Ashcroft defends Iraq invasion.
By on Feb 13th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Ashcroft defends Iraq invasion.
In a speech to Missouri Republicans on Saturday, former attorney general John Ashcroft went after Bush administration critics who say that the President went to war in Iraq too early and without the necessary proof. Ashcroft responded:
“I would simply say this: It is never too early to fight to defend freedom, and it is much better to fight them there than it is to fight them here,” he said, stirring the sold-out banquet crowd to their feet in applause.
During that same speech, he declared that Bush is “among the most respectful of all leaders ever” when it comes to “respecting the civil liberties and rights of individuals.”
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Afghanistan
Bachmann
Beck
Boehner
Business
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
Dobbs
Economy
Education
Election
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Glenn Beck
Global Warming
Health Care
Immigration
International Relations
Justice
LGBT
Lieberman
Limbaugh
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Politics
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Sports
Steele
Stimulus
Tea Parties
Tea Party
Terrorism
Veterans
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
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.
ArchivesBlog Roll
beware of the shrinking bubble, John.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:05 amIf your going to quote the mentally imbalanced, try to intermix statements from people in the reality based community.
It gets a bit depressing when you report statements by someone so clearly addled, corrupt, openly contemptuous of the laws, has been a part of war crimes, war profiteering, medical device profiteering with dysfunctional product? This is the kind of person that would be convicted of crimes in any country except ours
it really doesn’t make sense that you don’t tag these semi human fecal representatives for what they are first. Don’t assume that new viewers to your site know this. Facts are awfully important to some of us.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:06 am“It is never too early to fight to defend freedom.” So says mr 7-draft deferment soaring eagle himself.
I say, he is a cowardly, draft-dodging chickenhawk- just like the rest of the dirly-men of W.’s administration.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:07 amgirly-men. sheeesh.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:08 amAnd the winner for truth goe’s to Oldtree….Bravo and than you for posting….Blessings
February 13th, 2008 at 11:09 amHey, Johnny, somewhere out there is a boob that needs covering. STFU and get on it.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:09 am“…stirring the sold-out banquet crowd to their feet in applause.”
I think we found the majority of the 29%er’s
February 13th, 2008 at 11:09 amYes, really respectful….like the time when they sent some lackeys to your hospital room when you were deathly ill – against your wishes and the wishes of your wife – to override the current acting attorney general….yep…that sounds VERY respectful of civil liberties and individual rights.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:10 ambeware of the shrinking bubble, John.
Comment by alpuz3 — February 13, 2008 @ 11:05 am
I’d prefer someone just release that weird bubble thing from “The Prisoner” to just deal with this dope
February 13th, 2008 at 11:11 amAshcroft – the AG who thought it far more important to round up prostitutes in Louisiana than to investigate terror threats in America.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:11 amThe AG who had the statue of “Justice” covered with a blue drape because he was offended by a woman’s exposed breast.
The AG who, to this day, defends Bush, the one who seems to get his jollies by torturing people he does’t like, ordering soldiers to torture suspects, by being so eager to play “toy soldiers” that he illegally and immorally invaded another nation, by parsing the Constitution to suit his twisted desires, and by placing toadies in high places who will defend his illegal actions — Ashcroft, look in the mirror.
wonder if these would’ve sold well there…
http://ghostoftj.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/bullshit_protector_large.jpg
February 13th, 2008 at 11:12 am“Fight them over there so we don’t have to here” = Stupidest justification for the war ever.
“among the most respectful of all leaders ever†when it comes to “respecting the civil liberties and rights of individuals.â€
Just because you say it, doesn’t mean it’s true, Ashcroft.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:12 amWe’re these the same people who were at mcain’s press conference last night?
February 13th, 2008 at 11:15 ammarie – even worse, it was a MARBLE STATUE a woman’s exposed breasts…
February 13th, 2008 at 11:15 amWhat are you smoking Ashy?
February 13th, 2008 at 11:16 amJust because you say it, doesn’t mean it’s true, Ashcroft.
Comment by bobcat_grad — February 13, 2008 @ 11:12 am
Anytime any neocon scumbucket speaks, assume the truth is the exact opposite.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:17 amBat.Shit.Crazy
February 13th, 2008 at 11:18 amBullshit Ashcroft!!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:18 am“We can dance if we want to
February 13th, 2008 at 11:18 amWe can leave your friends behind
“Cause if your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance
Well they’re no friends of mine”
Not since Ed Meese’s crotch-sniffing have we had an AG so consumed with the trivial, while the momentous occurred right behind their backs.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:18 amCaption contest: “Ah, the sound of fresh torture in the morning”
February 13th, 2008 at 11:20 amBush is “protecting us” FROM civil liberties & individual rights (on the premise of keeping us safe). Only those who truly don’t believe we’re entitled to those rights could aspouse the belief that Bush is “respectful” of them for the American people. In this administration, ONLY the executive branch of this government is entitled to rights. (This congress agrees, only they extend those rights to indicted congresspeople (Foley & Jefferson) too.)
No one in a position of real power has any respect for our freedoms, whatsoever. See the so-called Protect America Act.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:21 amI even remember the first order of business for Deacon John when he took office.
Hookers!!!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:21 amAshcroft is one tone-deaf MoFo.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:22 amAnyone else get the feeling that when the Bush administration leaves office, Ashton Kutcher is going to jump out and yell ‘punk’d!’
Does any living organism still take these people seriously?
February 13th, 2008 at 11:22 am“During that same speech, he declared that Bush is ‘among the most respectful of all leaders ever’ when it comes to ‘respecting the civil liberties and rights of individuals.’”
Sure…. and up is down, black is white, freedom is slavery, war is peace, etc.
Why do Republicans have such a hard time with reality? Why do they hate the truth? Why, oh why are they still in power?
February 13th, 2008 at 11:23 amLIAR!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:24 amIf the old bastard dirtbag is out making speeches, he can bloody well testify about the hospital bed incident.
“I would simply say this: It is never too early to fight to defend freedom…”
– Is THAT what we’re doing? Fighting to defend freedom? Well, if that’s our mission, why aren’t we invading every country that isn’t meeting our “freedom” standards?
“…and it is much better to fight them there than it is to fight them hereâ€
– Now, not only are our troops mere cannon fodder, they are also bait. And we here at home are supposed to feel safer because the only thing that’s keeping us from another attack is that the terrorists are busy being distracted by this “bait”?
“Bush is ‘among the most respectful of all leaders ever’ when it comes to ‘respecting the civil liberties and rights of individuals.’ ”
– Yes, by doing away with habeus corpus, by essentially destroying the fourth amendment, by eroding our privacy by spying on us, etc.
Ashcroft is just another idiot who thinks by repeating the same old soundbites ad nauseum that people continue to believe them. That may be true of the choir he’s preaching to, but not of the rest of us.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:24 amKool-Aide still works in his diminished brain…. Ooops.. I forgot – he had it REMOVED!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:25 amSounds to me like he’s saying something along the lines of “It’s never a mistake to invade another country.”
February 13th, 2008 at 11:26 amLunacy and the Conservative Mind.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:27 amI’d prefer someone just release that weird bubble thing from “The Prisoner†to just deal with this dope
Comment by dbadass — February 13, 2008 @ 11:11 am
Great show. Life under the Bush administration is like life on that island. And no one really knows the identity of Number One.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:28 amlet the eagle soar…. and cover up that naked statue! the human body in its natural form offends me.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:30 amSounds to me like he’s saying something along the lines of “It’s never a mistake to invade another country.â€
Comment by ralph the wonder llama — February 13, 2008 @ 11:26 am
Sounds to me like he’s saying that as well. Gotta keep up the momentum for McCain.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:31 amTo be scrupulously fair to Asscroft, it might more accurate to say “it’s never a mistake to invade another country if you’re scared.“
February 13th, 2008 at 11:31 amAshcroft then went on to say, “truth be told, AG Mukasey tells me that they’ve been using recordings of “Let the Eagle Soar” during extreme interrogations and damn if it isn’t working better than the waterboarding! Babba booey, babba booey….PEACE OUT Y’ALL”
February 13th, 2008 at 11:32 amI’d prefer someone just release that weird bubble thing from “The Prisoner†to just deal with this dope
-dbadass — February 13, 2008 @ 11:11 am
Great show. Life under the Bush administration is like life on that island. And no one really knows the identity of Number One.
-VerbalKint
Agreed. It took Sci-Fi to a new TV level. It parallels today’s gitmo detainees, eh? No one knows who #1 is, but they all know Bush is #2
February 13th, 2008 at 11:35 amWhat are you smoking Ashy?
Comment by gumby — February 13, 2008 @ 11:16 am
AssCrack!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:38 amComment by Zimzone — February 13, 2008 @ 11:35 am
It must be available on dvd by now. Has anyone seen it or know where to access it. I suppose I could “resign” to goggle it
February 13th, 2008 at 11:40 amIt is never to early to fight to defend freedom says the man who lost an election to a dead guy.
Never to early? And when did you enroll to fight or defend freedom?
John Ashcroft
Attorney General
Age 62
Born Chicago, Illinois, May 9, 1942
Military service None
Reason Six student deferments and one occupational deferment (teaching law at Southwest Missouri State).
Quote “I would have served if asked.”
Believe me, nothing more needs be said!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:41 amThe invasion of Iraq was not about our freedom. Our freedom was never in trouble from Iraq.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:41 am“I would simply say this: It is never too early to fight to defend freedom…â€
Good. When do we get ours back?
February 13th, 2008 at 11:43 amComment by DRxJ — February 13, 2008 @ 11:41 am
What an embarrassment that he’s from Chicago, isn’t it? Casts aspersions on our fine city!
What a pr!ck!!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:45 amHow in the world do these sleaze balls get into any kind of position of authority?
Is there more going on in those bathroom stalls than we know about?
Are they tapping secret messages back and forth?
Fight them there so we don’t have to fight them here…WTF?
So that means we should just attack every country in the world because they at some time in the future will be our enemy?
Most of the world hates us at this point in time, so I guess we should just attack everyone…is this their train of thought?
John Asscraft, a big FY guy, FY all the hell and back.
Buck Fush
February 13th, 2008 at 11:46 amYeah lets kill everyone who we “think” “might be” a “potential” threat to OUR freedom. Their freedom is of no consequence.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:47 amFreedom? Freedom, you say, Ashy?
The majority of Iraqi’s wish that we would collect our ‘defender’s of freedom’ asses, and leave.
Even Shiites wish for the days of Saddam’s rule, instead of currently residing in the hell-hole we’ve created!
but, of course, a chicken hawk like you just loves to play the freedom card, as long as it’s not you or your ilk doing the defending!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:49 amKaty,
February 13th, 2008 at 11:50 amha ha
Ashcroft would probably favor putting jockey shorts on the statue of David.
What must he think of all those nude figures in the ceiling of the Sistine chapel?
These blue-nosed, selfrighteous, tight asses are modern day Puritans.
This is the last straw – I am now fully convinced that these folks live in an alternate reality.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:52 amI don’t think John is has fully recovered from his hospital stay. They might not have removed his head from his ass.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:53 am2 very good comments worthy of a repeat… and consideration:
The invasion of Iraq was not about our freedom. Our freedom was never in trouble from Iraq.
Comment by hellinabucket @ 11:41 am
“I would simply say this: It is never too early to fight to defend freedom…â€
February 13th, 2008 at 11:54 amGood. When do we get ours back?
Comment by Ms_Joanne @ 11:43 am
Lunacy IS the conservative mind.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:56 am“It is never too early to fight to defend freedom”
I hear Canada has socialist leanings. Better attack them ***NOW*** before they develop the bomb. (If you haven’t seen the movie “Canadian Bacon” may I recommend it).
I also hear that Bhutan lists happiness as a personal right. Better attack those commies now too.
And Switzerland – didn’t join us in WWII. We’d better make them pay – they’re long overdue.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:58 am“Our freedom was never in trouble from Iraq”
comment from hellinabucket @11:41 am
But our freedom is facing extinction by Bush/Cheney.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:00 pm48. Marie – do you really think Ashcroft would let us see David’s underwear ? I think not ;-)
Frankly, especially considering the possibility that the statue is homoerotic, David goes in a full Level I moon suit.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:00 pmThis is the last straw – I am now fully convinced that these folks live in an alternate reality.
Comment by TXProgressive — February 13, 2008 @ 11:52 am
Has nothing to do with reality, it’s how they can steal all the money and livelihoods from us. That’s the only thing they want. Slaves of the entire populace for corporate greed; our tax dollars going into their personal bank accounts.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:00 pmHe spoke more like a real American when he was on his death bed.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:05 pm“I would simply say this: It is never too early to fight to defend freedom, and it is much better to fight them there than it is to fight them hereâ€
Adolf Hitler – June 12, 1939
February 13th, 2008 at 12:13 pmAh, yes, Maplestreet, of course, whitey-tightey underpants would be too revealing. I should have thought of that.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:14 pmLet the eagle take a dump on Ashcroft’s head.
-GSD
February 13th, 2008 at 12:16 pm“I would simply say this: It is never too early to fight to defend freedom, and it is much better to fight them there than it is to fight them hereâ€
Adolf Hitler – June 12, 1939
Comment by delafield — February 13, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
Is that true? Did Hitler actually says these words (in German, of course)?
If so, that’s the creepiest parallel yet bet the Nazis and the Neocons.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:19 pmRalph, you took the thoughts right out of my head. I would love a link to this, delafield!!
February 13th, 2008 at 12:27 pmI googled that quote and couldn’t find anything.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:46 pmAshcroft’s a member of the “Bush gang of thugs” so he has to support it; otherwise, they’d call him a turncoat. They’re all doing down when the Dems get in power. Ashcroft reminds me of the drowing swimmer….coming up for air….once…..twice…..and now three times. He’s cooked and he knows it.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:53 pmThe Hitler allusions wouldn’t surprise me in the least. These Straussian neofascists took the plays from Hitler’s playbook.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:54 pmUnc Ho: I would venture to say that the conservative mind is not even of the human species.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:55 pmSame tired old fight them there crap for the same, tired old neocon worshippers who’ve sunk this country. Blub, blub, blub…
February 13th, 2008 at 12:58 pmAdolf Hitler – June 12, 1939
Comment by delafield — February 13, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
no need to LIE about things here… or anywhere…
February 13th, 2008 at 12:58 pmi googled it tros, and came up with a local missouri paper,
February 13th, 2008 at 1:01 pmand the quote was ashcroft’s…
The Hitler allusions wouldn’t surprise me in the least. These Straussian neofascists took the plays from Hitler’s playbook.
Comment by whatevah — February 13, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
Wouldn’t surprise me, either. Know what else wouldn’t surprise me? A troll coming in here, dropping that bomb and having people run with it before confirming it, so that the likes of Bill O’canILie..ly, RedState, Savage and others could say LOOK WHAT THEM HATEFUL LIBUUURLS DID NOW!
Paranoid much, Joanne? :-)
February 13th, 2008 at 1:02 pmThat’s the one I found too, katy.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:03 pmOMG! SEE!! Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean there aren’t people out to get you! (HUGE grin)
February 13th, 2008 at 1:03 pmAll we have to do is tally the facts – they’ve either trashed or eroded ALL of our constitutional rights in the name of “protecting us”. Who was it that said – if you are willing to trade your freedom for the “illusion of safety” then you deserve neither – freedor or safety?? This is precisely what they’ve done to us.
And the GOPIGS continue to spin the illegal spying and the war as some convoluted way of keeping us “safe”. Hello? Open borders mean the opposite of safety so how does any of this keep us safe?
It doesn’t compute but we’ve been fed the lies and propaganda and prefer to believe the lie that our government is working for the people. It’s not. They have become the enemy of the people instead. Just do the math and consider the track record of how we’ve lost every freedom we have all thanks to the Anti-Patriot Act.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:26 pmThis is precisely why Obama’s message of “hope” is resonating and reaching critical mass. All the american people have left on their side of the ledger, sadly, IS “hope”. If our hope is stripped, we have absolutely nothing – no democracy, no future, no country.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:27 pmand the indominable lifeblood of the american people from our ancestors to ourselves is based largely on hope and dreams. If we lose our last card called hope, game’s over.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:28 pmCaption:
I CAN’T HEAR YOU, the crap between my ears is blocking out all sound waves!
February 13th, 2008 at 1:29 pmThe sheeple think(?) and say what happened in Germany was a strictly German phenomena, it could never happen here.
Actually, yes, it CAN happen here. In fact, it has already begun under Bush.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:46 pmUh… yeah… Uncle Ho.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:54 pmAgain, I ask:
What freedoms were the 9/11 attackers trying to take away from us on that fateful day? What freedoms are they trying to take away from us by killing our troops in Iraq?
February 13th, 2008 at 2:08 pmWe’re displacing tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Iraqis so we won’t have to allow them in here?
February 13th, 2008 at 2:31 pmFighting for Freedom??????!!!! The reazon to given to invade Iraq was not Freedom or democracy. They stated it quite crealy then: ‘To disarm Saddam Hussein of WMD”. That was the First official Lie! When that became obvious it was a LIE, they came with this cheap ‘Slogan’ of spreading democracy and freedom… However, if one care to check the USA historical record on ‘Democracy promotion’, one can confidently say the the USA has no credentials for ‘Democracy promotion’. I myself, grew up under 25 years of military dictatorship, which torture inocent people and disapeared with them. They were believed to be thrown out of a helicopter out in the ocean… all these horrible techniques were presented to ‘our’ military in the “School of the Americas” in the United States. The USA’s marines were in our coast in 1964 to make sure the the democratic elected president would fall and they helped to install the Gerals who sold our country resources to Multinational Corporations. My country is a mess now! “WAR ON DEMOCRACY”, a film by John Pilger which can be seen in YOUTUBE, is one of the very few that will tell the Truth about the crimes of the USA in South America… The scumbag Negroponte, who was the Embassator in Honduras, helped to oversee the finalcial support of paramilitary terrorist milicias to terrorise the Nicaraguan people. They killed Padre Romero while he was celebrating a mass for the poor! Will this hypocrisy ever end?????
February 13th, 2008 at 2:35 pmSorry for lots of spelling mistakes… I get so emotional I start to tremble…
February 13th, 2008 at 2:37 pmI apologize on behalf of all Show-Me state residents for this man’s idiocy. We realized it some time ago since, when he ran for Congress, he lost to a dead guy. Sadly, too many others realized it way too late.
Sorry ’bout that.
February 13th, 2008 at 2:57 pmThe first paragraph from the speech linked up top:
” Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Saturday defended President George W. Bush’s electronic surveillance program, saying it was far less intrusive than similar surveillance in World Wars I and II.”
February 13th, 2008 at 3:16 pm†Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Saturday defended President George W. Bush’s electronic surveillance program, saying it was far less intrusive than similar surveillance in World Wars I and II.â€
Comment by mary — February 13, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
And…??
February 13th, 2008 at 3:19 pmWhoa… they had “tha internets” ‘n cellies back in WW I?
Wow… jes’ proves my public school edumacation was bad after all. I had no idea. ‘Course, the nets were prolly just a series of actual tubes back then, like those systems they used to have in department stores…
Saaaayyy… wasn’t Ashcroft the guy who was more interested in chasing down pornographers than terraists?
February 13th, 2008 at 3:24 pmOne of Ashcroft’s victories:
‘Tommy Chong never was much of a stoner, but one of his most popular characters (”Man”) was. So when Tommy’s son Paris put Man’s face on the surfaces of seditiously shaped blown glass (bongs, pipes) and was blatantly entrapped into sending 5,000 bucks’ worth across state lines to undercover feds, Ashcroft’s Justice Department took the opportunity to send Tommy to the Wackenhut-managed Taft Correctional Institution for nine magical months, to punish him not only for financing and promoting his son’s glass-blowing studio but for, as the federal prosecutor put it, “glamorizing the illegal distribution and use of marijuana” in entertainment products that “trivialize law-enforcement efforts to combat drug trafficking and use.”
At the time – two years ago – it might’ve seemed to anyone watching the ensuing “mission accomplished”-style press conference that Ashcroft was, well, confused. By bringing up Chong’s so-called glamorizings and trivializings as aggravating factors, the Justice Department appeared unable to distinguish creator from creation, portrayal from endorsement. The result was that, of the 55 people similarly Ashcrofted all over America in “Operation Pipe Dreams” (yes, that was the sting’s actual name), only one was incarcerated: Tommy Chong.”‘
Yes to torture – no to bongs and statue boobs.
February 13th, 2008 at 4:10 pmAshcroft will be sure to have a seat on that C-130 headed to Paraguay once what this administration has done becomes public. Isn’t smart that the crime family head bought that 900,000 acres in a country that prevents extradition for war crimes?
February 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pmsacopenapa
February 13th, 2008 at 6:28 pm“The scumbag Negroponte, who was the Embassator in Honduras,”
There was very little coverage of the dark history of John Negroponte — I was dumbfounded as I watched him rise in the Bush administration.
Hey John –
I’ve got the title for your next song: “Let the Bullshit Fly.”
February 13th, 2008 at 7:00 pm