Bush’s speech didn’t seem to help him much, his approval rating stands at 43% currently. And one percentage point away at 42% are the folks that think he should be impeached if it’s proven that he lied to get us into that ridiculous and horrible war. It seems the Downing Street Memo is having an impact after all despite attempts to downplay and dismiss the story.
I offer two views for your perusal: one from the left, and the other from the other.
Isn’t that less than those who voted for Kerry?
All war is ridiculous and horrible, not just the one currently in Iraq.
But some, regrettably, are necessary. Unlike this one.
No war is necessary, ever. War is a human invention, and always takes people further from God. I believe that the message of Jesus is contrary to killing each other. I do not believe that any Christian should ever fight in war.
Neither did George Fox:
I think impeachments and elections are entirely different matters. But I can guarantee that if the story of the Downing Street Memo and Bush’s lies ever gets the attention it deserves – the number of people favoring impeachment will increase dramatically.
Are these the lies of the Bush Administration? If so, try quoting the actual lie, or lies, instead of using the word lies. I think it will have more of an impact.
“The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” – President Bush, Jan.28, 2003, in the State of the Union address.
“We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.” – Vice President Cheney on March 16, 2003 on “Meet the Press.”
“[The CIA possesses] solid reporting of senior-level contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda going back a decade.” – CIA Director George Tenet in a written statement released Oct. 7, 2002 and echoed in that evening’s speech by President Bush.
“We’ve learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases … Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints.” – President Bush, Oct. 7.
“We have also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We are concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] for missions targeting the United States.” – President Bush, Oct. 7.
“We have seen intelligence over many months that they have chemical and biological weapons, and that they have dispersed them and that they’re weaponized and that, in one case at least, the command and control arrangements have been established.” – President Bush, Feb. 8, 2003, in a national radio address.
“Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets.” – Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5 2003, in remarks to the UN Security Council.
“We know where [Iraq’s WMD] are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.” – Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003, in statements to the press.
“Yes, we found a biological laboratory in Iraq which the UN prohibited.” – President Bush in remarks in Poland, published internationally June 1, 2003.
Cool:)
Wish I could share your beliefs, but I simply don’t.
Do you believe that war is from God? Do you believe that God condones our killing one another?
Well of course, but I already know about these lies, and I reckoned we’d already covered them, plus the memo. But I’m glad you posted them anyway. I have a list of 15 somewhere on my hard drive.
But I think the country was already so polarized during the election that it wouldn’t take much to get Kerry voters to support impeachment. We are in a restless time, especially out here in Calif. and considering the Clinton debacle. I have already come to expect scandals and resignations from every Admin since Nixon, maybe we are in for impeachments along with filibusters, etc etc.
Interesting article, tho.
In the modern world, how many wars are not started by lies?
I think it’s interesting what it says about liberals and conservatives. (i.e. red vs. blue states) Liberals prefer truth and accountability whereas conservatives don’t place as much value on that. For conservatives – lying about war is hunky-dory, but lying about sex between consenting adults – now THAT’S important. :roll:
jGilder, I really dislike the way you make conservatives seem evil, vile, and stupid. You hurt [y]our cause by attacking people simply for holding conservative viewpoints.
Cran, conservatives make themselves seem evil, vile and stupid by supporting a party of war criminals who have caused the needless deaths of thousands of individuals while disastrously hastening the decline of the USA.
Nothing muttered or sneered by Jack can alter that reality by one iota.
~~
The government elected by american conservatives is evil, or rather is engaged in a large number of evil acts. That’s the truth and speaking the truth might occassionally be tactless but it’s never immoral.
“Evil, vile, and stupid” are your words, not mine. I’m simply pointing out the hyporcrisy and double standards that conservatives represent by their positions on these matters. I leave it up to everyone to make up their own mind about what it might mean, as you obviously have.
People’s memories are short. Of all the lies, which lie was Bush’s most flagrant? Let’s put the actual lie in their (Republicans) face and remove all doubt. Maybe use it for a signature.
Look who’s talking. :roll: I really dislike the way you make meat-eaters seem evil, vile, and stupid. And I’ve been a vegetarian for years.
I don’t make them seem vile, evil, or stupid, just cruel. 
Well, I like my signature just fine, but here’s a list of 10 lies. Some are the same as yours, but the facts are provided in contrast as well. This is an excerpt from an article (out of print) called, “10 Appalling Lies We Were Told About Iraq” By Christopher Scheer for AlterNet on June 27, 2003.
FACT: This story, breathlessly leaked to and reported by Judith Miller in the New York Times, has turned out to be complete baloney. Department of Energy officials, who monitor nuclear plants, say the tubes could not be used for enriching uranium. One intelligence analyst, who was part of the tubes investigation, angrily told The New Republic that, “You had senior American officials like Condoleezza Rice saying the only use of this aluminum really is uranium centrifuges. She said that on television. And that’s just a lie.”
LIE #2: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” - President Bush, Jan.28, 2003, in the State of the Union address.
FACT: This whopper was based on a document that the White House already knew to be a forgery thanks to the CIA. Sold to Italian intelligence by some hustler, the document carried the signature of an official who had been out of office for 10 years and referenced a constitution that was no longer in effect. The ex-ambassador who the CIA sent to check out the story is pissed: “They knew the Niger story was a flat-out lie,” he told the New Republic, anonymously. “They [the White House] were unpersuasive about aluminum tubes and added this to make their case more strongly.”
LIE #3: “We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.” - Vice President Cheney on March 16, 2003 on “Meet the Press.”
FACT: There was and is absolutely zero basis for this statement. CIA reports up through 2002 showed no evidence of an Iraqi nuclear weapons program.
LIE #4: “[The CIA possesses] solid reporting of senior-level contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda going back a decade.” - CIA Director George Tenet in a written statement released Oct. 7, 2002 and echoed in that evening’s speech by President Bush.
FACT: Intelligence agencies knew of tentative contacts between Saddam and al-Qaeda in the early '90s, but found no proof of a continuing relationship. In other words, by tweaking language, Tenet and Bush spun the intelligence180 degrees to say exactly the opposite of what it suggested.
LIE #5: “We’ve learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases … Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints.” - President Bush, Oct. 7.
FACT: No evidence of this has ever been leaked or produced. Colin Powell told the U.N. this alleged training took place in a camp in northern Iraq. To his great embarrassment, the area he indicated was later revealed to be outside Iraq’s control and patrolled by Allied war planes.
LIE #6: “We have also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We are concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] for missions targeting the United States.” - President Bush, Oct. 7.
FACT: Said drones can’t fly more than 300 miles, and Iraq is 6000 miles from the U.S. coastline. Furthermore, Iraq’s drone-building program wasn’t much more advanced than your average model plane enthusiast. And isn’t a “manned aerial vehicle” just a scary way to say “plane”?
LIE #7: “We have seen intelligence over many months that they have chemical and biological weapons, and that they have dispersed them and that they’re weaponized and that, in one case at least, the command and control arrangements have been established.” - President Bush, Feb. 8, 2003, in a national radio address.
FACT: Despite a massive nationwide search by U.S. and British forces, there are no signs, traces or examples of chemical weapons being deployed in the field, or anywhere else during the war.
LIE #8: “Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets.” - Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5 2003, in remarks to the UN Security Council.
FACT: Putting aside the glaring fact that not one drop of this massive stockpile has been found, but, as previously reported on AlterNet, our own intelligence reports show that these stocks - if they existed - were well past their use-by date and therefore useless as weapon fodder.
LIE #9: “We know where [Iraq’s WMD] are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.” - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003, in statements to the press.
FACT: Needless to say, no such weapons were found, not to the east, west, south or north, somewhat or otherwise.
LIE #10: “Yes, we found a biological laboratory in Iraq which the UN prohibited.” - President Bush in remarks in Poland, published internationally June 1, 2003.
FACT: This was reference to the discovery of two modified truck trailers that the CIA claimed were are potential mobile biological weapons lab. But British and American experts - including the State Department’s intelligence wing in a report released this week - have since declared this to be untrue. According to the British, and much to Prime Minister Tony Blair’s embarrassment, the trailers are actually exactly what Iraq said they were, facilities to fill weather balloons, sold to them by the British themselves.