Pretty Darn Bald-Faced
July 17th, 2003
Bush, answering a few questions during a photo-op with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on July 14th, said the following:
“The larger point is, and the fundamental question is, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program? And the answer is, absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn’t let them in. And, therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power, along with other nations, so as to make sure he was not a threat to the United States and our friends and allies in the region.”Talk about science fiction… (a), Hussein apparently did not have a weapons program when we came into Iraq, as evidenced by the complete lack of evidence, which should have been uncovered long before now; (b), he did in fact let inspectors in, and although there was some lack of cooperation, the inspectors said that they were making more headway than ever before; Bush, on the other hand, chomping at the bit to invade no matter what the inspectors found (his original call for the inspectors to go in was little more than a political sham), repeatedly dismissed the inspectors’ findings and sent troops in anyway; and (c), well, everything else he said, really–“reasonable request”? “…a threat to the United States”? Hasn’t Bush been paying attention? Or does he think that most Americans haven’t?
Sadly, if the latter is the case, then Bush may be right.
Barring any amazing (and verifiable by non-U.S. authorities) discoveries in Iraq, I think it is pretty safe to say that Hussein was using the implied threat of weapons he did not have to prop up his failing regime against local enemies. Why this has never dawned on the Bush administration as a possible explanation is completely beyond me.
In more positive news, I see that the press is beginning to circulate suggestions that Cheney or Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz should be fired. I would be happy to see any and/or all of them go.