General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The manufactured outrage that purports to be legitimate criticism of Hillary is pathetic [View all]stevenleser
(32,886 posts)By the time the 2003 SOTU speech came along, we had the benefit of several UN Weapons Inspector reports saying, "Hey folks, we've been on the ground for four weeks and we haven't found anything yet, then two months and we haven't found anything" and at the same time, the Bush administration was increasing the rhetoric and prepping for war.
So, yeah, you and I and everyone else were getting mighty suspicious and not believing Bush and the admin officials anymore. That is a separate issue from saying you "knew" before the inspectors were there which is when the votes for UN Sec Res 1441 and the IWR votes were made. No one outside of the Iraqi government "knew" before the weapons inspectors got there and started issuing reports. If you say you "knew" you didn't. It was a guess on a boolean proposition. Toss a penny and guess heads or tails. Are you going to pat yourself on the back for guessing right? Are you going to condemn someone else who didnt?
You have fallen victim to viewing the entire incident of the run-up to the Iraq war as a single event. It wasn't. There were many phases and we learned different things for sure at different times.