“Had we gone into Baghdad — We could have done it. You guys could have done it. You could have been there in 48 hours. And then what? Which sergeant, which private, whose life would be at stake in perhaps a fruitless hunt in an urban guerilla war to find the most-secure dictator in the world? Whose life would be on my hands as the commander-in-chief because I, unilaterally, went beyond the international law, went beyond the stated mission, and said we’re going to show our macho? We’re going into Baghdad. We’re going to be an occupying power — America in an Arab land — with no allies at our side. It would have been disastrous.”
– George H. W. Bush, Feb. 28, 1999, Fort Myer Army base. Quoted p. 11, “State of Denial,” by Bob Woodward.
“Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq…would have incurred incalculable human and political costs,”
“Furthermore, we had been self‑consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post‑Cold War world,” he continued. “Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations’ mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land.”
George H. W. Bush from his 1998 book, “A World Transformed”
On a lighter note, I read a marketing site on occasion, they have some pretty good ideas, and I’m always looking for those running my own business and all.
They are running a contest, and giving away an IPod touch….so if you’re a blogger reading this blog go check it out!
Finally someone is standing up to Halliburton/KBR. Vanity Fair is running a piece titled “The People vs the Profiteers”. It is a truly mind opening, and brings to light not only the HUGE overruns and fraud connected with the subcontracting of the war, but the DOJ’s efforts to NOT investigate potential fraud.
Between Halliburton, KBR and the slew of other contractors the American taxpayer is being raped by no-bid, cost-plus contracts, billions upon billions of dollars are going straight from our paychecks into the coffers of the multi-nationals.
You can say all you want about the connections between Cheney and Halliburton, KBR and Gonzales, and many others in the administration. The facts speak for themselves.
Apparently a Spanish official has released a transcript of a private talk between Dubya and Jose Maria Aznar of Spain in early 2003.
The gist of the conversation is that Dubya is going to invade regardless of what the world thinks, and is dead set on the “fact” that Saddam is an immediate threat to the US.
He also believed that the takeover would happen without widespread destruction.
Even with the Spanish prime minister pleading for patience and for letting diplomacy handle Iraq, the decider would not accept any else’s advice.
There is a crude Google translation of the transcript in the article
Mr. Bush spoke to deadening silence at the UN yesterday, calling for action in every corner of the world. It is the opinion of Mr. Bush that the UN itself needs to
Every civilized nation also has a responsibility to stand up for the people suffering under dictatorship,� the president said. “In Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Iran, brutal regimes deny their people the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration� of the United Nations.
He forgot Myanmar (Burma). So now we call on the UN to remove everyone that disagrees with us. Can he please just shut up, I really doubt calling for the international overthrow of every dictator in the world is really going to help our cause. Remember the last time we asked for that kind of help, we’re still there, almost alone.
Now I know this is unrelated but Mike McConnell told the Senate Judiciary Committee today that Al-Qaeda can use the European visa waiver to sneak people into the US undetected. If there is another attack I pity whatever country has nothing to do with it, because they are going to be in trouble.
So everyone and their dog is ranting about Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York, so why should I be different.
Why is this causing so much friction. I know about the supposed links between Iran and the Iraq insurgency, I know about them developing nuclear technology, and I know how evil they are supposed to be.
My big thing is that we are being told all this by the same administration and media outlets that told us about how evil Iraq was, how they were developing nuclear technology and their link to Al-Qaeda.
Shouldn’t we embrace something like this, the opportunity for America to show their strength and tolerance? For America to listen to the view of someone we are being told is our enemy?
Robert McNamara wrote “In Retrospect” (basis for the movie Fog of War) and I think these 4 of his 11 points have a lot to say about this situation:
1. We misjudged then — and we have since — the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries . . . and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions.
2. We viewed the people and leaders of South Vietnam in terms of our own experience. . . . We totally misjudged the political forces within the country.
3. We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values.
4. Our judgments of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.
In my view we should listen to Mr. Ahmadinejad as we can only stand to better understand the man, the culture and the society he presides over.
Here is a clip of Garofalo bringing up some good points on Real-Time with Bill Maher. Rants on Blackwater, Iraq, Bush, Halliburtan, etc. Even Salmon Rushdie (of Satanic Verses Fame) chimes in. Why doen’t we hear more people speaking like this in the mainstream media?
Loading ...
RSS
