by: riverboatguy (40/M/Albuquerque, NM) 04/11/04 07:03 pm
Msg: 54328 of 54329
2 recommendations
During the run-up to the invasion of and war in Iraq, President George W. Bush appeared before the American people, in front of a joint session of the Congress of the United States of America, God, and every body else, and stated with absolute certitude that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, that he was going to use those weapons, and that he needed to be removed from power. Now, being a moderate, I agree, Hussein was a dangerous man, and the world is a much better place without Hussein living the high life in Baghdad while the Iraqi people suffered and starved. Notwithstanding the fact that NO weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, either by UN inspectors before the invasion, or US inspectors since the invasion, George W. Bush said they were there, and that was enough reason to invade and take Hussein out. In simple terms, George W. Bush claimed to the American people, in front of a joint session of the Congress of the United States of America, God, and every body else that there was enough actionable intelligence that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction to justify invading Iraq. The fact remains, however, that, unless and until those phantom weapons of mass destruction are found and displayed for the entire world to see, no one believes they were ever there.
On Saturday, 4/10/04, the White House declassified and released a Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden determined to attack inside the U.S.," and there was a huge flurry of discussion, dissection, and interpretation about what the PDB contained, what it said, and the urgency of the threats bin Laden posed to the United States. Bush says today that he had no “actionable intelligence” to take any action based on what was contained in the PDB. That’s very intriguing. There were comments in the PDB regarding terror cells already in the country, an infrastructure to support those cells, reports of suspected terrorists scoping out buildings in New York City, and suspected terrorists generally doing some pretty suspicious things: suspicious enough to warrant inclusion in a Presidential Daily Briefing for the specific purpose of informing the President of the United States.
So, let’s compare. One can reasonably conclude that, during the run up to the invasion of Iraq, the president was receiving daily PDB’s that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and we invaded Iraq to remove Hussein from power, and find those weapons. Hussein’s gone, but WMD’s have yet to be found. It’s reasonable to conclude that the daily PDB’s about Iraq’s WMD’s were incorrect regarding WMD’s; in short, as it turns out, no real actionable intelligence. Nevertheless, Bush did something. On the other hand, the PDB of August 6, 2001, had a lot to say about Osama bin Laden’s terrorist activities inside the United States, but Bush claims there was no actionable intelligence. Question: do we believe that the August 6, 2001 PDB was the ONLY PDB that discussed bin Laden’s terrorist activities inside the United States? Remember, bin Laden’s al Queda terrorists hijacked airplanes (and hijackings were discussed in the PDB) and attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 9/11.
President George W. Bush believed his PDB’s during the run up to the invasion of Iraq, but he didn’t believe his PDB’s before the 9/11 attacks? Isn’t that a scenario of selective belief based on a political agenda?
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Msg: 54328 of 54329
2 recommendations
During the run-up to the invasion of and war in Iraq, President George W. Bush appeared before the American people, in front of a joint session of the Congress of the United States of America, God, and every body else, and stated with absolute certitude that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, that he was going to use those weapons, and that he needed to be removed from power. Now, being a moderate, I agree, Hussein was a dangerous man, and the world is a much better place without Hussein living the high life in Baghdad while the Iraqi people suffered and starved. Notwithstanding the fact that NO weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, either by UN inspectors before the invasion, or US inspectors since the invasion, George W. Bush said they were there, and that was enough reason to invade and take Hussein out. In simple terms, George W. Bush claimed to the American people, in front of a joint session of the Congress of the United States of America, God, and every body else that there was enough actionable intelligence that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction to justify invading Iraq. The fact remains, however, that, unless and until those phantom weapons of mass destruction are found and displayed for the entire world to see, no one believes they were ever there.
On Saturday, 4/10/04, the White House declassified and released a Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden determined to attack inside the U.S.," and there was a huge flurry of discussion, dissection, and interpretation about what the PDB contained, what it said, and the urgency of the threats bin Laden posed to the United States. Bush says today that he had no “actionable intelligence” to take any action based on what was contained in the PDB. That’s very intriguing. There were comments in the PDB regarding terror cells already in the country, an infrastructure to support those cells, reports of suspected terrorists scoping out buildings in New York City, and suspected terrorists generally doing some pretty suspicious things: suspicious enough to warrant inclusion in a Presidential Daily Briefing for the specific purpose of informing the President of the United States.
So, let’s compare. One can reasonably conclude that, during the run up to the invasion of Iraq, the president was receiving daily PDB’s that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and we invaded Iraq to remove Hussein from power, and find those weapons. Hussein’s gone, but WMD’s have yet to be found. It’s reasonable to conclude that the daily PDB’s about Iraq’s WMD’s were incorrect regarding WMD’s; in short, as it turns out, no real actionable intelligence. Nevertheless, Bush did something. On the other hand, the PDB of August 6, 2001, had a lot to say about Osama bin Laden’s terrorist activities inside the United States, but Bush claims there was no actionable intelligence. Question: do we believe that the August 6, 2001 PDB was the ONLY PDB that discussed bin Laden’s terrorist activities inside the United States? Remember, bin Laden’s al Queda terrorists hijacked airplanes (and hijackings were discussed in the PDB) and attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 9/11.
President George W. Bush believed his PDB’s during the run up to the invasion of Iraq, but he didn’t believe his PDB’s before the 9/11 attacks? Isn’t that a scenario of selective belief based on a political agenda?
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posted by Gary at 6:08 PM
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