Paul Johnson wrote:
> Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The entire world save Britian
> apparently had better intelligence on the Iraq situation than we did.
Er, so how does this translate into Bush lied? It's amazing how when a
lie is repeated often enough it becomes truth. The lie isn't Bush's, it is
the media's and the radical left (that's you, Paul). If Bush lied so did
every member of Congress who voted for it. Yes, including the Democrats who
now "oppose" the war. They had access to the very same intelligence as Bush
did. Furthermore if you go back just a scant 2 years into the Clinton
Administration you can find many, many Democrats drumming up Saddam's WMDs as
fact and that he should be deposed.
Furthermore if the media and the radical left were even remotely
interested in what Bush pushed in his 2002 SotU address, you know, the one
that pretty much put everyone on guard that we were going into Iraq, he didn't
mention they currently had WMDs.
From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html
"Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror.
The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear
weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas
to murder thousands of its own citizens -- leaving the bodies of mothers
huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to
international inspections -- then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime
that has something to hide from the civilized world.
States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil,
arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass
destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could
provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred.
They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In
any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.
We will work closely with our coalition to deny terrorists and their state
sponsors the materials, technology, and expertise to make and deliver weapons
of mass destruction. We will develop and deploy effective missile defenses to
protect America and our allies from sudden attack. (Applause.) And all
nations should know: America will do what is necessary to ensure our nation's
security.
We'll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events,
while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer.
The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous
regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons. (Applause.)"
"By seeking weapons of mass destruction" is not "They have weapons of mass
destruction". "They could" is not "they can".
Furthermore he clearly states why action was needed. "In any of these
cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic" and "I will not wait
on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer
and closer." Those are not key phrases for the enemy having WMD, those are
phrases to show that we cannot wait for them to have WMDs, to use them and
then and only then to act.
It was on that basis that we moved forward. To prevent a regime which has
in the past possessed chemical WMD and was actively seeking it in the present
from obtaining and using it again.
Also, in the defense of the US and British intelligence agencies it isn't
like Saddam didn't give them a reason to think he was currently in possession
of WMD. He was playing a delicate balancing act. On the one hand he was
telling the West that he didn't have them while playing like he did to keep
the other regimes that were eying Iraq at bay. It turns out we in the West
believed him at his games. The simple fact is the price of acting on those
suspicions and being wrong (there were no WMD) was far less costly than
ignoring them and finding out they were true (there were WMD).
--
Steve C. Lamb | But who decides what they dream?
PGP Key: 8B6E99C5 | And dream I do...
-------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature