Bush and War in Iraq
Bush and War in Iraq
George W. Bush wanted to be President of the United States.. Being Governor of the state of Texas was a tough job, but he had proved he could handle it, and he enjoyed it. It seemed a natural stepping stone leading to the Rose Garden and the finest job in the country. The campaign was rough and he didn’t get as many votes as Democrat Gore. Also, there were questions about the voting techniques in Florida, but a favorable vote in the Supreme Court declared him President of the United States.
The Inauguration led to the recognition that the presidency is a tough job, requiring a lot of hard work, making difficult decisions and dealing with a lot of stubborn people. Yet, George W. knew he could handle it. It would be a cake- walk if he could persuade the friends he had made in the Republican Party and in the oil fields of Texas to come to Washington to assist him. On top of that, he had a vision- a calling to be a great leader.
Simmering on the back burner was a pot of hatred that had been bothering him ever since his father, as President, had let Saddam Hussein stay in power after the Desert Storm war a few years earlier. We, and our loyal allies, had whipped his army and pushed him back into the established Iraqi borders. Yet, we had not punished Saddam sufficiently—he should have been killed or in some other way, removed from power in Iraq.
History, as it sometimes does, came forth with an event that shook the foundation of our largest city and delivered a historical shock to the entire population of the United States. Al Qaeda terrorists seized fuel laden jet-liners and flew them with their passengers and crews into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. This unprecedented attack on the United States effectively removed the idea that the oceans serve as secure barriers to attack by our enemies. No one imagined any good thing coming out of the incident, but it started an extended string of unplanned events with unimagined, horrible consequences.
The American people were anxious to pursue the Al Qaeda terrorist who had taken refuge in Afghanistan and capture their leader, Ben Laden. A variety of appropriate military forces were sent promptly to accomplish this capture. However, the mountainous terrain and unfriendly war lords and natives enabled Ben Laden to evade capture and to continue his worldwide terrorist activities.
From President Bush’s perspective the events might be converted into an opportunity to fight the terrorist on a worldwide basis and at the same time dispose of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It would require strong leadership and a tightly knit group of loyal supporters. The plan would have to convince everyone that the leaders of Al Qaeda and of Iraq were of the same mind and engaged in a joint effort to destroy the United States. We had the organization and the connections needed to make the plan work. President set the plan in motion.
1. Mohammed Atta, lead hijacker in the 9/11 attack was reported to have conferred with the intelligence chief of Iraq in Prague in April 2001, barely five months prior to the attack on the World Trade Center. Bush officials saw this story as proof of a link between Iraq and the 9/11 attack. However, this link has been definitely disproved.
2. The National Intelligence Estimate is a secret report prepared for the President, advising him of the very latest and most reliable knowledge available on the situation in the world. These Estimates are prepared at times on requests from the President or at times the Intelligence community feels that one is advisable. The December, 2001 National Intelligence Estimate reported, without dissent, that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons; was not trying to get them; and did not appear to have reconstituted its nuclear weapons program since the United Nations and IAEA inspectors departed in December 1998. In October 2002 NIE issued a new, unanimous report stating that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons or a nuclear weapons program.
3. Having the benefit of the information in these classified NIE reports, the following officials made hundreds of false assertions in speeches on television, at the United Nations, to foreign leaders and to Congress: President Bush, Vice President Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Their statements were consistent in their assertions and were consistently false.
4. President Bush did not say directly that there was a link between Iraq and the attack of 9/11, but he did convey that message by mentioning 9/11 and Iraq in speech after speech in his campaign to sell the Iraq war to the public and to the world.
5. Contradicting the National Intelligence Estimate, Mr. Bush stated in 2002 State of the Union address that Iraq presented a “grave and growing danger”.
6. The President stated many times that members of Congress had the same intelligence that he had when they voted to allow him to make war on Iraq, while in fact much of what they got were summaries that had qualifiers and unsubstantiated additions in them.
7. The Bush administration purposely presented a complex deceit about Iraq to both Congress and the public in its effort to obtain authorization to attack a nation that had neither the intent of the capability to attack the United States.
President Bush attempted to justify his actions by contending that they were necessary to protect American lives against the danger of an imminent attack. At the same time the President knew that Iraq presented no such danger.
One day in the future some authoritative group will obtain the power to assemble information regarding the buildup to and execution of the war in Iraq, and the items enumerated above will be affirmed or disproved. The answers will determine whether President Bush should be praised as a good wartime president or scorned and impeached as an ambitious, conspiring leader who betrayed the trust of the American people.
Jerry Clements 27 December 2005
George W. Bush wanted to be President of the United States.. Being Governor of the state of Texas was a tough job, but he had proved he could handle it, and he enjoyed it. It seemed a natural stepping stone leading to the Rose Garden and the finest job in the country. The campaign was rough and he didn’t get as many votes as Democrat Gore. Also, there were questions about the voting techniques in Florida, but a favorable vote in the Supreme Court declared him President of the United States.
The Inauguration led to the recognition that the presidency is a tough job, requiring a lot of hard work, making difficult decisions and dealing with a lot of stubborn people. Yet, George W. knew he could handle it. It would be a cake- walk if he could persuade the friends he had made in the Republican Party and in the oil fields of Texas to come to Washington to assist him. On top of that, he had a vision- a calling to be a great leader.
Simmering on the back burner was a pot of hatred that had been bothering him ever since his father, as President, had let Saddam Hussein stay in power after the Desert Storm war a few years earlier. We, and our loyal allies, had whipped his army and pushed him back into the established Iraqi borders. Yet, we had not punished Saddam sufficiently—he should have been killed or in some other way, removed from power in Iraq.
History, as it sometimes does, came forth with an event that shook the foundation of our largest city and delivered a historical shock to the entire population of the United States. Al Qaeda terrorists seized fuel laden jet-liners and flew them with their passengers and crews into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. This unprecedented attack on the United States effectively removed the idea that the oceans serve as secure barriers to attack by our enemies. No one imagined any good thing coming out of the incident, but it started an extended string of unplanned events with unimagined, horrible consequences.
The American people were anxious to pursue the Al Qaeda terrorist who had taken refuge in Afghanistan and capture their leader, Ben Laden. A variety of appropriate military forces were sent promptly to accomplish this capture. However, the mountainous terrain and unfriendly war lords and natives enabled Ben Laden to evade capture and to continue his worldwide terrorist activities.
From President Bush’s perspective the events might be converted into an opportunity to fight the terrorist on a worldwide basis and at the same time dispose of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It would require strong leadership and a tightly knit group of loyal supporters. The plan would have to convince everyone that the leaders of Al Qaeda and of Iraq were of the same mind and engaged in a joint effort to destroy the United States. We had the organization and the connections needed to make the plan work. President set the plan in motion.
1. Mohammed Atta, lead hijacker in the 9/11 attack was reported to have conferred with the intelligence chief of Iraq in Prague in April 2001, barely five months prior to the attack on the World Trade Center. Bush officials saw this story as proof of a link between Iraq and the 9/11 attack. However, this link has been definitely disproved.
2. The National Intelligence Estimate is a secret report prepared for the President, advising him of the very latest and most reliable knowledge available on the situation in the world. These Estimates are prepared at times on requests from the President or at times the Intelligence community feels that one is advisable. The December, 2001 National Intelligence Estimate reported, without dissent, that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons; was not trying to get them; and did not appear to have reconstituted its nuclear weapons program since the United Nations and IAEA inspectors departed in December 1998. In October 2002 NIE issued a new, unanimous report stating that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons or a nuclear weapons program.
3. Having the benefit of the information in these classified NIE reports, the following officials made hundreds of false assertions in speeches on television, at the United Nations, to foreign leaders and to Congress: President Bush, Vice President Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Their statements were consistent in their assertions and were consistently false.
4. President Bush did not say directly that there was a link between Iraq and the attack of 9/11, but he did convey that message by mentioning 9/11 and Iraq in speech after speech in his campaign to sell the Iraq war to the public and to the world.
5. Contradicting the National Intelligence Estimate, Mr. Bush stated in 2002 State of the Union address that Iraq presented a “grave and growing danger”.
6. The President stated many times that members of Congress had the same intelligence that he had when they voted to allow him to make war on Iraq, while in fact much of what they got were summaries that had qualifiers and unsubstantiated additions in them.
7. The Bush administration purposely presented a complex deceit about Iraq to both Congress and the public in its effort to obtain authorization to attack a nation that had neither the intent of the capability to attack the United States.
President Bush attempted to justify his actions by contending that they were necessary to protect American lives against the danger of an imminent attack. At the same time the President knew that Iraq presented no such danger.
One day in the future some authoritative group will obtain the power to assemble information regarding the buildup to and execution of the war in Iraq, and the items enumerated above will be affirmed or disproved. The answers will determine whether President Bush should be praised as a good wartime president or scorned and impeached as an ambitious, conspiring leader who betrayed the trust of the American people.
Jerry Clements 27 December 2005
posted by Jeremiah | 4:42 PM
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