Why Are We In Iraq?

January 7, 2005
By John R. Cobarruvias

The Bush Administration has all but admitted the justification for war in Iraq was based on inaccurate intelligence, yet not one elected official or media outlet has called for an investigation into why this information was provided to the President and Congress, or who provided it.

Over 1300 soldiers and nearly 100,000 Iraqis including women and children have been killed. Thousands of soldiers have been injured, many requiring care for the rest of their lives, and yet no one calls for an investigation on why they have sacrificed.

In this New Year, it is time to call for the resignations of those responsible for sending America to war.

It is conceivable the intelligence community could have been incorrect on one or two allegations against Iraq, but this was not the case. Every single allegation has been found to be false and every justification made by the President to the American people was based upon this false data.

Not one single weapon of mass destruction or one vial of anthrax, sarin, or any biological or chemical weapons have been found. Colin Powell's mobile biological weapons labs were helium trucks for balloons used for artillery drills.

The "yellow cake" enriched uranium was based on a forged document any intelligence rookie could have uncovered. The aluminum tubes for uranium production were clearly marked "rocket" just as they were designed for.

The remote controlled aircraft for aerial dispersion of chemical or biological weapons were for surveillance, held together by duct tape. There were no nuclear weapons, weapons labs, programs, or plans to build one.

There were no ties to Al Queda. No ties between Iraq and 9/11. There was nothing.

The justifications for going to war provided to the American people have been proven to be false and yet instead of calling for an investigation on the second complete failure of our intelligence community, (9/11 being the first) the CIA Director George Tenet received a civilian medal of honor and Donald Rumsfeld receives praise for a job well done.

Many of our soldiers who have fought in Iraq because of this complete collapse of our intelligence community have received their own medals in the form of purple hearts and flag-draped coffins, and yet Americans are silent.

Instead of raising their voices Americans sheepishly cling to their patriotic catchphrases "Support our troops" and "Freedom isn't free." They decorate their cars with magnetic ribbons, fly American flags, and wear flag pins.

While America spends $200 Billion on this war, our soldiers are being maimed and killed, and our foreign policy has become an international joke, Americans are silent on why we are in Iraq.

Why are we in Iraq? Did Donald Rumsfeld promise the President he would find WMD to justify the war if the President would just give the order to attack? Did Tenet deliberately provide false information to Colin Powell, while silently sitting behind him during his presentation to the United Nations? Did Vice President, Dick Cheney, who still believes there were ties between Iraq and 911, coerce the Intelligence Community to provide false data to Congress?

America will be in Iraq for many years, lose more family members, and provide rehab services for many more soldiers. We owe it to the soldiers, their families, and to the citizens of Iraq to demand an independent investigation into the horrible failure of the intelligence community that lead to the war in Iraq.

In 2000 President Bush ushered in the "Era of Responsibility." Americans should demand accountability by calling for the heads of those responsible for sending us to war.