We see attempts by the GOP and war supporters, including some Democrats to try to rewrite history and claim that we went to war in Iraq based on faulty intelligence-- and honest, though disastrous mistake to be sure. Well review again evidence that Cheney knowingly lied about wmd. ***** Our unprecedented appeal even caught the eye of the FCM, since our Memorandum for the President reviewed some of the deceit engineered by the Vice President in concocting a rationale for war on Iraq and leading the cheerleading for it. We noted that Cheney, skilled at preemption, had stolen a march on his vacationing colleagues by launching, in a major speech on Aug. 26, 2002, a meretricious campaign to persuade Congress and the American people that Iraq was about to acquire nuclear weapons. That campaign mushroomed, literally, in early October, with Bush and senior advisers raising the specter of a “mushroom cloud” threatening our cities. On the inside of the synthetic clouds one could almost read the label — “manufactured out of thin air in the Office of the Vice President.” In his memoir, the pitiable former CIA Director George Tenet complains that Cheney’s assertion that Iraq would acquire nuclear weapons “fairly soon” did not square with the intelligence community’s assessment. Tenet adds, “I was surprised when I read about Cheney’s assertion that, ‘Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.’” Tenet whines that the Vice President did not send him a copy of the speech for clearance. But the malleable CIA director quickly got over it, and told CIA analysts to compose the kind of National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that would provide ex post facto support for Cheney’s bogus assertions. Just what Cheney (and Bush) ordered. ... In fact Cheney, as well as Tenet, knew very well that Cheney’s assertions were lies. How? Saddam’s son-in-law, Hussein Kamel, whom Saddam had put in charge of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, as well as missile development, told the United States when he defected in mid-1995 that all (that’s right, all) such weapons had been destroyed at his order by the summer of 1991. And in mid-2002, the Iraqi foreign minister, whom CIA operatives had recruited and persuaded to remain in place, was telling us the same thing. Unwelcome Intelligence When they briefed the President and his senior advisers on this, CIA operations officers were astonished to learn first-hand that this intelligence was unwelcome. These officers, who had used every trick in the book to “turn” the foreign minister and get him working for us, were told that further reporting from this source was not needed: “This isn’t about intel anymore. This is about regime change,” they were told. Tenet was hardly astonished at reports of the non-existence of WMD. From documentary evidence in the Downing Street Minutes we know that Tenet on July 20, 2002, told the chief of British intelligence that the intelligence was being “fixed” around the policy. And former UN inspectors like Scott Ritter could verify that some 90 percent of the WMD Iraq earlier possessed had been destroyed — some during the Gulf War in 1991, but most as a result of the inspections conducted by the UN. The reporting from Hussein Kamel and the Iraqi foreign minister, sources with excellent access, was suppressed in favor of “evidence” — from forgeries, for example, like the infamous Iraq-Niger yellowcake report. When finally U.S. officials were forced to concede that the Iraq-Niger information was based on a forgery, lawmakers like Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, protested loudly — but too late. Three days before President Bush let slip the dogs of war, NBC’s Tim Russert braced Cheney with the assertion by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Saddam Hussein did not have a nuclear weapons program. Cheney strongly disagreed and claimed support for his view from the CIA and other parts of the intelligence community. He even ratcheted up his bogus assessment of Iraq’s nuclear capability: “We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.” by Ray McGovern was an Army officer and CIA analyst for almost 30 year. He now serves on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. http://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2009/07/15/cheney-sweats-out-the-summer/
Why are you STILL talking about Bush and Cheney? Let it go. It's over and they are never going to be President or Vice President again.
They started an unjust war which killed a lot of innocent people. Normally people who cause the death of people get punishment for that. I do not care that they will never be president again, I care that they are the reason many innocent people died.
are you saying if a drunk driver killed someone we should just let it go as long as they never get their driver's license back?
I could (grudgingly) accept this if Cheney would go away. But as long as he continues to insert himself in the debate, then the questions must continue to be asked.
And that suddenly makes it right what happened in Iraq? Why do people always use past events as excuses? The problem with many people here is that they only look at what democrates or republicans do. I do not care for American politics, i do nto care if a Republican or democrate is in office, I care about how they treat the rest of the world, and that they do not kill innocent people. I really do not understand why people do not seem to care that innocent people died. Do they not care since they are not Americans/christians? It is not some game which democrats or republicans can win, it is real life and people are dying.
I assume you'll never talk about the econ stim plan ever again either, since, you know, that's in the past too.
If you let it go, then 8 years from now, another great crusader might start another war. I would if I were they, since there are no consequences. Only I would do it under the name of the virgin mary of Guadalupe to have support from latin america and half the U.S. Oh and I would choose a worthy opponent to pick on and invade, like the elite army of switzerland. The world is upside down when a criminal like Ollie gets to host his own show, and people like cheney/rumsfeld are allowed to roam free! These guys should have be doing hard time before operation: the sequel began.
Kind of like how H. Clinton should be doing time for Whitewater, but somehow the main witness was found dead in central park. But at least she was disbarred so I guess that makes it ok?
Well our brave troops are still dying in Iraq and suffering the silent horror of their wounds here at home. Never again! It is important to contemplate how a majority of this great nation were duped into supporting that war so we are never duped again. This will help us "have a nice day".
Likewise we should keep the truth about how we were lied to about the Gulf of Tonkin and what was going on there. The fact that the revisionists of the neocons and others rewrote the book was main of the reason why we got fooled again into the Iraq War.
No not at all son, but be careful the crew of UN black helicopters might tap your brain waves through a satellite from outer space.
It, along with the rest of the Clinton administration, was investigated ad nauseum through countless public and private investigations, congressional hearings, etc. Cheney/Bush on the other hand has not been held to the same standard. If they did not partake in any wrongdoing, then and investigation will result in their names being (somewhat) cleared along with their legacies.
