Ted Kennedy's Speech to the Council on Foreign Relations (MUST READ)

http://www.opednews.com/kennedy030604_council_onForeign_relations.htm

excerpt:

Then came 9/11. In the months that followed, the war in Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden had obvious priority. Al Qaeda was clearly the most imminent threat to our national security. In fact, in his testimony to Congress in February 2001, one month after President Bush's inauguration and seven months before 9/11, Tenet had said: "Osama bin Laden and his global network of lieutenants and associates remain the most immediate and serious threat." That testimony emphasized the clear danger of bin Laden in light of the specific attacks in previous years on American citizens and American institutions.

In February 2002, five months after 9/11, Tenet testified: "Last year, I told you that Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network were the most immediate and serious threat this country faced. This remains true despite the progress we have made in Afghanistan and in disrupting the network elsewhere."

Even during the buildup to the war in Iraq, in February 2003, Tenet again testified, "the threat from Al Qaeda remains ... We place no limitations on our expectations on what Al Qaeda might do to survive … Al Qaeda is living in the expectation of resuming the offensive."

In his testimony last week to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Tenet repeated his earlier warnings. He said again that Al Qaeda is not defeated and that "We are still at war…This is a learning organization that remains committed to attacking the United States, its friends and allies."

Tenet never used that kind of strong language to describe the threat from Iraq. Yet despite all the clear and consistent warnings about Al Qaeda, by the summer of 2002, President Bush was ready for war with Iraq. The war in Afghanistan was no longer in the headlines or at the center of attention. Bin Laden was hard to find, the economy was in trouble, and so was the President's approval rating in the polls.

Karl Rove had tipped his hand earlier by stating that the war on terrorism could bring political benefits as well. The President's undeniable goal was to convince the American people that war was necessary – and necessary soon, because soon-to-be-acquired nuclear weapons in the hands of Saddam Hussein could easily be handed off to terrorists.

...more...

This seems to expose the mal-administration and its goals like nothing I have read before. It shows the threads and weaves them together.

but quite direct when he said that anyone who supports Bush "doesn't have a mind or a conscience."

A questioner actually asked about impeachment....Kennedy simply said that the election was the most immediate way to bring this bunch of thugs to account....

excerpt from the speech:

Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, a recently retired Air Force intelligence officer who served in the Pentagon during the buildup to the war, said: "It wasn't intelligence -- it was propaganda…they'd take a little bit of intelligence, cherry pick it, make it sound much more exciting, usually by taking it out of context, usually by juxtaposition of two pieces of information that don't belong together."

if Teddy could have tied in war profiteering or corporate greed into that speech. When he gets fired up, he can give a good speech.

at Axis of Logic- I think it should be printed and passed
to all of our neighbors mail boxes.
GREAT speech!
BHN

Sounds like something his brothers would have said!

afterward tried to put words in his mouth that would make it sound like there was a question about Bust/Cheney/Ari/Condi/Colin being liars - but he just pointed out that the facts speak for themselves.

Now will the US media once again ignore the facts so as to protect Bush?

?

:-)