Michael Boldin
Muckraker
Report
Monday, January 8, 2007
Think about it. It was the Bush administration and not Saddam
Hussein that turned out to be lying about weapons of mass destruction.
As we all know now, there weren't any weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq. Amazingly enough, it was Saddam who was telling the truth
from the very beginning. Bush was the one who lied to the whole
world.
You may remember that in 2002, the UN Security Council ordered
Iraq to put together a report detailing the entirety of its biological,
chemical, and nuclear weapons programs. In response, Iraqi officials
compiled an 11,800-page report on the past and present status
of Iraq's weapons programs.
From that report we learned (from the Iraqis) that Iraq once
had both chemical and biological weapons, as well as a program
to develop nuclear weapons. We also learned that Iraq acquired
biological and chemical weapons from the US, and Iraqi nuclear
scientists were trained at US government nuclear facilities. Most
importantly, though, the Iraqis told us that some of the weapons
and nuclear facilities were destroyed in the first Gulf War, and
the rest were destroyed under the supervision of UN weapons inspectors.
All of this turned out to be true.
WHAT WE'VE LEARNED
George Bush repeatedly told us that Saddam was lying, that Iraq
had WMDs, and that Iraq under Saddam was a "threat to the
whole world." So, here we are, years later. What have we
learned to be the truth?
The search for WMDs turned up nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
Everything Hussein said about the weapons has turned out to be
true. Everything Bush said about the weapons has turned out to
be false.
But, it wasn't "faulty intelligence" as the liars keep
telling us. War against Iraq was the product of a witch's brew
of disinformation, distortions, spin, and lies given by people
interested in the US invasion of Iraq.
The non-existent weapons of mass destruction weren't the only
falsehood. There were the phony uranium purchases, lies about
Al-Qaeda training camps in Iraq, mobile weapons labs, and drones
that were going to attack the East Coast of the US.
Remember the lies about babies being thrown out of incubators?
The propaganda started years ago. Even the claims of Saddam's
brutality are suspect. Why? Because most of these claims come
from the same people that have already discredited themselves.
No one would call you naïve for distrusting someone who
lies to you over and over and over.
NEW REASONS FOR WAR
So, when confronted with the charge that he lied about the reasons
to go to war with Iraq, President Bush simply went into spin mode
and said, "The defense of freedom is always worth it."
Was it worth it to the thousands of Americans who have been wounded
or killed?
Was it worth it to the countless Iraqi men, women and children
who have died?
Was it worth it to their families?
FOREIGN ENTANGLEMENTS
The reality of the situation is that the US Government - from
Bush Sr., to Bill Clinton, to G.W - decided on its own that Saddam
should no longer be the president of Iraq. This is the very thing
that the Constitution and International Law were designed to prevent.
Saddam Hussein never threatened America. Iraq had absolutely
no capability to attack the United States, and never was there
indicated a desire to do so.
In short, Iraq, or Saddam Hussein never threatened American “freedom”.
So how can anyone consider an unprovoked attack on another nation
as "defending freedom"? The absurdity of such lies will
ring on for centuries.
It's not America's calling to choose who should or should not
be in charge of another country. But, obviously, the Iraqi war
was worth it to George Bush.
If George wants to donate his own money to revolutionary movements
in foreign countries, he has the right as a free person to do
so. If he wants to quit his job (wishful thinking) and go fight
in one of those countries, he has a right to do so as well.
But, he has absolutely no constitutional authority to use American
money and American lives to fight for "freedom" in other
countries.
So, in order to continue war, the lies must continue.
TRUTH AND LIES
The result of all this was that the "Butcher of Baghdad"
was right and that the "President of the United States"
was wrong. Saddam Hussein was given the death penalty for "war
crimes," while George Bush and his accomplices in our two-party
Congress continue to rule over us.
We're living in sad times, indeed, times when you can trust what
Saddam Hussein says more than your own government.
In practice, being honest or lying doesn't matter. It's might
that's right.
And that's the sad truth.
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