Bush Defends Iraq Invasion Despite Report -13 minutes ago

[underpants]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20041007/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq_weapons

WASHINGTON - Faced with a harshly critical new report, President Bush (news - web sites) conceded Thursday that Iraq (news - web sites) did not have the stockpiles of banned weapons he had warned of before the invasion last year, but insisted that "we were right to take action" against Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).


"America is safer today with Saddam Hussein in prison," Bush said in a surprise statement to reporters as he prepared to fly to Wisconsin.


"Much of the accumulated body of our intelligence was wrong and we must find out why," Bush said.


"The Duelfer report showed that Saddam was systematically gaming the system, using the U.N. oil for food program to try to influence countries and companies in an effort to undermine sanctions," Bush said. "He was doing so with the intent of restarting his weapons program once the world looked away."

[sniffa]

1. out of touch

the man (and i use that term very, very LooseLy) is Living in his own fantasy worLd. he's pLaying the fiddLe whiLe his advisors assure him that rome is not on fire.

[underpants]

4. They are sticking with the "ends justify the means" rhetoric

Well W the end is upon us and the end result is YOU LIED. Don't blame it on the CIA or "intelligence" your guys created their own intelligence.

[sniffa]

11. the buck stops at john kerry

he was the one who created this mess.

[Kierkegaard]

15. The ends keep getting shorter and shorter though.

No ties to al Quieda: ok, he had nuke capability!

Nope, no nukes: ok, he had weapons of mass destruction!

Nope, no WMDs: ok, he was trying to get them!

Nope, didn't have the funds: well, damn it, he was thinking about it!

Yawn, did you say something?

[Streetdoc270]

26. Of all people O'Riely nailed it on TDS

Talking about Bush and how he is out of touch with reality because of the protective 'bubble' that he is in for security. He also said that Bush did not care about outsourcing because he was not affected by it. I was shocked by his replies and so was John...

[phantom power]

2. He has to defend it. He's got nothing without it.

It's why Cheney lied through his teeth on Wed, and it's why they'll both continue to lie right up to Nov 2. The second they tell the truth, they're finished, and they know it.

Hopefully, they're finished regardless.

[underpants]

9. I agree

It is too late for "I'm sorry"s.

[Catfight]

12. They should be under investigation regardless and let the judges

determine the lies from the truth. We all knew long ago Saddam was a diversion for control of the oil. The Saudi's and Bangdar Bush are in cohorts with Bush/Cheney.

[ixion]

3. so we killed thousands of innocent civillians because of

gaming the system?

This entire maladmin should be up on war crimes charges.

[underpants]

6. Apprently several sides were "gaming the system"

Huh George?

[goodboy]

5. It's no wonder why he doesn't want the US to be in the world court. nt

[Catfight]

7. No, we would be safer if Osma were in Saddam's place and then

we could have went after Saddam once we had the REAL threat in prison! Bush is STILL getting it WRONG...he just doesn't get it.

[BlueNomad]

8. Nero fiddles

as Rome burns..

How is this approach helpful to him. It just isn't. Pathetic propped up little buffoon of a puppet.

[phantom power]

14. What better alternative does he have?

If this were Texas Holdem, Bush's best hand would be, say, something even less than a pair of twos. Maybe a "six-high", or some such.

But he's also "all-in". Everything is on the line for him, and he's got no hand to play.

So, all he can do is bluff, and hope it works.

[BlueNomad]

18. I get that...

...you're right...but geez, after a while he sounds like a ridiculous moronic automaton... His handlers are not helping him...I think he's killing himself further....It's his hand for sure but shit stop showing it to me every 3 hours cause it sucks... I know what you got and I ain't buying and frankly all the undecideds I know have turned away from watching this fool repeat the same three lines in the midst of an avalanche of opposing facts and evidence......

the fantasy land stuff looks truer every time he speaks...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

19. Sooner or later Kerry will challenge him to look into the camera...

...intimidate him into speaking directly to the sons, daughters, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, brothers & sisters of the 1000+ dead and God-Knows-How-Many-Wounded, and say:

"What happened to your loved ones? Your loss? IT WAS WORTH IT."

THAT, my friends, is the bullet Mr. Bush is dodging. He talks about the world being a safer place with Saddam behind bars. Tell some fucking little kid in the Midwest that's gonna grow up without one or more parents that it was "worth it" and then you can REALLY prove you have balls (or at best that you're stone cold crazy).

If Kerry can get him in the crosshairs with that one...call him out, frigging THROW DOWN, we are good to go. Kerry is the only man in the world who can decide if he's gonna take the gloves off and whip Juniors little prep school cheeks with 'em.

:toast:

[TNOE]

10. We Must find out why? Duh.

We KNOW why dumass - its because you set up your own intelligence agency - you know - the Office of Special Plans???? And then arm-twisted to get them to say what you wanted to hear. There is NO mystery here.

You started an illegal war - have some respect for yourself and resign immediately! Before you're fired.

[killbotfactory]

13. "Head, meet ass. Ass, head."

"This looks like the beginning of a beatiful friendship!"



Bush 2004: Cause the world looks great when you keep swallowing the same shit over, and over, and over, and over...

[karlrschneider]

31. Was it Molly who said "It's one thing to have your head up your ass, but

quite another to enjoy the view"....?
LOL

[ckramer]

16. Bush is going to stick to his smoking gun, isn't he?

He's betting on the prize heavily, even he's got a wrong horse!

He knew that if he said "I was wrong about Iraq" then he'd be done.

[Supersedeas]

17. ONCE THE WORLD LOOKED AWAY--not a gathering threat until then

[chelsea0011]

20. The guy's got nothing. He is left to only tote the line.

[daleo]

21. So now wanting sanctions lifted is equivalent to an act of war?

"The vice president said he found other parts of the report "more intriguing," including the finding that Saddam's main goal was the removal of international sanctions."

It kind of makes sense, since Saddam seems to have wanted to improve the economic lot of his countrymen by getting sanctions lifted. To Bush and Cheney, improving the economic lot of your fellow citizens is criminal (unless they are rich).

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

22. Welcome to Bizarro world. Cheney

claims that the report made by 1200 people in an 18 month search vindicates the Iraqi invasion when it says the weapons all went away after '92 and Saddam's main concern was getting the sanctions lifted.


These people are either fucking nuts or believe that the U.S. population is stupider than the average freeper.

[BigBigBear]

23. Kerry can't use this

until he successfully (i.e., for the fence sitters, not us) divorces his Senate vote for authority from Bush's war.

Until he does that, he's wiping egg off his face as well. Sorry, but it's true.

(*Bear climbs into his asbestos suit)

[gavodotcom]

24. No, he can, and I'm not trying to be a dick.

Kerry, and everyone who uses Kerry's talking points on TV to defend him against criticisms such as this, has been as yet unable to condense the:

"I gave the President the authority to go to war because I felt that it was important to present a united front to Saddam so that Saddam would actually open up his WMD programs to the world. This was actually what Bush characterized the Congressional resolution as when it was presented to the Senate; a united front to get Saddam to back down--that he would face military action if he did not. But when I voted for the resolution, I said that this resolution was to be used to allow the weapons inspectors time to do their work, and build up an international coalition. Bush did not use my vote for this means, instead he broke off diplomacy and started the war,"

into a well-rehearsed sound byte.

And there's probably a very good tactical reason he hasn't' done this in the year and a half after he voted--it would be taken out of context. His sound byte could very easily be truncated, and he doesn't need another "i voted for it before i voted against it" flip-flopping charge.

If the fence-sitters don't get the Kerry explanation, then there's not a lot you can do.

Now, as for why Kerry CAN easily go after this.

All Kerry has to do is explain that he DOESN'T get the same intelligence reports that Bush does. The head of the CIA and FBI do NOT report to a Massachusetts senator, they serve the President of the United States. The PRESIDENT is the gate-keeper of intelligence information. What HE deems credible and feels he has the ability to share with Congress & the American people comes from HIS DECISION.

I have absolutely no idea why the Kerry camp doesn't explain this. It's a huge tactical mistake, in my opinion, and although I've thought about it a lot--really I have--I have no good answer for why Kerry hasn't already done this.

If he has, I've missed it, and I'd appreciate a link to his remarks.

EDIT:grammar

[BigBigBear]

25. I agree completely

All Kerry has to do is explain that he DOESN'T get the same intelligence reports that Bush does. The head of the CIA and FBI do NOT report to a Massachusetts senator, they serve the President of the United States.


Bingo, absolutely correct.

But, despite the fact that the OSP conditioned, tweaked and distorted WMD intelligence will be neutralized by the Commission report that said otherwise.

[54anickel]

27. Hellaburnin was systematically gaming the system as well. Maybe

we should look more closely at who and how else those sanctions were being undermined?

[Maeve]

28. Americans are safer...except for the 1068 killed over there

And the 7531 wounded (that the DOD admits to)...

[Catfight]

29. We'd be safer if Bush was in prison with him. n/t

[Az_lefty]

30. "America is safer today with Saddam Hussein in prison,"

Saddam was never a threat to America, you dumb ass! Kerry needs to say this to his face.

[clover]

32. clincher tonight

Harvey Wasserman
Kerry's four magic words tonight to win it all: "George Bush must resign"
October 8, 2004
John Kerry can win the debate and the election tonight by opening with the four most obvious words in global politics today: "George Bush must resign."
The confirmations that Bush lied about Saddam's non-existent ties to Al Quida, 9/11 and Weapons of Mass Destruction mean one vital thing above all: this administration can no longer conduct a credible foreign policy. Not in the next four years, four months or four days.
It's not about whether the Iraqi invasion was "worth it." Or whether the world is safer without Saddam Hussein.
It's about the inevitable next crisis. About the fact that this administration has taken the world to war on false pretenses.
And that it will never be believed again: It lied to the American people. It lied to Congress. It lied to the global community.
Next time, Bush will not be believed by any of them, no matter what the truth or urgency of the situation. The public, the Congress, the UN have all been burned, and "won't be fooled again."
So in all practical terms, Bush has nullified his ability to act on the world stage.
Therefore, he cannot conduct a credible foreign policy. He cannot protect America. He must resign.
And Kerry needs to open with just that. The debate is officially about domestic policy. But we know Bush will pepper his every blunt, narrowly structured answer with fear mongering about "global terrorists" (as if he didn't allow them to succeed on September 11, 2001).
Kerry can respond to the expected opening question on domestic policy by vowing to answer it after he takes just 60 seconds to call for Bush's resignation due to these new confirmations of the administration's dishonesty, which mean that Bush can no longer conduct a credible foreign policy.
Bush is not likely to recover.
He could respond, bluntly, that, no, it's Kerry who should resign as a candidate.
But the global headline will still be Kerry's call for Bush to go. And that Bush's monosyllabic stammerings were clearly the response of an incompetent. Of someone incapable of thinking on his feet. Of someone who can't conduct a credible foreign policy, let alone explain four years of unprecedented job loss, economic chaos and eco-catastrophe.
So, Mr. President-to-be, here's what we want to hear, right at the top of the hour: "George Bush should resign."
Four words heard round the world. Four words to take John Kerry to the Oval Office. Four words to rid our nation of a failed president whose credibility gap has rendered him impotent.