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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGeorge W. Bush: The Gift That Keeps On Giving
US Army soldiers take samples from items found
in a weapons cache, Baqubah, Iraq, January 3, 2009.
(Photo: The US Army)
George W. Bush: The Gift That Keeps On Giving
By William Rivers Pitt
Truthout | Op-Ed
Saturday 18 October 2014
Thirteen years ago, after the Towers came down but before the war started, I wrote a book that claimed there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and therefore there was no reason to go to war there. That book has stood the test of time, but as it turns out, there were WMD in that shattered, battered and bombed-out nation...just not in the way it was explained to us.
On Tuesday, The New York Times published a thunderclap of an article titled "The Secret Casualties of Iraq's Abandoned Chemical Weapons." The gist of it, in short, is that Iraq was littered with thousands of chemical munitions the US and other countries had sold them before 1991. US troops were tasked to police them up and destroy them, a process that injured many of them in ways they still endure today, but because the Bush administration wanted to keep these munitions secret, the troops who happened to scoop up a leaking mustard gas shell and woke up the following day covered in boils and unable to breathe never received proper medical treatment.
But wait, hold the phone: Wasn't the whole point of the exercise about the presence of WMD in Iraq? If US troops found thousands of chemical shells, which they dealt with at their peril, why didn't the Bush administration bellow the fact to the heavens?
Ask Karl Rove:
Starting in 2004, some members of the George W. Bush administration and Republican lawmakers began to find evidence of discarded chemical weapons in Iraq. But when the information was brought up with the White House, senior adviser Karl Rove told them to "let these sleeping dogs lie."
The issue of Iraq's WMD remnants was suddenly thrust back into the fore this week, with a blockbuster New York Times report accusing the Bush administration of covering up American troops' chemically induced wounds.
To people familiar with the issue, both inside that administration and outside, the blame for the coverup falls on one particular set of shoulders: Rove's.
Some very stupid people heralded the Times' article as vindication of their long-embraced belief that Iraq actually did have WMD, and therefore George W. Bush's calamitous war was justified. There are several problems with this premise: 1. One actually has to read the article, which is long and full of words, several of which explain that the chemical munitions discovered were from 1991 or before, and were utterly useless as designed when found during the war; 2. None of it was worth fighting a decade-long war over; 3. The Bush administration didn't announce the existence of these decrepit munitions to the world because the US sold them to Iraq during the last Bush administration, and because pretending they weren't there meant the VA could blow off the affected soldiers.
The rhetoric, circa March 2003: Iraq was in possession of 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX gas, mobile biological weapons labs, and uranium from Niger for use in a "robust" nuclear weapons programs.
The rhetoric in this brave new year of 2014: THE NEW YORK TIMES SAID THERE WERE A BUNCH OF SHELLS IN IRAQ FROM BEFORE 1991 THAT GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH SOLD TO SADDAM HUSSEIN WHICH GEORGE W. BUSH USED AS AN EXCUSE TO PLUNDER THE TREASURY AND SINK US INTO PERMANENT WAR IN THE MIDEAST AND WIN SOME ELECTIONS WHICH MEANS WE WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG YOU GUYS.
Fail.
(snip)
I have said this many times before, and will have to say it many times again until either these people are in jail or I am wrapped in my shroud: The single greatest strength of the American right is their utter and complete lack of shame. They will say anything - literally anything - if it moves the political ball even a few inches down the field.
P.S. The region of Iraq where the majority of these pre-1991 US-made chemical munitions can still be found is currently under the control of ISIS.
Thanks, George. You're the gift that keeps on giving.
The rest: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/26898-george-w-bush-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)and they control the media so that will probably be the version that gets written in the public psyche.
JEFF9K
(1,935 posts)That should never have been considered a valid reason to invade Iraq.
I seem to remember Michael Moore on a TV show saying that we know Iraq has these weapons because "we sold the weapons to them!"
lastlib
(23,239 posts)...that Iraq had WMDs was that "his daddy still had the receipts."
Martin Eden
(12,869 posts)The discarded relics they found couldn't be used as such anymore.
The most alarming claims of the Bush administration asserted Iraq was actively producing chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons that posed a "grave and gathering threat" to the United States.
It wasn't true then, and it isn't true now.
7962
(11,841 posts)to which I always ask, "Then why didnt we attack Syria?". Since the war was to stop proliferation of chemical weapons, we should have gone after them wherever they ended up. Right? And I never get a good answer.
Martin Eden
(12,869 posts)If WMD were so precious to Saddam that he would he would risk war with the United States, why would he give them away to Syria?
Ultimately, it is nearly impossible to reason with "some" on the right. Belief and ideology trump facts and logic. They swallow the propaganda dished out to them and regurgitate it to any who will listen.
7962
(11,841 posts)But theres always a couple out there...
postulater
(5,075 posts)A Repub? Read?
AwakeAtLast
(14,130 posts)AwakeAtLast
(14,130 posts)Oh yes, I know that Iraqi families have had it much worse that I have. That does not mean that my family has not had our share of sorrow. We still deal daily with the aftermath of my husband's deployment in 2005. He was in the hot spots of that time (Ramadi, Fallujah). We are left to basically fend for ourselves without any support because "the war is over". Veteran's spouses are the last on the list.
Now we see reminders that maybe his time over there was useless - that helps.
The fact that we still have to see W's smirking face makes me feel physically sick.
BFEE - There's never been a more appropriate acronym.
Turbineguy
(37,337 posts)is wishful thinking. It will take generations.
fasttense
(17,301 posts)The Supremes voted the fool in as president. The average American voted for Gore no matter how you count the ballots.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)blm
(113,063 posts)BushInc did NOT want those books re-opened.
Iraqgate was also part of the extended web of illegal covert Bush operations along with IranContra, BCCI and CIA drug running.
The Blue Flower
(5,442 posts)"We know they have WMDs because we've got the receipts."
navarth
(5,927 posts)blm
(113,063 posts)He also expected that Bush and Cheney would PLANT actual WMDs if they felt they needed to - like if Rove's election team couldn't find a way to steal Ohio's electoral votes. Rove came through for them.
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)He was doing a segment on Iraq's weapons on Nightline. For the conspiracy minded, no, he wasn't arguing Saddam had them.
47of74
(18,470 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)in prison?
Hoppy
(3,595 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)spanone
(135,841 posts)colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)Installed by the Supremes in 2000 in an election where it's a fact he lost the popular vote, and I am pretty convinced 2004 was flipped in the early evening.
All that said I find it astonishing that 40 million plus people voted for this verbally challenged dry drunk guy. As such I'm convinced many on the right would vote for an eggplant if it had an (r) beside it.
adirondacker
(2,921 posts)uponit7771
(90,346 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Some empty, many rusty, corroded, leaking. And none of these had anything to do with the NEW WMDs Bush claimed Saddam was producing from newly RESTARTED WMD programs. All of the old, deteriorating munitions were known to UN inspectors and the U.S. government long before Bush launched his war.
xocet
(3,871 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)malaise
(269,022 posts)for truth
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)Well unlike you
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5670795
REASON FOR ALERT
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.
YOUR COMMENTS
Troll. Saddam had WMD? Really? Seriously?
JURY RESULTS
A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Wed Oct 15, 2014, 05:03 PM, and voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT ALONE.
Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I don't see where this post is rude, hurtful, disruptive, etc. The poster is FOS, so prove him wrong.
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Agree with the alert, that little gem of bullshit gets hidden.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Poster is expressing an opinion. Not remotely a hide. Saddam gassed thousands of Kurds. I think that qualifies as WMD.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Agree with alerter on everything except that the post itself is hideable. Doesn't meet the standard. That said, this dude is probably trollin' like a boss.
Thank you.
7962
(11,841 posts)Cant believe the thin skin of some folks here.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)It has nothing to do with a thin skin.
7962
(11,841 posts)The person said nothing that was rude or offensive or insulting or over-the-top. Just because its a goofy opinion doesnt warrant a hide. Show the poster how the opinion is not accurate; end of problem.
WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)I'm the troll? For posting an article that reiterated an exhaustively-researched NYT article? That said the chemical shells found in Iraq were from before 1991 and in no way supported Bush's WMD claims? But did hurt soldiers? And that hurt was covered up? By the Bush administration?
Do people fucking read any more? Please, someone, explain it to me.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)About the original NYT article. It's not an alert on you. You need to click through.
The poster argued that Bush was apperently right., because the NYT article. When pointed out that, 'no,' poster continued to argue that point.
One juror stated that the poster was right because Saddam had gassed the Kurds, which is not what ANYONE was talking about.
So, yeah, you are correct, severe reading comprehension problem, with not only the poster, but the jury, too, which was my point in posting this.
Apparently, we have to prove all over again (and again) here on Democratic Underground that Bush lied us into Iraq.
WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)I was lost in a universe of WTF.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)Despite all those years the great posters here on DU spent recognizing that Bush was lying about the WMD claims and manipulating the public and world, BEFORE the war started, spent debunking all the claims and researching the facts and tearing apart the propaganda, spent verifying absolutely that all the claims and rhetoric and fear-mongering were just so much oil-industry and neo-con shock doctrine codswallop, despite us being proven right beyond a shadow of a doubt that all the devastation and horror was based on LIES, it's now just a matter of OPINION here on DU that Bush was right!
The revisionism so craved by Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld and Cheney and Rice and Rove doesn't even need much help from them. We are happy to do it for them with only necessary a little time passed.
Efilroft Sul
(3,579 posts)There were indeed WMDs in Iraq, but Bush decided to spend political capital and take hits to his reputation and be called a liar, because if he showed where these weapons were, they would have fallen into the wrong hands.
Some people just cannot be saved.
whereisjustice
(2,941 posts)As an envoy from President Reagan 19 years ago, he had a secret meeting with the Iraqi dictator and arranged enormous military assistance for his war with Iran.
The CIA had already warned that Iraq was using chemical weapons almost daily. But Mr Rumsfeld, at the time a successful executive in the pharmaceutical industry, still made it possible for Saddam to buy supplies from American firms.
They included viruses such as anthrax and bubonic plague, according to the Washington Post.
The extraordinary details have come to light because thousands of State Department documents dealing with the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war have just been declassified and released under the Freedom of Information Act.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-153210/Rumsfeld-helped-Iraq-chemical-weapons.html
ReRe
(10,597 posts)That is exactly what ran through my mind when I read that NYTimes article. Just like all the depleted uranium that we left in the ground, on top of the ground, and in the air all over Iraq from GWB's invasion, there was the old mustard gas shells that we sold Saddam back in what, the 80s? And the reason Rove didn't want that info to come out was because of that photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand back in the 80s, and of course because we had sold him those shells way back when.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Bush-Cheney 9/11 Interview Won't Be Formally Recorded
By ELISABETH BUMILLER and PHILIP SHENON Published: April 28, 2004
WASHINGTON, April 27 The White House said on Tuesday that there would be no recording or formal transcription of the historic joint interview of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney by the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The interview, to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday at the White House, will be recorded by two note takers, one from the White House. Under a pact with the White House that allowed all its 10 members in the interview, the commission is permitted to take a note taker, but not a recording device. The panel said it did not press for a formal transcription of the session, letting the White House decide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/28/politics/28BUSH.html
Watch how uncomfortable he gets. I don't know why this isn't brought up more often. Its just mind boggling that
1. he didn't want to be under oath and
2. didn't want to do it individually
So the biggest attack on the US in history happens and not only do Bush and Cheney not want an investigation they won't even testify under oath.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)The fact that Bush and Cheney didn't have to testify separately, or under oath, didn't even raise an eyebrow with the American people.
The American people wanted to believe. And they didn't want to believe our own government would intentionally allow such an atrocity as 911 to happen.
But they did allow it to happen. They even fostered and nurtured the 911 operation along the way.
Those two should have been executed for treason. This treason rivaled the assassination of JFK as worst acts of US treason in history.
eppur_se_muova
(36,263 posts)should be 'grift'.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Well it does.
This whole fucking Iraq WMD911 false flag operation needs to be revisited and discussed until we are blue in the face.