The Iraq Board Game: When Bush's Brain Was On Autopilot

There was only one direction for George W. Bush to go after his inauguration in 2000:

Go Directly to WAR, Do Not Pass Go
--- But Do Collect $480 Billion

Well the shit has finally hit the fan, but will anyone react? Will anybody listen? Doesn't the word impeachment mean anything anymore? The next day or so we'll see what kind of spin the administration can put on this.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and his top policymakers misstated Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism and ignored doubts among intelligence agencies about Iraq's arms programs as they made a case for war, the Senate intelligence committee reported on Thursday.

The report shows an administration that "led the nation to war on false premises," said the committee's Democratic Chairman, Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia. Several Republicans on the committee protested its findings as a "partisan exercise."

The committee studied major speeches by Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other officials in advance of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and compared key assertions with intelligence available at the time.

Statements that Iraq had a partnership with al Qaeda were wrong and unsupported by intelligence, the report said.

It said that Bush's and Cheney's assertions that Saddam was prepared to arm terrorist groups with weapons of mass destruction for attacks on the United States contradicted available intelligence.

Back in 2004, when Richard Clark, former counterterrorism chief for both Clinton & Bush, wrote a book entitled Against All Odds - Inside America's War On Terror - few people paid attention to it. But it stated quite plainly George Bush's in tense desire to go to war with Iraq:

Later, on the evening of the 12th, I left the Video Conferencing Center and there, wandering along around the Situation Room, was the President. He looked around like he wanted something to do. He grabbed a few of us and closed the door to the conference room. "Look," he told us, "I know have a lot of work to do and all...but I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way..." I was once again take aback, incredulous, and it showed. "But, Mr. President, al Qaeda did this." "I know, I know, but...see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred..." "Absolutely, we will look ...again." I was trying to be more respectful, more responsive. "But, you know, we have looked several times for state sponsorship of al Qaeda and not found any real linkages to Iraq. Iran plays a little, as does Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, Yemen." "Look into Iraq, Saddam," the President said testily and left us. (Richard A. Clarke, Against All Enemies, p. 32)

Them United Nations knew that Bush was aching for a war. Why, after his inaugural, would they have put us on their list of "Rogue Nations?"

(From Brendan Nyan's Blog, Nov. 22, 2006)

Q What did Iraq have to do with that?

THE PRESIDENT: What did Iraq have to do with what?

Q The attack on the World Trade Center?

THE PRESIDENT: Nothing, except for it's part of -- and nobody has ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a -- the lesson of September the 11th is, take threats before they fully materialize, Ken. Nobody has ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq. I have suggested, however, that resentment and the lack of hope create the breeding grounds for terrorists who are willing to use suiciders to kill to achieve an objective

Why doesn't someone put together a pamphlet stating - point by point - all of Bush's lies about Iraq? A few pages should be able to hold a strong two dozen. Hundreds of thousands could then be dropped on Washington (no plane could ever get close enough for the White House). Paper the Mall with them. Drop millions of them in New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver (don't bother about San Francisco since it's known all of this stuff for years!). If you can't get people to read it in the paper media, maybe they will read it while it's lying in their backyards!

We can't let such obvious deceit go unpunished! Bill Clinton lied about a "Lewinsky" in the Oval Office and got more than his hand slapped. Bush, on the other hand, lies about the reasons to go to war and all he gets is a lousy approval rating! Wake up, people! Justice is not being served here. People are dying because of his "misstatements".

All right, I'll calm down.

But remember this: if just 5% of the media, congress and the congress concentrated on Bush's mistakes during the next 6 months, he would be behind bars before the next man takes his oath of office.

Just part of Bush's Dreams

How fitting that the discovery of Bush's deceit should fall on the anniversary of D-Day. The death of over 4000 troops is not nearly grandiose enough to fulfill his dreams. He once said that "No president wants war." Well, George, for the first time in your life, you'll be the one and only.

I wouldn't be proud of that if I were you, Mr. Bush.

D-Day

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FALLUJAH, IRAQ - November 11: With hands bloodied from casualties on a convoy, US Marine First Lt. Paul Webber calls coordinates for an air strike against insurgents in Fallujah on November 11, 2004. In launching the most extensive American urban combat battle in a generation, since Hue City in Vietnam, US commanders hope that seizing control of the insurgent nerve center of Fallujah before January elections in Iraq will decapitate the anti-US rebellion across the country. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

O.K.: Update - 8:15 PM PST
According to press secretary Dana Perino, Bush is standing by his old song of "we acted oon the illegence we had. It was wrong. We're sorry." and that "We now have a 'New and Improved' chain of intelligence.

Whoopee! 'New and improved' Does Bush think we've time-warped back to the fifties? Read Perino's full statements here. Not once does she face the fact that the report states that INSTEAD of faulty information, the White House IGNORED the correct information! Just as Bush ignored his Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden Set to Strike in the U.S."

What People REALLY See!

Yes, people DO see it, but so many of them are in a "river in Egypt." Let's face it folks, the American public is SLOW - some people still think that there are WMDs hidden somewhere. And they're very bad in the subject of history - grade: F. They won't hold people up to their own histories unless it suits them: George's papers as Governor of Texas are not available to the public. They are locked up in his father's Presidential Library. He would never let any of his staff testify to anything. His obtuse and extensive cronyism has resulted in exaggerating the credentials of his appointees. He has thumbed his nose at the American public too many times and has refused to be accountable for any of his actions!

O.K., I just read the above statements and recant their banality but not their truth. He will not leave a vacancy leaving office - he was a vacancy while in office.