Secret Squirrel
08-24-2004, 10:32 PM
Almost a thousand American troops have died, and No WMD have been found in Iraq; but President Bush still has “no doubt” that his war was a good idea. Sometimes doubt is a good thing.
By Mick Youther
Consider these statements made by the Bush Administration:
• “Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.”-- President George W. Bush, 3/6/03
• “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.”-- **** Cheney, Speech to VFW National Convention, 8/26/02
• “We know where they [the WMDs] are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.”-- Donald Rumsfeld, ABC interview, 3/30/03
• “…every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence. ... Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent.”-- Secretary of State Colin Powell, at the UN, 2/5/03
• “The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it.”-- White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer, 12/5/02
• “I'm absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there and the evidence will be forthcoming.”-- Colin Powell, remarks to reporters, May 4, 2003
• “Saddam Hussein is not disarming. This is a fact. It cannot be denied.”-- President Bush, News conference, 3/6/03
• “We know for a fact that there are weapons there.”-- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, press briefing, 1/9/03
• “We based our decisions on good, sound intelligence, and the — our people are going to find out the truth. And the truth will say that this intelligence was good intelligence. There's no doubt in my mind.”-- President George W. Bush, 7/17/03
These statements have two things in common. First, they were presented to the American people as absolute fact. They didn’t say, “we think”, “we believe”, or “it is possible”—they presented these statements as absolute facts. The second thing they have in common is that they now appear to be absolutely false. No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, even though soldiers’ lives and millions of taxpayer dollars have been squandered searching for them.
Despite that, the Bush Administration refused to admit they were wrong. All they did was modify their mis-statements of fact. “Weapons of Mass Destruction” became “Weapons programs”, then, “Weapon Program Related Activities”, and finally, “Saddam had bad intentions”.
Even though they have been wrong about almost everything in Iraq, the Bush Administration still operates under the delusion that they are always right.
• “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”-- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British Philosopher and Essayist
• “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.”-- Voltaire, letter to Frederick II, 1767
• “Analysts and policy makers alike tend to interpret information to support their own viewpoints.”-- Dean Rusk, “As I Saw It”, 1990
• “Reality cannot be ignored except at a price; and the longer the ignorance is persisted in, the higher and the more terrible becomes the price that must be paid.”-- Aldous Huxley, “Vendanta for the Western World”, 1945
John Kerry has been called indecisive because he refuses to answer complex questions with “sound bite” sized statements; while Bush is considered bold and decisive because he has a simple-minded answer for everything. It is easy to be decisive when your decisions are preordained by the NeoCon agenda, because no thought or deliberation is unnecessary.
• “From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go. Going after Saddam was topic "A" ten days after the inauguration - eight months before Sept. 11.”-- Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, CBS’ 60 Minutes, 1/11/04
• “All too often…intelligence estimates tell us more about interests and foreign policy preferences of powerful groups in government than it does about what the other side’s intentions and capabilities are.”-- Robert Jervis, “Intelligence and Foreign Policy”, International Security, Winter 86-87
There were plenty of people expressing doubts about Iraq’s military capabilities, but the Bush Administration refused to listen. That is why America is in such a deadly mess in Iraq today.
• “This (Bush) administration cannot be trusted to govern if it cannot be counted on to think and, having thought, to have second thoughts.”-- CONSERVATIVE columnist George Will, Washington Post, 5/4/04
By Mick Youther
Consider these statements made by the Bush Administration:
• “Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.”-- President George W. Bush, 3/6/03
• “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.”-- **** Cheney, Speech to VFW National Convention, 8/26/02
• “We know where they [the WMDs] are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.”-- Donald Rumsfeld, ABC interview, 3/30/03
• “…every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence. ... Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent.”-- Secretary of State Colin Powell, at the UN, 2/5/03
• “The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it.”-- White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer, 12/5/02
• “I'm absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there and the evidence will be forthcoming.”-- Colin Powell, remarks to reporters, May 4, 2003
• “Saddam Hussein is not disarming. This is a fact. It cannot be denied.”-- President Bush, News conference, 3/6/03
• “We know for a fact that there are weapons there.”-- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, press briefing, 1/9/03
• “We based our decisions on good, sound intelligence, and the — our people are going to find out the truth. And the truth will say that this intelligence was good intelligence. There's no doubt in my mind.”-- President George W. Bush, 7/17/03
These statements have two things in common. First, they were presented to the American people as absolute fact. They didn’t say, “we think”, “we believe”, or “it is possible”—they presented these statements as absolute facts. The second thing they have in common is that they now appear to be absolutely false. No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, even though soldiers’ lives and millions of taxpayer dollars have been squandered searching for them.
Despite that, the Bush Administration refused to admit they were wrong. All they did was modify their mis-statements of fact. “Weapons of Mass Destruction” became “Weapons programs”, then, “Weapon Program Related Activities”, and finally, “Saddam had bad intentions”.
Even though they have been wrong about almost everything in Iraq, the Bush Administration still operates under the delusion that they are always right.
• “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”-- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British Philosopher and Essayist
• “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.”-- Voltaire, letter to Frederick II, 1767
• “Analysts and policy makers alike tend to interpret information to support their own viewpoints.”-- Dean Rusk, “As I Saw It”, 1990
• “Reality cannot be ignored except at a price; and the longer the ignorance is persisted in, the higher and the more terrible becomes the price that must be paid.”-- Aldous Huxley, “Vendanta for the Western World”, 1945
John Kerry has been called indecisive because he refuses to answer complex questions with “sound bite” sized statements; while Bush is considered bold and decisive because he has a simple-minded answer for everything. It is easy to be decisive when your decisions are preordained by the NeoCon agenda, because no thought or deliberation is unnecessary.
• “From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go. Going after Saddam was topic "A" ten days after the inauguration - eight months before Sept. 11.”-- Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, CBS’ 60 Minutes, 1/11/04
• “All too often…intelligence estimates tell us more about interests and foreign policy preferences of powerful groups in government than it does about what the other side’s intentions and capabilities are.”-- Robert Jervis, “Intelligence and Foreign Policy”, International Security, Winter 86-87
There were plenty of people expressing doubts about Iraq’s military capabilities, but the Bush Administration refused to listen. That is why America is in such a deadly mess in Iraq today.
• “This (Bush) administration cannot be trusted to govern if it cannot be counted on to think and, having thought, to have second thoughts.”-- CONSERVATIVE columnist George Will, Washington Post, 5/4/04