killed half a million Iraqi kids? Madeleine Albright said it was all worth it. Remember bombing Serbia, Iraq, Sudan? Bushevik doctrine in embrionic form. Remember the pathetic votes for the Patriot act and to cede war powers to Bush? Only a few honorable people voted against these atrocities. Screw it, I am going to bed.
November 14th, 2005 at 3:14 amAn important thing to remember is, Bush said, knowing what we all know now, he would’ve still invaded Iraq. This provides an important clue to his thinking. So:
1) Even if we know that Saddam didn’t have WMDs,
2) Even if we know that Iraq wasn’t a threat to any of its neighbors
3) Even if we know that Iraq wasn’t a threat to the United States
4) Even if we know there was no link between Iraq and 9-11,
Bush, in his own words, said he would still have invaded Iraq.
And this is why we are where we’re at today.
November 14th, 2005 at 3:50 amAndy
November 14th, 2005 at 8:50 amBush planned to invade Iraq as soon as he took office and long before 9/11. Richard Clarke and Paul O’Neill have both revealed Bush’s intentions and the obvious motive for the invasion remains somewhere in the background - the approriation of Iraqi oil and installation of a permanemt military presence in that country.
When all is lost and the trolls having nothing - it’s time to give Clinton (either one) hell. Wake up it’s 2005 goofy trolls; get with present day already. With talk like that no wonder everyone is starting to find you people dishonest and bad policy makers.
Aren’t you embarrassed when you reread your own posts? I come in this morning and see stuttering wallace and this new troll back singing the “Clinton rag.”
November 14th, 2005 at 8:58 amGood Morning All. Anytime this Admin would give all the intelligent information to the congress, you are totally sleeping. They like to keep their little secrets.
November 14th, 2005 at 8:58 amWhy respond to this wallace fellow. Why give ignorance a forum? Ignore the tool.
November 14th, 2005 at 10:03 amFools abound in USa–suckers!
November 14th, 2005 at 10:05 amhttp://www.ihr.org/jhr/v06/v06p389_John.html
What is this sh!t I keep hearing that most other countries believed Saddam was acquiring WMD and a threat to the world—-Please obtuse folks–question these jack-asses for once.Britain, Russia, Germany and dear me–Italy( recall the Bribe–$21billion (Copter deal-between USA, Eng, Italy-bldg Pres Bush’s new carrier).Oh.yes sir’ree,we can not leave the lying Jews-Israel out of the equation—Get this fools—both parties are controlled funded by AIPAC with your tax dollars at work.The media,Demos ain’t going to lift a finger–cause they are all in it–all for the safty and homeland for the Yids! Forget fools and live with it–infestation is out of control.If you obtue folks can’t recognize your enemy–you deserve to be pissed on. Try reading a little of past Russian history—at least ,Ruusia sent all their wackos to America.
A must read: http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v06/v06p389_John.html
Hey wwallace, I know you get off on getting people to reply to your trolling and all, but you really need to understand the difference between a statement of fact and a statement of opinion. For example, although I feel that your cutting and pasting is really lame, that’s only my opinion. Also, the little emoticon “sad faces” you seem so fond of truly make it seem that you should get a job reporting for Talon news, where you could get to bask in the presence of your idol Bush, and perhaps offer additional services as well. That’s my opinion too. Just be careful if he comes to an abrupt stop, because you’ll probably break your nose.
November 14th, 2005 at 10:50 amA helpful link for you: http://www.goarmy.com
#36 RemoveBush,
So if every party had the same information, why would there be a need for a criminal investigation? The reason being…. There were altered documents and only documents and or information that the WH wanted other people to see distributed.
Let me know how that goes, mk? Here’s a hint: launching a criminal investigation when there is nothing to find is a way to get the media to talk about it, and then when it finds nothing, the media usually doesn’t mention it. Thus you give the public the idea that the Bush administration is criminal, even though the investigation never turns up anything. It’s a tested and true propaganda technique.
The White House had no role in the creation and dissemination of intelligence to the Congress. The CIA and intelligence community were responsible for this. All of it was based on the same intelligence, they didn’t give the White House anything special that the others could not see.
Read the Robb-Silverman report if you actually want to know anything. Ryan Neat consistently shows he is not interested in learning anything.
November 14th, 2005 at 11:07 am#137 So true. The fall of repubs will not solve America’s problems. Until we the people face the fact that our consent at the polls is diminished by the power of the special interest groups, we will continue to find such corruption and secrecy again and again. Money needs to be removed from the electorial process, so that any American who desires to serve his nation can choose to do so and not be hindered by the lack of a famous name or face or funds.
Many persons pull out the Founding Fathers when they need to manipulate or revise history, but it is very clear that the system we have today in place was not what they envisioned. Sadly, such a realizations leads to the understanding and recognition that we have a poor education system as well as that we are marketed beyond the retail environment to our very politicial, and social iand religious views.
When a nation’s government leaders preach what is or isn’t patriotism, we have already lost it. Just like Christainity a lot of folks talk about it, but when one looks about one can find very few who practice it.
November 14th, 2005 at 11:22 amBy the by - Ryan and Susan are the same person
Comment by Guardian of Indifference
That makes sense. Ryan always wanted to be a “Susan”. I blame his dyke mother and absent father.
November 14th, 2005 at 11:34 amHow can they besaved when they ars supporting the leak and the deaths of our troops and scores of Iraqs .I don`t call that regligious.
November 14th, 2005 at 12:22 pmSo, by your reasoning and the way you see reality, Ryan will be upset that someone he does not know and disagrees with 100% says something derogatory about his parents?
So, I suppose by the same reasoning, you would be upset that I would call your parents absentee and neglectful because I find you were raised by people who had better things to do than teach you ethics and consideration of others?
If the answer is yes than you are weak and actually listen to strangers. If the answer is no, then you just type for fun and really have no meaning to your posts at all and you simply like to argue.
November 14th, 2005 at 12:42 pmThis for Seixon. The Robb-Silverman report is meaningless for two reasons. 1. They were all appointed by Bush. 2. They were explicitly precluded from looking into how the intelligence was used. Make that fixed (as per Downing Street memo).
November 14th, 2005 at 12:45 pmThis for Seixon. The Robb-Silverman report is meaningless for two reasons. 1. They were all appointed by Bush. 2. They were explicitly precluded from looking into how the intelligence was used. Make that fixed (as per Downing Street memo).
Wasn’t it a bipartisan report? Yes, I realize that they didn’t look into how the administration was using intelligence, but I don’t think that’s what I was talking about, either.
What I was talking about is that the White House and Congress were receiving the same intelligence. The Robb-Silverman report shows this quite well. That’s what we were talking about, so don’t try to derail the discussion as if we were talking about something else.
Oh, and the Downing Street memo is as authentic as the Niger documents were when Cheney got wind of them in February 2002. The Downing Street memo has never been shown, and has only been transcribed. If that is your threshold for evidence, you are a dunce.
November 14th, 2005 at 2:18 pmNotice how small bits of lies are being reported, how nice after 2060 or more of our troops have died. Reading the above comments, is like Rove has his watchdogs out to slime those of us who were not fooled when Bush and Powell and others got us into this war for oil. Ole vet
November 14th, 2005 at 2:34 pmIf anyone is being slimed here, it is me. I haven’t attacked anyone. But keep up the charade Bakalik! It’s quite the parody!
November 14th, 2005 at 2:39 pmWe invite you to leave, Seix. You wouldn’t want to be in a place where you would slimed would you?
November 14th, 2005 at 4:16 pm“The Downing Street memo has never been shown, and has only been transcribed. If that is your threshold for evidence, you are a dunce.”
Comment by Seixon — November 14, 2005 @ 2:18 pm
This is a false statement.
The Downing Street Memos news was first publicized by the Sunday Times, the 1st of May, 2005. Here is a link to the original transcript:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ article/ 0,,2087-1593607,00.html
There is now also a very handy PDF version of the scanned memos here (the original is at the top of the page – click on “PDF”):
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/memos.html
The additional documents and memos are at the bottom of the page. Same thing: click on “PDF scanned documents”
“Oh, and the Downing Street memo is as authentic as the Niger documents were when Cheney got wind of them in February 2002.”
Comment by Seixon — November 14, 2005 @ 2:18 pm
That is another false statement.
At the beginning, PM Blair claimed that the memos contained “nothing new” –without questioning their authenticity:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ article/ 0,,2087-1592904,00.html
Until PM Blair admitted the memos were authentic, but said they “paint a distorted picture” and have been “taken out of context”:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8402894/
Pres. George Bush has tried to explain the memos by stating something similar: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/07/iraq.uk.memo/
Nobody in the White House or the PM’s office has ever challenged the authenticity of the documents. Instead, they have explained the memos by saying the documents don’t say what they say –tacit admission of the authenticity of the memos.
November 14th, 2005 at 4:59 pmWe invite you to leave, Seix. You wouldn’t want to be in a place where you would slimed would you?
Comment by progressive and proud
I think he’d agree with me when I say; there is no other place to go. America is it, it’s all that’s left of the New World and we’re sticking around to make sure you Left Wing Losers don’t muck it up.
But I know what you meant. You just can’t stand an opposing opinion can you? How tolerant of you.
November 14th, 2005 at 5:21 pm[…] Congress did not have access to the “the same intelligence” as the White House. 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. For instance, in the lead up to war, the Bush administration argued that Iraq had made several attempts to “buy high-strength aluminum tubes used in centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.” The White House sent 15 intelligence assessments to Congress supporting this notion, but according to the New York Times, “not one of them” informed readers that experts within the Energy Department believed the tubes could not be used to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program. Even Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) — who has led efforts to delay and downplay the need for investigating prewar intelligence — confirmed this broader point yesterday. Asked whether the differences between the intelligence available to the White House and to Congress was a “legitimate concern,” Roberts acknowledged that it may be a concern to some extent. […]
November 14th, 2005 at 5:44 pmSeixon,
You FOOL. That report was not chartered with doing or even investigating what you say it reports on. You’re a retard. And as I pointed out, it in fact PROVES that evidence from a known LIAR was included against the experts that said it shouldn’t be. The Robb-Silverman report actually proves the misuse of evidence despite your claims to the contrary. Is english a second language for you, because you clearly have reading comprehension issues.
November 14th, 2005 at 10:03 pmAnd I noticed you chose NOT to respond to my excerpt from the report that debunked your mythology. Typical partisan fool!
November 14th, 2005 at 10:04 pmBush, during a news briefing on intelligence reform, remarked that ” I need valid intelligence to make good decisions..”
When intelligence later proves to be invalid, for whatever reasons, the decisions become bad ones. But he cannot admit that, and the only way to deal with the aftermath is to change original rationale, and to insist on staying the course. And no matter how we look at the mess in Iraq and the problems Iraq has created to the American people and American image and world peace, it seems to me there are only two options here: one to stay the course and find a way, by a future president most likely, to get out in honor, and two, cut and leave to minimize losses from a bad decision.
November 14th, 2005 at 10:55 pmAnd in an ironic twist, after hyping the threat from Iraq’s non-existing WMDs, and repeatedly stating the invasion was to make the U.S. Safe, now former 9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean says: “The U.S. government is not doing enough to protect nuclear weapons from terrorists (…) the most striking thing to us is that the size of the problem still totally dwarfs the policy response â€
http://www.alertnet.org/ thenews/ newsdesk/ N14418339.htm
We can expect the White House to try to blame the Democrats, the French, etc. for the own failure to pursue a real non-proliferation policy.
November 14th, 2005 at 11:58 pmI meant to say “…after the White House hyping the threat…”
November 15th, 2005 at 12:46 amIt was a worldwide intelligence failure because it was a worldwide criminal conspiracy by networks associated with Dick Cheney and his neocon friends.
The sooner we stop talking about the output and start examining the ways in which intelligence was blatantly politicized by this Administration, the sooner we will get some accountability for this disasterous war.
November 15th, 2005 at 2:33 amGregor
Oh, but the Whitehouse is doing something about nuclear weapons proliferation - it is outing and destroying their own intelligence operations who were responsible for worldwide counterproliferation activities. That was Brewster & Jennings’s business.
Anyone who wants to say that the Plame affair was a benign leak with no national security implications is either a damn fool or a bloody liar.
Check out http://www.waynemadsenreport.com for more info.
November 15th, 2005 at 2:37 amwwphallus
Lemme see, Tin FOIL Hat.
Naw. }=[]B^T)
We use Magnetic Flat Film Loops phased 180deg to block the thoughts of such Cocker Doodle Dupes as O’Liely.
Latent Racist Re-enforcement Media.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bob Woodward Speaking To CFRelations
(Live Transcript)
June 9, 2004
blah blah
….and since Bob is sort of coming out of book tour mode, where you kind of retell what’s in the book,
let’s do a little bit of that. And the W I’d like to start with is “when.” Our nation’s esteemed former
Treasury secretary [Paul O’Neill], in his relatively new book [“The Price of Loyaltyâ€], or Ron Suskind’s book about him, says the war in Iraq was a done deal on Inauguration day, without offering a lot of proof. The president of this very organization [Richard Haass], who’s not here today because of a death in the family, wrote an op-ed piece in
***The Washington Post, I think, last summer, in which he recounted a conversation with [National Security Adviser] Condoleezza Rice in, I think, June 2002***, in which he went to her, an old friend from a previous turn on the [President George H.W.] Bush National Security Council [NSC], and said, “I’ve got some reservations about the idea of a war in Iraq I’d like to share with you.” And she said, “Save your breath,” as he tells the story, “the decision’s been made.” So I ask you, Bob, to start: when did the president decide to invade Iraq?*** (emphasis’s by poster)
WOODWARD: It’s like all decisions. It’s incremental. In a way, the book is an effort to take the 16-month period and show how incremental it was. And to a certain extent, it started when Bush took [Defense Secretary] Don Rumsfeld aside after an NSC meeting, and they went into a little cubbyhole office, and President Bush said to Rumsfeld, “What are the war plans for Iraq? I want to know. I want to know what the options are. Update me now.” Of course, if you give Rumsfeld a bone, he will take it and convert it into a war plan. [Laughter.] And that’s exactly what he did. And the book charts how it looked like attacking, invading Iraq would be— would take a long time and be very expensive, and the Rumsfeld war plan kept getting better. And by getting better, it looked much, much easier, down to the point where [Deputy Defense Secretary] Paul Wolfowitz thought the war would last seven days. Of course, I think it’s now 440 days. He was off a little bit, as he tends to be. [Laughter.]
November 15th, 2005 at 5:39 pm~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laughter?
Jerks. –AJ