I received the following e-mail from a friend, and thought it was well worth passing on. Basically, President Bush has completely flip flopped in his rationale for invading Iraq, now admitting the truth - that Iraq had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the 9/11 attacks on America. Unfortunately, this admission comes more than 3 years too late, after the Administration used that rationale to: a) justify the invasion in the first place; and b) bludgeon critics into submission through charges of "disloyalty" or "weakness" or whatever. Meanwhile, it is the policies of George W. Bush, George F. Allen and all the rest of the neocon Republicans that have weakened America, taken our eye off the real fight against Al Qaeda, led to terrible violence and instability in the Middle East, and practically bankrupted our nation. Heckuva job.
In a stunning policy change of massive proportion and enormous global and domestic impact, President George W. Bush today said the Iraq War had "nothing" to do with the attacks by terrorists on September 11, 2001.When Bush advised Congress he was ordering his pre-emptive, unilateral invasion of Iraq on March 18, 2003, Bush told Congress he was taking +óGé¼+ôthe necessary actions against international terrorists ... who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."
Furthermore, according to the Christian Science Monitor, in Bush's "prime-time press conference last week [in March 2003], which focused almost solely on Iraq, President Bush mentioned Sept. 11 eight times. He referred to Saddam Hussein many more times than that, often in the same breath with Sept. 11.
In other words, in 2003, Bush+óGé¼Gäós official reason he started his war against Iraq was due to the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Now, in 2006, Bush confesses on national television that the Iraq War was NOT related to 9/11.
Bush made his blockbuster policy change +óGé¼-ª.
+óGé¼-ó After more than 1.5 million U.S. service members deployed to war
+óGé¼-ó after more than 2,600 U.S. service members were killed
+óGé¼-ó after more than 100,000 Iraqis were killed
+óGé¼-ó after more than 185,000 U.S. war veterans were treated at VA hospitals after their return home from combat
+óGé¼-ó after untold tens of thousands of Iraqis were wounded
+óGé¼-ó after Iraq fell into a horrible bloody religious and ethnic Civil War
+óGé¼-ó after hundreds of billions (possibly up to $2 trillion) in taxpayer dollars were spent
+óGé¼-ó after the public learned there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq
+óGé¼-ó after the public learned there was no military plan to occupy Iraq
+óGé¼-ó after the public learned there was no plan to care for wounded, injured, and ill veteransLet me say this again, for all the undecided out there: Bush has said that his Iraq War fiasco is not related to 9/11 after he told Congress that was the reason he was starting his war.
That+óGé¼Gäós right, instead of going after the 9/11 terrorists, Bush created a failed state that became the world+óGé¼Gäós largest breeding ground for terrorists and where U.S. troops are caught in a vicious cross-fire among those fighting an escalating Civil War, those nationalists who want the U.S. out of Iraq, and the foreign terrorists taking shots at our soldiers.
Here+óGé¼Gäós my question: Does Bush+óGé¼Gäós confession also mean that Bush intentionally misled Congress in his March 18, 2003 letter?
In sum, all I have to say is 3 words: 1) Worst; 2) President; 3) Ever.
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not necessarily represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.
The Internet is not a truck you can just dump things on, it's a .. it's a series of tubes.
I'm still partial to Harding as the worst, although G.W. has been making a very compelling case for himself. Time will certainly tell.
Why. In. The. Hell. Are. We. There. Then? Did I miss the current mission statement, or did he even bother to elaborate on why we are still occupying the country and inflaming the instability?
Seems to me this kind of statement should be followed by the message that we are starting to Bring Our Troops Home!
We nead sanity, smarts and a real leader!! (We need Webb)
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, asked if Saddam was personally involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, replied, “I've not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that.†(09/16/2003)
National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice: “We have never claimed that Saddam Hussein had either direction or control of 9/11.†(“Nightline†09/16/2003)
Vice President Dick Cheney: “We don't know†whether Saddam was connected to the attacks, but admitted, “It's not surprising that people make that connection.â€Â
(“Meet The Press†09/14/2003)
President George W. Bush: “No, we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th.†(09/17/2003)
White House spokesman Scott McClellan: “If you're talking specifically about the September 11th attacks, we never made that claim.†(09/17/2003)
President George W. Bush: “First, just if I might correct a misperception, I don’t think we ever said – at least I know I didn’t say that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein.†(03/20/2006)
President George W. Bush: “The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.â€Â
Ken Herman (Cox News): “What did Iraq have to do with it?â€Â
President George W. Bush: “What did Iraq have to do with what?â€Â
Ken Herman (Cox News): “The attack on the World Trade Center.â€Â
President George W. Bush: “Nothing. Except it’s part of  and nobody has suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a  Iraq  the lesson of September 11th is take threats before they fully materialize, Ken. Nobody’s ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq.†(09/17/2006)
The only one that I can think of is the "Humanitarian" effort to save the Iraqi's from Saddam.
But then again, I'm sure most Iraqi's would be hard pressed to say they're better off today than they were 3+ years ago. No doubt Saddam was an evil dictator. But after three years of invasion, insurrection, and now civil war the average Iraqi was (I hate to say it) probably better off under Saddam's rule.
And I know our country was better off: 2600 of our soldiers dead, close to 10 times that wounded, 100's of billions of dollars wasted, U.S. reputation shattered, and now Iraq IS a training ground for terrorists.
Great idea, George.