THE
BUSH/BLAIR PRESS CONFERENCE 7/18/03
by Frank
Stronczek
I watched the Bush-Blair PC, and it was distressing. Those two
guys
reaffirmed every lie they have told leading up to this war on
Iraq. The
fact that they are accorded such prestige and honor when they
speak scares
me. They tell their lies with such conviction. Bush seemed so
confident
that WMD would be found, I think they've already been planted.
He might
have slipped up there because he said "when we bring the
weapons, uh, when
we bring the information on the weapons..." Just a slip
of the tongue,
right? Everything he and Blair said was so out of context.
For starters, there is the whole "Niger-uranium" thing.
Blair reminded
everyone that Saddam had purchased uranium for a nuke program
in the '80's.
So the actual case they point to is pre-1991, before the U.N
dismantled the
nuke program. Said the Brits had other intel confirming recent
attempts
other than the forged documents, but no one has seen them, including
U.S.
My suspicion is that evidence does not exist. Interestingly,
this week's
Recorder had a story about a scientist at the IAEA. He says that
it would
have been impossible for Iraq to reconstitute its nuke program.
The parts
found buried in a garden were flawed. Additionally, he states
(as I
and others have said all along) that U.N. monitoring after sanctions
would
have made it impossible for reconstitution without detection.
To hear
George Bush tell it, Saddam would have been left alone to work
in secret
after sanctions.
Chemical and Biological? Blair and Bush assert, "Saddam
used
chemical weapons on his own people." Yes he did. (Notice
the argument:
always in the past tense). No historical context was provided.
If I may, a
brief look at the history:
1968: CIA helps establish
Ba'ath Party in coup.
1983: Donald Rumsfeld, an
envoy for Reagan Admin., goes to Baghdad on diplomatic mission.
Seeks to reestablish relations with Iraq. WMD's are not mentioned;
however, over the next few years, U.S. companies begin supplying
Iraq with seedstocks for WMD programs. U.S advisers train Iraqis
on how to deploy and target WMD's.
1987: Iraqi Exocet missile
slams into U.S.S. Stark on patrol in Persian Gulf. 32 seaman
killed. No diplomatic flap, incident termed a "mistake."
1988: Saddam gasses Kurds.
Reagan Administration blames Iran.
1989: U.S. shoots down Iranian
passenger jet, killing nearly 300 people. (Whaat?). Despite criticism
of Iraqi regime, Bush I Admin. increases aid to Iraq.
1991: Iraq invades Kuwait.
Since Saddam now threatens Western access to oil supplies, Washington
turns on its ally. Gulf War begins
.
1991-1995: Iraq under sanctions
policy. U.N. Inspection teams find and destroy Iraqi's WMD capability.
Saddam's son-in-law, Hussein Kamel, defects and tells interragators,
"There is nothing left, everything has been destroyed."
Returns to Iraq and is killed.
1996: Sanctions shame U.S.
into "oil-for-food" program. According to U.N reports,
500,000 children have fallen prey to sanctions. When asked by
Lesley Stahl on "60 minutes" whether the price is worth
it, U.S. Secretary of State Madelaine Albright says, "We
think the price is worth it." One of the more odious comments
of our time. OFFP essentially has effect of
hooking Iraqi population's survival to dictator. (Interestingly,
U.N. Adminstrators have said the Iraqi food distribution program
was efficient and the best they had ever seen.)
1998: U.N Inspections increasingly
used to spy on Saddam Hussein's security teams. Scott Ritter
is an excellent source for this time period. That the U.N. teams
were used for spying is NOT in dispute. IN Dec. 1998, U.N. Inspectors
are WITHDRAWN by U.N. Chief Richard Butler, NOT kicked out
by Saddam. How often do we have to correct that one? Clinton
bombs Iraq to divert attention from impeachment proceedings.
2000: George W. Bush appointed
President.
2001: 9/11 happens. Some in
Bush White House want instant link to Saddam. Goes after Al-Queda
instead.
Fall 2002: Bush takes Karl Rove's
advice and starts hyping Iraqi threat. Republicans capture Congress.
Winter 2002: U.S. attempts to browbeat
U.N. to support war stance. Says Saddam has chem/bio/nuke. Says
knows where they are. Tells world order to use has been given,
can be deployed in 45 minutes. Bush issues dire warning in State-of-Union
speech. On Feb 5, Colin Powell takes case to
U.N. Impressive presentation; however, factually inaccurate.
U.N refuses to endorse war.
March 2003-present: U.S. attacks Iraq. WMD's
are not used against Anglo-American troops, nor are they found
on the battlefield. U.S. search teams fail to find any WMD capability,
and eventually stop looking. (Those so-called mobile trailers:used
for weather balloons, sold to Iraq by Britain). Hey, Iraqi's
have weather, too.
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Furthermore, as people on the "left" have said, Iraq
was a hollowed-out
country. Because of the sanctions policy, Iraq was unable to
rebuild itself
after the Gulf War. That is why wreckage from the first war remained
on
roadsides. Not to mention the effect on water, power systems,
and
hospitals. In fact, it is amazing that the Iraqi's had the level
of
services they did before the war, and that they were pumping
oil for export.
How did they do that, pennies and baling wire?
To those who ask why Saddam didn't come clean on WMD's? Well,
he did.
Iraq stated many times that they had no WMD's. As far as leaving
open the
possibility he still had some, I believe that was purely for
domestic political considerations. Since the Army was demoralized,
Saddam knew the only way he could keep power was to threaten
his populace with WMD. In any case, it seems clear that Saddam
was NOT an imminent threat to the U.S.
Then there are the ties to Al-Queda. By implication, Bush/Blair
link
the two. As expected, there aren't even tenous links. Putting
aside the
differing ideologies, the Al-Queda group in Iraq resides in the
Kurd-controlled area. Which terrorists resided in Baghdad? Abu
Nidal, who was assassinated by Saddam's forces, and Abu Abbas,
a fat, 50-year old, best known for the Achille Lauro episode.
The worst thing of all is that the war is a failure. When Bush
said the war was over, he meant the attack was over. The war
has just begun. Given the situation our military now finds itself
in, this war has failed militarily. What happened was Saddam
let us in. This was the Iraqi plan all along. Almost brilliant.
Because of Bush's go-it-alone policy, we now find ourselves unable
to succor support from our nominal friends and allies.
What needs to be done is: George Bush needs to go to the U.N.
and beg them for forgiveness. He needs to get on his knees, apologize,
admit he was SO wrong to do this. Then he needs to beg them for
their help. That way our country won't be economically and morally
bankrupt.
Frank Stronczek |
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