I'm reading The Italian Letter by Peter Eisner. Guess what he identifies as the turning point

[1932]

Poll question: I'm reading The Italian Letter by Peter Eisner. Guess what he identifies as the turning point

for the the Bush administration getting their War in Iraq on?

Eisner's book traces the path the Italian Letter forgeries took from Italy through various US intelligence services and into the SOTU address, and, in the process, explains how the administration cooked the books in order to make a very flimsy case for war. Eisner says that there was one significant turning point for the Bush administration.

Think back to your own perceptions of the lies the administration was feeding the public...which moment do you think congealed just enough enough public support in Bush's favor?

The Italian Letter: How the Bush Administration Used a Fake Letter to Build the Case for War in Iraq by Peter Eisner and Knut Royce - http://www.amazon.com/Italian-Letter-Bush-Administration-Build/dp/1594865736/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-6569959-9862463?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187778260&sr=8-1

[1932]

1. Interesting results so far.

[seemslikeadream]

2. Colin Powell

It's very early, getting ready for work, not awake but that's my first impression

[1932]

4. You are the winner.

Colin was picked to do the UN speech because he was the only person in the administration with high approval ratings (and they were very high -- he was one of the most respected Americans at the time -- Powell himself joked that only Mother Theresa had a higher approval rating). People figured that if he said this stuff it was true.

So, if you're looking for someone besides Bush and the neocons who dreamed up this policy who could have been the last best change to stop the war, you might want to look to Colin. (Who, although he worked hard to get to the truth, dropped his double-sourcing rule for the lies that went into the report -- almost every word of which was debunked within a year.)

I'm not finished with the book yet, but Eisner spends a lot of time talking about the marketing of the war, including several pages on the UN speech. So far, he has maybe one sentence about the IWR vote (Republicans either didn't care about or didn't know the intelligence or they were so devoted to the whitehouse they would have done anything for Bush, and Democrats felt that if they voted against it they would lose their seats in the next election since the Bush administration had done such a tremendous job convining people lies were truth, and that the risk of getting this wrong was a nuclear attack.)

At the time i write this, the vote is 0-0-1-5-6, so most DU'ers (half) who voted, want to blame Democrats.

[seemslikeadream]

5. What do I win?

:hi:

[1932]

7. My respect.

:)

[Demit]

3. Wilson's editorial was published in July 2003, well after the invasion of Iraq.

Why would it, or the WH reaction to it, have had anything to do with building the initial case for war?

[seemslikeadream]

6. THIS IS AMERICA - Show 1032 - Peter Eisner

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5813355604574001080&q=The+Italian+Letter&total=179&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4

[Quantess]

8. I was far too busy with an active social life to care who said what.

Besides my busy social life, I only remember my vague interest in having Al Gore be the next president, and, my assumption that Al Gore would naturally prevail, and of course win, over the f'd up chickenhawk-son of-the-horrible ex-prez. I was so naive and trusting!! Back in 2000, weren't most of us naiive? I remember HW Bush's lousy presidency, and that he had low popularity ratings among average Americans, so how could his dumbass son possibly be a contender?
In 2000, it had not occurred to me that a Presidential race could be stolen.

But, as soon as that f***** somehow got put into office, I understood that the country was in trouble. I had no idea how much trouble the Bush Administration would cause (to put it mildly).

[TahitiNut]

9. I remember 2000 very clearly.

I remember starting 2000 figuring I'd not immediately condemn the son for having an asshole for a father.
I remember doing my research and finally understanding how Quayle got to be Poppy Bush's insurance policy.
I remember discovering how bat-shit crazy Smirk was.
I remember predicting that - if Smirk were somehow elected - we'd be in a shooting war in the Middle East before the end of 2001.
I remember predicting that - if Smirk were somehow elected - that war would be precipitated by some horrible event.
I remember predicting that - if Smirk were somehow elected - that war would be in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Iran.
I remember making that prediction on Usenet - in writing - in September 2000.

Naive? Not me. :shrug:

[blogslut]

10. I voted for the SOTU

But now that I think about it, the war had already been started. Duh. Of course it was Powell's speech.