BUSH CREDIBILITY GAP, Part II

White House Claims: A Pattern of Deceit

** President George Bush, March 17: "Under Resolutions 678 and 687 -- both
still in effect -- the U.S. and our allies are authorized to use force in
ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.... Last September, I went to
the U.N. General Assembly and urged the nations of the world to unite and
bring an end to this danger. On November 8th, the Security Council
unanimously passed Resolution 1441, finding Iraq in material breach of its
obligations, and vowing serious consequences if Iraq did not fully and
immediately disarm."

==> John Negroponte, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., urging support for
Resolution 1441, quoted in Los Angeles Times, November 8, 2002: "There's no
'automaticity' and this is a two-stage process, and in that regard we have
met the principal concerns that have been expressed for the resolution." He
added: "Whatever violation there is, or is judged to exist, will be dealt
with in the [Security] Council, and the Council will have an opportunity to
consider the matter before any other action is taken."
www.latimes.com...


** President Bush, March 17: "And it [Saddam Hussein's regime] has aided,
trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda."
President Bush, March 6: "He [Saddam Hussein] has trained and financed al
Qaeda-type organizations before, al Qaeda and other terrorist
organizations." According to several polls, a majority of the U.S. public
still believes that there is an Iraq link to 9-11.

==> No evidence establishing such a link has been offered. The New York
Times reported on February 9, 2003 that intelligence officials have
"pointed out that neither the Bush administration nor the British
government, which has also championed the Qaeda-Baghdad connection, has
produced direct evidence of Iraqi involvement with the terrorist network."
See also: "Allies Find No Links Between Iraq, Al Qaeda," Los Angeles Times,
November 4, 2002; "Terrorism experts doubt bin Laden, Baghdad link,"
Toronto Globe and Mail, February 6, 2003.
www.globeandmail.com...
/headdex/headdexInternational_temp/5/5/21/


** President Bush, March 17: "For more than a decade, the United States and
other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the
Iraqi regime without war."

==> Resolution 687: Once Iraq complies with the weapons inspection regime,
the economic sanctions "shall have no further force or effect." The U.S.
government reneged on this, saying that the sanctions would stay in place
regardless of compliance with weapons inspectors. May 20, 1991, President
George H. W. Bush: "At this juncture, my view is we don't want to lift
these sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power."
www.accuracy.org...


** President Bush, March 17: "Intelligence gathered by this and other
governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and
conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." State of the Union
address, January 28: "The British government has learned that Saddam
Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

==> The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed El
Baradei, March 7: "There is no indication of resumed nuclear activities."
As reported by the Washington Post (March 8), the intelligence cited by
Bush (as well as Powell before the Security Council) as proof were forged
documents and "the forgers had made relatively crude errors." The Guardian
in London reported on March 8 that "the fabrication was transparently
obvious and quickly established."
www.guardian.co.uk...


** President Bush, during the State of the Union address, January 28: "Our
intelligence sources tell us that [Hussein] has attempted to purchase
high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."

==> The Washington Post (March 8) reported that "further work by the IAEA's
team of centrifuge experts -- two Americans, two Britons and a French
citizen -- has reinforced the IAEA's conclusion that the tubes were ill
suited for [nuclear weapons production] centrifuges."
www.washingtonpost.com...


** When Iraq started destroying its Al-Samoud 2 missiles, White House
spokesperson Ari Fleischer claimed on March 3 that Saddam Hussein "denied
he had these weapons, and then he destroys things he says he never had. If
he lies about never having them, how can you trust him when he says he has
destroyed them?"

==> In fact, the Iraqi government disclosed these missiles in its December
7, 2002 declaration. In that same document, "Iraq declared that 13 of the
40 tests of the Al-Samoud 2 had gone beyond the 93-mile limit." (Associated
Press, February 19, 2003)
www.tri-cityherald.com...
52716c.html


** On many occasions, the administration cited the testimony of Iraqi
defector Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel as evidence that Iraq was still hiding
weapons of mass destruction. For example, on October 7, 2002, Bush stated:
"In 1995 ... the head of Iraq's military industries defected. It was then
that the regime was forced to admit that it had produced more than 30,000
liters of anthrax and other deadly biological agents.... This is a massive
stockpile of biological weapons that has never been accounted for."

==> According to UNSCOM/IAEA documents, the same defector had also told
U.N. inspectors that Iraq had destroyed its entire stockpile of chemical
and biological weapons and banned missiles. According to a Newsweek story
on February 24 ("The Defector's Secrets"), Kamel also told his story to the
CIA and MI6. A military aide who defected with Kamel "backed Kamel's
assertions about the destruction of WMD stocks."
www.msnbc.com...
www.fair.org...

Aw, for goodness sake, you flaming liberal, you won't be happy until NYC is in ashes, will you?

Glad to see you back!

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
Aw, for goodness sake, you flaming liberal, you won't be happy until NYC is in ashes, will you?

Glad to see you back!

It's been busy! And Tough: You don't know what it's like.....I'm fine, the people who love me, however, are emotional basket cases. They question why I have to go into NYC every single time now & it's my achilles heel....I can endure anything except seeing my family so torn up.

hey great report BT!! did you make this yourself? I dont see how people cant see the facts that this war is wrong and fake. The facts are there, it's amazing so many are so blind to see the facts.

Ummm...

Hate to be a noodge or anything BT...But isn't that avatar a wee bit outside of the allowable parameters for ATS?..