Dana Milbank writes up a nice little article about all of the question dodging, related to "the infamous 16 words" about Iraq's supposed nuclear dealings in Africa. My favorite bit is this reminder of Bush's campaign for the presidency:
"My job will be to usher in the responsibility era, a culture that will stand in stark contrast to the last few decades, which has clearly said to America: 'If it feels good, do it, and if you've got a problem blame somebody else,' " Bush often said on the campaign trail in 2000.It was basically Bush and Company running on an "I'm not Clinton" platform. The conservatives embraced it and pushed it on: "here's a life-loving hard-working (hah!) good ol' boy, here to set things right!"
["Responsibility: A Capital Minuet", Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 29 July 2003]
But, politics is politics, and Bush is a puppet of those around him. And his crack team of puppeteers is floundering. They're turning back into that type of double - even triple - talking administration that they claim to hate. Yet - people have died, and people are still dying for these lies.
I do think that the media is blowing it out of proportion. As always, they put way too much focus on the wrong thing while avoiding the bigger picture. Looking at the bigger picture would me they and their audience would have to think, and that is a terrible inconvenience to place on anybody, or so it would seem. In the months leading up to the attacks on Iraq, many voices were questioning the need for war and the evidence presented, including Colin Powell's "damning pictures" of supposedly lethal chemical weapon sites.
Now here it is, months later, and none of their stories are proving to be true, with the exception of the "Saddam Hussein is a bad man." But even if one were to go on the human rights violations, Iraq - while bad - was not the worst offender. So, with that story not holding much water on its own, what of the others? The weapons of mass destruction that the United States was positive existed - and in such great number - have still not been found. But didn't Colin Powell show pictures of them? Has no one thought of going to the sites where these pictures were targeted? Because - those weapons were there. We were so certain of it. And we were certain enough of it that we had to get the United Nations team out of there and blow shit up to look for ourselves, further convinced that having free reign of the country (more or less) and lots of extra humans on the ground, we'd find them for sure. And then there's this:
For example, the declaration fails to account for or explain Iraq's efforts to get uranium from abroad, its manufacture of specific fuel for ballistic missiles it claims not to have, and the gaps previously identified by the United Nations in Iraq's accounting for more than two tons of the raw materials needed to produce thousands of gallons of anthrax and other biological weapons.(added emphasis is mine).
[Why We Know Iraq is Lying, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Jan 23 2003]
This is why the Republican and White House spin teams have nothing when they say "it's just 16 words, they never should have been there, it wasn't really lying because we blamed the british, yada yada yada." In this statement alone, we know that someone lied. And that someone is on our side. There were many of us who didn't believe the evidence we were presented as cause for war. I never felt that we were given a justifiable reason before the war started. And now, we have proof - damning proof - of a specific instance where the evidence presented was known to be inaccurate (at best).
The larger picture is that - this whole goddamn war was predicated on lies. Nothing yet has convinced me that it was required. There are worse governments in place than Hussein's (and as bad as his was, imagine life in those other places). We have one guy jumping up and down and saying "I've got big bombs that I'm not supposed to have and I can hit you with them!" who is all but ignored while we contribute to the deaths of roughly 7,000 Iraqi civilians in order to look for a nuclear program that many knew not to be there in the first place. There are bigger hotbeds for terrorism than Iraq, including new ones popping up along the Afghani border, but little is done. There's just a lot going on. And while the troops are away, their benefits here at home are being cut. Support the troops? Why not support the troops by making it so many of their families don't have to live on food stamps!. Bill Maher said it best: "We say they're our heroes, but we pay them like chumps."
The bullshit factor of this administration is off the charts. Yet - they continue to get away with a LOT. Why is that?
Oh yeah - don't even try looking at the bullshit that is the federal budget.