Bush would go into Iraq again (knowing what he knows today)

[sabra]

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20051212-010940-1675r

Bush would go into Iraq again

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- President Bush said in Philadelphia Sept. 11, 2001, changed his view of foreign policy and he would go into Iraq again knowing what he knows today.

"I made a tough decision. And knowing what I know today I'd make the same decision again," Bush said answering a question linking the Iraq war to the search for weapons of mass destruction 2 1/2 years ago. Bush said about 30,000 Iraqis and 2,140 U.S. troops had been killed since the start of the war.

He told the World Affairs Council Iraq was a "down payment" on Democracy in the Middle East.

transcript:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Bush_Text_2nd_Take.html

Text of Bush Speech on Iraq, part two

<snip>

QUESTION: Mr. President, I would like to know why it is that you and others in your administration keep linking 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq when no respected journalists or Middle Eastern expert confirmed that such a link existed.

....

BUSH:

....

And the second decision - which was a very difficult decision for me, by the way, and it's one that I didn't take lightly - was that Saddam Hussein was a threat. He is a declared enemy of the United States. He had used weapons of mass destruction. The entire world thought he had weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations had declared in more than 10 - I can't remember the exact number of resolutions - that disclose or disarm or face serious consequences.

I mean, there was a serious international effort to say to Saddam Hussein: `You're a threat.' And the 9/11 attacks accentuated that threat, as far as I'm concerned.

And so we gave Saddam Hussein the chance to disclose or disarm. And he refused.

And I made a tough decision. And knowing what I know today, I'd make the decision again. Removing Saddam Hussein makes this world a better place and America a safer country.

[MidwestTransplant]

1. That's probably the definition of crazy.

[cantstandbush]

40. And definite grounds for impeachment! n/t

[cantstandbush]

41. This means that he would lie even more, knowing what he knows today. n/t

[WCGreen]

2. Bat Shit Crazy. That one is.....

[ellenfl]

3. this was always planned so of course he would do the

same thing again. he wanted to take out saddam and 'democratize' iraq. he just didn't have the authority to do it . . . until 9/11 and his arm twisting of congress.

ellen fl

[stepnw1f]

4. Batshit Crazy (nt)

[speedoo]

5. So he admits he was lying. In other words, he commited treason.

It was WMD that he used as the reason for invading. He now knows there were no WMD. Therefore he was lying and this is an admission.

That's treason.

[savemefromdumbya]

7. Treason = lying to Congress

he did!

[Ilsa]

6. "Stupid is as Stupid does." This just proves he is incapable

of learning anything, especially from his mistakes.

God help us.

[AndyTiedye]

8. Which Only Proves That Iraqnam Had Nothing to do with WMDs or "Democracy"

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. I wonder whether or not anybody else would have gone along with it.

They want to make us believe that all things being equal, we would have invaded the place anyway, WMD or not. I don't believe that line of shit for a minute.

[0rganism]

10. Would he lie to us about the Iraqi threat to solidify invasion support?

That's the natural follow-up question I'd be asking.

The decision to invade was not his and his alone. He required support from congress and America-at-large for this fiasco. Even granting the talking-point possibility that he was not purposefully lying the first time around, that his misleadership on this topic was due entirely to misinformation he received and his deceipt was unknowing and unintentional, when we talk about a hypothetical instance where he "knows what he knows today" about Iraq, he would be faced with the choice of lying about the Iraq threat or trying to drum-up that support without the advantage of "mushroom cloud" boogeymen. So, which would it be?

See, I know damn well he and the other Sith lords lied like a rug about 90% of the intelligence, while Wolfowitz and Feith cherry-picked the other 10%. I think he'd have no compunction about doing it again, because that's what he did the first time, but he can't say that to the press. So how else would he justify it?

More to the point, what if the American people knew then what we (mostly) know now about Iraq? About the instability, the cost in lives and tax dollars, the insurgency, the lack of justification, the sweetheart no-bid contracts, what if we all knew beforehand? Would there have been ANY rationale he could have presented that we would have accepted?

[It was not a pretzel]

11. down fucking payment???

that wanker ain't paying that's for sure....when he's out of office he'll still get a nice rich life, going to fancy galas, mixing with his "base". Those paying are the families of the dead and the poor and disabled this war has caused. Meanwhile * gets a nice soft bed and millions to lobby for some half corrupt business when he's finished his term.

There's no justice in this world :mad:

[0rganism]

13. A luxury of the powerful, to pay their debts with the "money" of others

I say "money", only because this metaphor equates inflicting death, disease, and poverty (in addition to a considerable amount of greenback currency) with a simple cost of doing business.

Let us hope his chances of successfully founding Jeffersonian democracy in Iraq are better than his chances of finding oil in Texas.

[Bob3]

12. he's lying again

The "We gave Saddam a chance to disarm, he refused." - There were inspectors all over Iraq during the buildup to the war - they were coming close to proving that there were no WMD's in Iraq (i.e. he had disarmed) so * and his horde of madmen forced the inspectors out and well we know the rest.

[VegasWolf]

14. Of course he would! That OIL won't sell itself to US Oil Companies. nt

Asshole!

:sarcasm:

[Gregorian]

17. They still have OUR oil.

Haha. I love this place. A refuge for those who haven't bought the hype.
Here's something I made a couple of years ago.

[greenman3610]

39. that's good!

[Gregorian]

43. The more I learn, the more complex it becomes.

It's not just about oil. It's a gang of billionaires playing chess with the planet.

There's a movie called Traffic coming out. The scriptwriter was interviews on Charlie Rose tonight. The stories he had to tell were frightening. Lawyers, CIA agents, politicians, religious leaders. A big soup of troublemakers. And we're standing around trying to pick up the pieces and make sense of them.

We need a break.

[Buns_of_Fire]

15. For once, I think he's telling the truth

If it wasn't WMDs, or the Iraq-al Qaeda connection, or the Atta-Iraq connection, or anything else -- it would have been SOMETHING. Even Wolfowitz said that WMDs were chosen as the pretext because it would be the easiest sell (or words to that effect).

[Pithy Cherub]

16. Impeach the Idiot in Chief - Now!

For cryin' out loud!:yoiks:

[jbnow]

18. Will say again here

that it made me nervous to hear him say we will stand with Iraq against Iran and Syria. I should look for exact quote.

Odd, I can't find it in the test. I know he said it, I made a note of it right after he said it. It really caught my attention.

Maybe I missed it or maybe this is the rough draft but I know he said it and that I did not like it.

[sabra]

19. here:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10439226/

A fourth key challenge is for the Iraqis to maintain their newfound freedoms in a tough neighborhood. Iraq’s neighbor to the east, Iran, is actively working to undermine a free Iraq.

Iran doesn’t want democracy in Iraq to succeed because a free Iraq threatens the legitimacy of Iran’s oppressive theocracy.

Iraq’s neighbor to the west, Syria, is permitting terrorists to use that territory to cross into Iraq.

The vast majority of Iraqis do not want to live under an Iranian- style theocracy, and they don’t want Syria to allow the transit of bombers and killers into Iraq. And the United States of America will stand with the Iraqi people against the threats from these neighbors.

[jbnow]

20. Thanks!

I liked you finding it but didn't like him saying it.

[CoffeeCat]

21. Bush's comments remind me of a quote I once heard.

"Fool me once by going to war based on lies--shame on me. Fool yourself by entering into that same war AGAIN--knowing it was based on lies--then shame on you George Bush you miserable, mindless, moronic inhumane piece of scum-sucking trash."

Yeah. That was the quote.

[shance]

22. BUSH DIDN'T GO INTO IRAQ, did he? He sent kids to go in and be killed.

Neither he, nor Cheney, nor Rumsfeld have come so close as to even a service for one of the killed troops.

[fshrink]

25. Sounds like playing on words but you are perfectly right.

It is such small, surreptitious distorsions that carry the most damage. They need to be called systematically.

[karlrschneider]

23. That amounts to a tacit (or blatent) admission of culpability.

Am I missing something here? He is saying he would invade Iraq KNOWING
there were no WMD or Al Qaeda connection? He is either batshit nuts or incalculably stupid.

[Solly Mack]

24. well..duh. He knew then what he knows now. There were no WMDs

The man lied to invade Iraq - of course he would do it all over again. What? He wouldn't have lied again knowing he's a liar now?

lolol

[Lisa]

26. stupid, arrogant, or insane

Or all three at once.

p.s. by the way, I guess it's evident that * has NEVER had to fill out a self-evaluation at work ... saying that you wouldn't change a thing about your response is guaranteed to get you passed over for promotion, or a little chat with the boss about your "attitude" ... or even fired. And yet * brazenly struts around as if he ought to be rewarded for this. Wanna change places, Dubya?

[Vickers]

27. "makes this world a better place and America a safer country"

He's a fucking lunatic.

[lakeguy]

28. good! i wish he'd shut up already, pack his bags, and go!

he can take one of those secret cia flights over and start fighting in under 24 hours.

[daleo]

29. He is certifiably insane

No surprise, but this ought to be grounds for impeachment.

[0007]

30. What a worthless piece of shit!

The outcome of Iraq isn't over by a long shot. So who is this blue beard coming in and saying something as dumb as this?

[rodeodance]

31. callousness:--Iraiqi and other deaths as a 'downpayment'!!

He told the World Affairs Council Iraq was a "down payment" on Democracy in the Middle East.

[VaYallaDawg]

32. If all those deaths are "down payment" God help us when the

mortgage comes due!

[classysassy]

33. The downfall of our republic

we let Bush and his thugs steal two elections,we are just as guilty as the perps,when we sit and do nothing.GET OUT AND VOTE THOSE BASTARDS OUT OF OFFICE,then bring the Bush gang before a tribunal for crimes against humanity.

[yorkiemommie1]

34. absolute power corrupts...

absolutely.

[Thorandmjolnir]

35. I guess the next question he gets should be:

Mr. President. You have stated that you would go into Iraq again knowing what you know today. Does that mean that you would have attacked Iraq with out any legal justification, in violation of International Law?


(please remember, that the reason they had to use WMD, is because any other justification would have been a gross breach of International Law, and as such a violation of the US Constitution.

The international legal rules governing the use of force take as their starting point Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter, which prohibits any nation from using force against another. The charter allows for only two exceptions to this rule: when force is required in self-defense (Article 51) or when the Security Council authorizes the use of force to protect international peace and security (Chapter VII).

http://www.worldpress.org/specials/iraq/

[u4ic]

36. For another 'serving the troops turkey' photo op?

:eyes:

It's the other poor schmucks who WENT IN to Iraq. Let others do the dirty work and die. F**cker. :grr:

[Ouabache]

37. well it is not like his coke-addled pea-brain would ever know

anymore than the booze and drug haze he last left it in.

[President Kerry]

38. i don't know anymore if it's

amuzing, tiring, or frightening how * tops himself in madness every damn day. I don't know if there is a concept of absolute insanity, but if there is, he'll be the one to demonstrate it.

[Clara T]

42. I didn't know his candy ass was even over there

[Hyernel]

44. Of course. The real reason has never changed...

Oh-Aye-El

[Nothing Without Hope]

45. Recommended. This is an important speech and he is lying with the

very same lies he has used all along - even when a reporter asked him why he keeps linking 9/11 and Iraq. More on this and the contrast with a new London Times report that says that - contrary to Bush's rant - US and UK troops will begin to be withdrawn from iraq early next year, possibly in March:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1983014
thread title (12/13 LBN): London Times: Iraq troop pull-out to begin in months (not what Bush said!)