Why We Bought Bush's Lies - by Valerie Plame Wilson & Joe Wilson
We knew WMD intelligence was flawed, but there was a larger failure of officials, media and public to halt the neocon juggernaut.
It has been 10 long years since "Shock and Awe" - the opening bombardment of Baghdad - lit up the skies above the Tigris. A decade later, we know far more about the case the Bush administration made to the world to justify its war of choice to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Books like Hubris by David Corn and Michael Isikoff, and British commission and US Senate reports have catalogued the extent to which intelligence was misused to mislead the public.
Yet, even as the intervening period has brought profound change for the United States and its role in the world, have we learned the lessons of that disastrous period? And what were those lessons?
For nearly a year prior to the invasion, President Bush and his administration peppered the airwaves with serious accusations against Saddam Hussein, including claims of aluminum tubes that could be used in centrifuges to enrich uranium, and of Iraqi efforts to purchase uranium yellowcake from Africa. The intelligence supporting the claims was either not believed or was highly disputed by the experts. But that did not stop senior government officials from repeating them incessantly; nor did it prevent the powerful neoconservative ideologues who were the war's most fervent supporters from parroting them with menacingly jingoistic passion.
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/266-32/16285-why-we-bought-bushs-lies
Little Star
(17,055 posts)Kath1
(4,309 posts)REAL patriots as opposed to the warmongering Bush gang!
Kath1
(4,309 posts)And we were right. Bush, to his everlasting shame, wanted war. He tricked this country into it. Hopefully, it will never happen again.
asjr
(10,479 posts)There are many treacherous people that I would love to see behind bars.
Kath1
(4,309 posts)Just to name a few. Crimes against humanity. Guilty of starting an illegal and immoral war.
Arkansas Granny
(31,483 posts)They were so caught up in their fear and patriotism that they didn't care that they were being lied to.
Kath1
(4,309 posts)I had so many arguments at the time with people who couldn't/wouldn't see the truth. All of those "support the troops" yellow ribbons on the cars really pissed me off at the time. "There goes another war supporter" is what I felt. I'll never forgive the Bush gang for starting that criminal war.
chervilant
(8,267 posts)we should look at how people (suckled at the teat of mass media -- particularly visual media) were easily led to believe Bushco's lies, couched as they were in awesome digital graphics and patriotic trappings.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)After the Big Lie, the ones that follow pass through almost without notice.
This guy understood that very well, and the Bush Admin. learned from him how to start an aggressive war:
shcrane71
(1,721 posts)I'm thankful for them.
santamargarita
(3,170 posts)love_katz
(2,562 posts)but we were shouted down, accused of treason, etc.
Festivito
(13,452 posts)Our media is and remains our worst problem.