We’re assigning blame for our invasion and debating withdrawal because the insurgents have succeeded in killing enough US troops and disrupting our puppet government to make the country a fiery hell instead of a model democracy. If the US had been greeted as liberators, and a compliant, unified government had taken power flawlessly, as Ahmed Chalabi had whispered into Dick Cheney’s ear, there would be no talk of leaving Iraq and Republicans would be stronger than ever.
Here’s where it gets interesting (Patience please, this leads up to showing why Iraq may be more peaceful after US troops leave): During the ten years prior to our invasion of Iraq, Ahmed Chalabi became Dick Cheney’s good buddy, while Chalabi systematically convinced and seduced intelligence agencies all over Europe, (and Cheney) through his Iraqi National Congress, and other proxies (like Curveball) and like-minded Iraqi exiles, to fan the flames of war. The war could only have been started by Cheney’s relentless determination, his disregard or contempt for all other branches of government, the CIA, the State Dept. or the American people, and Chalabi’s essential phoney intelligence Cheney needed to feed to the media and congress to make it happen.
Now look at Chalabi’s Shiite background, his extensive ties to Iranian intelligence agencies and his family ties to Iran.
Now note how Iran needed to destroy their mortal enemy, Saddam Hussein, and take power in Iraq, and how immediately after US troops marched into Bahgdad Iranian-trained teams took power throughout southern Iraq, and how Iranian currency and language are used today in most of Shiite Iraq, and how Iran and Iraq signed military cooperation agreements over a year ago, and how Iran is sponsoring a shadow government ready to take power in Iraq, as reported on CNN.
Now let’s itemize the ways American military power, economic strength, diplomatic credibility, national security and sense of community have suffered as a result of our invasion of Iraq, to the point that invading Iran is no longer a feasible option.
By connecting the dots, you would almost think Chalabi was working to further the interests of Iran the whole time, and Cheney was a gullible fool for believing him. One might conclude that Chalabi pulled off a hoax of epic proportions. Plus, he got a seat 3 feet behind Laura Bush at the infamous 2003 State of the Union address. Ya gotta admire his chutzpah.
That realization, if understood by the majority of Americans, would probably end the war almost immediately, and get Cheney impeached within days.
Meantime, US troops are consistently bloodied every day, and more and more we debate whether we should leave. It probably will get worse and we will leave, because the truth on the ground is driving this debate, and it is not under our control, and never really was.
AS for what will happen after we leave, the Iranian-backed government will probably take full power, enforce some kind of agreements with Sunnis and Kurds and neighboring states, and the violence will gradually subside, while the people of Iraq begin to rebuild their country.

What I find absolutely interesting is the neo-con’s view of government, democracy, and the people: In their view, consent by the governed is not a precondition for democracy, and a government’s legitimacy can be bought with favors.

For them, democracy does not emanate from the people, but somehow “trickles down” from above. Popular expectations are not taken into account when setting public policy, but managed by the government. It’s incredible that people who proclaim to want a small government, actually want a huge bureaucracy -not to handle affairs of state, but to control the population, whether through propaganda or brute force.

Knowing all this, I still find it amazing that anyone believes the Bush administration is actually committed to anything resembling democracy in Iraq. Or in the US, for that matter.

But I bet the Bush cultists and loyalists would be quite comfortable with such an arrangement, as they get rabid when anyone dares criticise their Dear (mis)Leader.

Must be his devilish looks and creepy smile. Those traits would certainly appeal to this crowd.

- Tom

The call at the time was for a return of UN weapons inspectors. The UN Weapons Inspectors returned and were doing their job until Bush said he just couldn’t wait any longer –even though Blix and ElBaradei said things were going smoothly and no WMD had been found. Saddam even agreed to let the inspectors destroy a bunch of his mid-range missles. My how bad he was to show up Bush that way!

The trolls seem to love to distract, distort, and disgust. I note they didn’t quote Obama on the war. I guess they didn’t want to give him any good press. And the trolls still hate France & Germany, even though they were right and the trolls were wrong.

And what about that clown Allawi. He was the administrations fallback guy. During the election he was reduced to a fringe candidate and he was pelted with shoes at one campaign stop. And whatever became of that rumor that when he was interim PM he executed six captured insurgents to show the police how tough he was? Was that ever investigated?

As for the 2002 quotes, they were stating the truth to the best of their knowledge, based on the phoney, dishonest intelligence they were receiving. Once again, not lying.

So no, not a single one of those Democrats was lying in 1998, but telling the truth. Nor were they lying in 2002, but speaking after being misinformed.

I can remember when refuting Iraq War True Believers was at least slightly challenging, Valium Needer, but it’s been a long, long time.

Cheney, Perle, Kristol, PNAC, etc. aren’t dumb. However Bush/Condi/Gonzales and every clown Bush has appointed to run something are dumb as a box of hair ON TOP of the sociopathy.

“Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime … He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation … And now he is miscalculating America’s response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction … So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real…”
– Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003 | Source

“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.”
– Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002 | Source

“One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line.”
– President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998 | Source

“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.”
– President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998 | Source

“We must stop Saddam from ever again jeopardizing the stability and security of his neighbors with weapons of mass destruction.”
– Madeline Albright, Feb 1, 1998 | Source

“He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983.”
– Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998 | Source

“[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, 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.”
Letter to President Clinton.
– (D) Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, others, Oct. 9, 1998 | Source

“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.”
– Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998 | Source

“Hussein has … chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.”
– Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999 | Source

“We begin with the common belief that 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 th! e means of delivering them.”
– Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002 | Source

“We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.”
– Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002 | Source

“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.”
– Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002 | Source

“We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction.”
– Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002 | Source

“The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons…”
– Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002 | Source

“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.”
– Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002 | Source

“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 … 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.”
– Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002 | Source

“We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction.”
– Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002 | Source

It would be fun to think he knows of war crime charges being filed and is trying to save himself from prosecution. Just dreaming though.

Sorry, reptiles, I shouldn’t have slandered you so.

Absolutely. These wankers keep coming out with their damned books, and while it’s good to be able to fill in some blanks here and there, my primary thought is WHERE WERE YOU WHEN WE NEEDED YOU!?

The Almighty Dollar is the only guide these people have.

but, am i alone in wondering if this chalabi is a closeted gay?
his manerisms are so telling… could explain even more the infatuation…

please – i mean no harm… not that it matters… just an observation…
but these folks are so confounding… so hypocritical…

out to mowe now…

Dear Mr Tenet,

All this would have been so useful — FIVE YEARS AGO.

Comment by Zooey — April 30, 2007 @ 11:06 am

Good morning, Zooey. I only watched minutes of a Tenet interview but could figure out he is one evil, smarmy guy. Obviously his motivation was NOT to be useful to the American people just like any good neocon.

BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iran’s top national security official Ali Larijani has arrived in Baghdad, on a previously unannounced three-day visit and opened talks with senior Iraqi officials, state television reported Sunday.

GUESS WHAT MALIKI IS ALSO PROBABLY AN IRANIAN AGENT

Dear Mr Tenet,

All this would have been so useful — FIVE YEARS AGO.