Reminiscing

A little reminder of the events in past few years that have lead us here.

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." – President Bush, Jan.28, 2003, in the State of the Union address.

FACT: This whopper was based on a document that the White House already knew to be a forgery thanks to the CIA. Sold to Italian intelligence by some hustler, the document carried the signature of an official who had been out of office for 10 years and referenced a constitution that was no longer in effect. The ex-ambassador who the CIA sent to check out the story is pissed: "They knew the Niger story was a flat-out lie," he told the New Republic, anonymously. "They [the White House] were unpersuasive about aluminum tubes and added this to make their case more strongly."

"The Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons."
– George Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in a speech in Cincinnati

We are all familiar with these and a great many other claims that are too numerous to list here but it gives you an idea of the mindset of this administration, just in case you were hermetically sealed in a box for the past 4 years. Now with these kinds of statements issued and the press backing it up 100% (the so called liberal press) repeated many times over on a minute by minute basis; America said, well lets invade Iraq before mushroom clouds appear in New York. Now in order for this to happen, the President had to ask for permission from our congress in order get the green light and send our troops to remove this man who was allegedly going to destroy America.

From Section three of the resolution to go to war:

“This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq'.”

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) AUTHORIZATION- The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to

(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.

(b) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION- In connection with the exercise of the authority granted in subsection (a) to use force the President shall, prior to such exercise or as soon thereafter as may be feasible, but no later than 48 hours after exercising such authority, make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that

(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic or other peaceful means alone either (A) will not adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or (B) is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and

(2) acting pursuant to this resolution is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorists attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.

So with this, congress granted the President to go to war against Iraq. However, make note that Iraq posed no threat to the United States according to our own CIA and even statements made by Colin Powel and Condi Rice only a few years previous. I guess the WMD fairy just showed up one night on Sept 12^th 2001 apparently. Now also note that in this resolution that it is stated that we can take action against terrorist organizations, and nations that attacked the United States on Sept 11^th, 2001, suggesting that Iraq was somehow behind this, which as we all know is not really a lie, just a failure to tell the truth.

So now we have come to the point where nearly every single reason that was given to go to war against Iraq has been proven false, including the reasons stated to congress in order to get permission for this war. We are no embroiled in a tangle of lies that has lead to the exposure of an undercover CIA agent who job it was to find WMD’s or evidence there of, and an administration that is quite simply steeped in controversy on a daily basis. America voted for Shrub back in 2000 in part because after Clinton gave America a black eye for his misdeeds, the people wanted someone with integrity and sincerity. Instead we have ended up with a dog and pony show that gives the American government the appearance of slimy weasels and snake oil salesmen that have squandered the good name we once had. Time for Congress and the Senate to do its job and show some backbone and make the hard choices. Time to use the “I” word.

Flip