A political war and bribery? Heady stuff. _________________ AP: Kennedy Says Iraq War Case a 'Fraud' Thu Sep 18, 6:31 PM ET Add Politics - AP to My Yahoo! By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press Writer BOSTON - The case for going to war against Iraq (news - web sites) was a fraud "made up in Texas" to give Republicans a political boost, Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) said Thursday. In an interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy also said the Bush administration has failed to account for nearly half of the $4 billion the war is costing each month. He said he believes much of the unaccounted-for money is being used to bribe foreign leaders to send in troops. He called the Bush administration's current Iraq policy "adrift." The White House declined to comment Thursday. The Massachusetts Democrat also expressed doubts about how serious a threat Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) posed to the United States in its battle against terrorism. He said administration officials relied on "distortion, misrepresentation, a selection of intelligence" to justify their case for war. "There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas, announced in January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was going to be good politically. This whole thing was a fraud," Kennedy said. Kennedy said a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office (news - web sites) showed that only about $2.5 billion of the $4 billion being spent monthly on the war can be accounted for by the Bush administration. "My belief is this money is being shuffled all around to these political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops," he said. Of the $87 billion in new money requested by President Bush (news - web sites) for the war, Kennedy said the administration should be required to report back to the Congress to account for the spending. "We want to support our troops because they didn't make the decision to go there ... but I don't think it should be open-ended. We ought to have a benchmark where the administration has to come back and give us a report," he added. Kennedy said the focus on Iraq has drawn the nation's attention away from more direct threats, including al-Qaida, instability in Afghanistan (news - web sites) or the nuclear ambitions of North Korea (news - web sites). "I think all of those pose a threat to the security of the people of Massachusetts much more than the threat from Iraq," Kennedy said. "Terror has been put on the sidelines for the last 12 months." Kennedy was one of 23 senators who voted last October against authorizing Bush to use military force to disarm Iraq. Earlier this year, he supported a Democratic amendment that would have delayed most of the president's proposed tax cuts, and most spending increases, until the administration provided cost estimates for the Iraq war. The amendment failed.
This topic garnered zero responses the first time around, so *another* llwf poster has to put it up? The thread so bad it got thrown up twice... http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64668
Must be some combination of T_J's and your favorite words lunatic, left wing, liberal and/or fringe. But I cannot really put it together.
Lunatic Left Wing Fringe. It's quite an honor to be included in this bunch. Man I can't slip anything past SJC (Sir Jackie Chiles).
I did read the sticky. It's not that insulting. In fact I think many on the board enjoy the label. Jeff's referring to some of the more personal attacks. This is not one of those. It's good natured.
I suppose. but you can do better. I wouldn't call you a LRWF, not out of courtesy so much as because it's lame and not all that clever and would likely not llead to good ends.
Why individuals choose to respond to name calling nonsense and let an important thread discussion be derailed time and time again is ridiculous. Ignore the name-calling and focus on what Kennedy has said and what it means, one of the most respected and powerful senators in the US has called the entire war effort a fraud. If he is right this is the biggest political scandal in American history. Kennedy is the first major politician to step forward and voice what many of us have felt for quite a long time now. Please focus on the issues and not the foolish put downs those who have nothing to add to the conversation post.
Powerful.....respected? Those are not words I would use to describe Ted Kennedy, but I'll spare you from my opinions on him. He's just making political hay, nothing more. His allegations are no different than the various (and baseless) GWB conspiracy theories hurled around this forum like buckshot from a 12 gauge. NY Times runs some b.s. "analysis" piece and you people jump up and down like organ grinder monkeys frothing with excitement. "We've got him this time!" you all say about GWB. "He's nailed." And it always turns out to be rubbish. It's just amazing that this "powerful" and "respected" senator would actually try to make an issue out of nonsensical tripe.
Nonsensical tripe? Really? Ted Kennedy stood up and declared what is evident: There has been misinformation given to the American public and that bad information took us to war. The administration has not accounted for all of the money being spent in this police action, occupation, whatever you want to call it now. The administration has not agreed to give a full accounting for the $87 billion they asked for a week ago. I am not saying that the administration IS bribing countries to join our side, we would never do that . The point is that Kennedy is asking for someone other than Arthur Anderson to go over the books for this war. Republicans are supposed to be the ones who count every bean and squeeze every penny, but in this case, they are spending it left and right and not giving anyone any idea where it is going. WHERE THE HE11 ARE THE FISCAL CONSERVATIVES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD?
Your "opinions" while interesting do not do anything to discredit Kennedy's statement. Kennedy is making direct accusations backed by missing money, distorted intelligence, no proof of any Iraqi threat, etc. This administration will eventually have to address these and other major policy blunders. Simple casting off Kennedy's as a conspiracy theorist is a very easy way out, which allows you to escape the difficult task of explaining away any of Kennedy's claims. Instead of calling those who disagree with you "monkeys" why don't you do some work and refute his claims with actual tangible evidence that backs your stance. No claims so far that have been made against Bush's actions have gone away, they simple continue to build and increase the American public's unease with the administrations policy decisions.
