The Dangerous Lie That ‘Bush Lied’

[Procrustes Stretched]

Obama lied and people died!!

really?

I don't think so

 

[Kosh]

Obama lied and people died!!

really?

I don't think so

Yes! I know the far left drones can not admit that their religious deity would ever lie to them..

Obama lied and people died!

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Obama lied and people died!!

really?

I don't think so

Yes! I know the far left drones can not admit that their religious deity would ever lie to them..

Obama lied and people died!

you people are all nuts

 

[Kosh]

Obama lied and people died!!

really?

I don't think so

Yes! I know the far left drones can not admit that their religious deity would ever lie to them..

Obama lied and people died!

you people are all nuts

The far left drones that supports Obama illegal wars calling others nuts!

Obama lied and people died!

 

[Liminal]

Obama lied and people died!!

really?

I don't think so

Yes! I know the far left drones can not admit that their religious deity would ever lie to them..

Obama lied and people died!

you people are all nuts

The far left drones that supports Obama illegal wars calling others nuts!

Obama lied and people died!

Maybe if you just keep repeating it to yourself that will make it true.

 

[Kosh]

Obama lied and people died!!

really?

I don't think so

Yes! I know the far left drones can not admit that their religious deity would ever lie to them..

Obama lied and people died!

you people are all nuts

The far left drones that supports Obama illegal wars calling others nuts!

Obama lied and people died!

Maybe if you just keep repeating it to yourself that will make it true.

It is true even if the devote far left religious drones do not want to admit to it..

Obama lied and people died!

 

[MaxGrit]

Yes, it is dangerous. But for dimocraps it's a convenient lie. A lie that Republicans are tired of fighting.

But it's time you realized that's what it is -- Just another lie from the party of lies --

From today's WSJ. I'd post a link, but you'll just run into a subscription wall

The Dangerous Lie That ‘Bush Lied’
Some journalists still peddle this canard as if it were fact. This is defamatory and could end up hurting the country.

President George W. Bush
By
LAURENCE H. SILBERMAN
Feb. 8, 2015 6:25 p.m. ET


In recent weeks, I have heard former Associated Press reporter Ron Fournier on Fox News twice asserting, quite offhandedly, that President George W. Bush “lied us into war in Iraq.”

I found this shocking. I took a leave of absence from the bench in 2004-05 to serve as co-chairman of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction—a bipartisan body, sometimes referred to as the Robb-Silberman Commission. It was directed in 2004 to evaluate the intelligence community’s determination that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD—I am, therefore, keenly aware of both the intelligence provided to President Bush and his reliance on that intelligence as his primary casus belli. It is astonishing to see the “Bush lied” allegation evolve from antiwar slogan to journalistic fact.

The intelligence community’s 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) stated, in a formal presentation to President Bush and to Congress, its view that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction—a belief in which the NIE said it held a 90% level of confidence. That is about as certain as the intelligence community gets on any subject.

Recall that the head of the intelligence community, Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet, famously told the president that the proposition that Iraq possessed WMD was “a slam dunk.” Our WMD commission carefully examined the interrelationships between the Bush administration and the intelligence community and found no indication that anyone in the administration sought to pressure the intelligence community into its findings. As our commission reported, presidential daily briefs from the CIA dating back to the Clinton administration were, if anything, more alarmist about Iraq’s WMD than the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate.

Saddam had manifested sharp hostility toward America, including firing at U.S. planes patrolling the no-fly zone set up by the armistice agreement ending the first Iraq war. Saddam had also attempted to assassinate former President George H.W. Bush —a car-bombing plot was foiled—during Mr. Bush’s visit to Kuwait in 1993. But President George W. Bush based his decision to go to war on information about Saddam’s WMD. Accordingly, when Secretary of State Colin Powell formally presented the U.S. case to the United Nations, Mr. Powell relied entirely on that aspect of the threat from Iraq.

Our WMD commission ultimately determined that the intelligence community was “dead wrong” about Saddam’s weapons. But as I recall, no one in Washington political circles offered significant disagreement with the intelligence community before the invasion. The National Intelligence Estimate was persuasive—to the president, to Congress and to the media.

Granted, there were those who disagreed with waging war against Saddam even if he did possess WMD. Some in Congress joined Brent Scowcroft, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and former national security adviser, in publicly doubting the wisdom of invading Iraq. It is worth noting, however, that when Saddam was captured and interrogated, he told his interrogators that he had intended to seek revenge on Kuwait for its cooperation with the U.S. by invading again at a propitious time. This leads me to speculate that if the Bush administration had not gone to war in 2003 and Saddam had remained in power, the U.S. might have felt compelled to do so once Iraq again invaded Kuwait.

In any event, it is one thing to assert, then or now, that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make the horrendous charge that President Bush lied to or deceived the American people about the threat from Saddam.

I recently wrote to Ron Fournier protesting his accusation. His response, in an email, was to reiterate that “an objective reading of the events leads to only one conclusion: the administration . . . misinterpreted, distorted and in some cases lied about intelligence.” Although Mr. Fournier referred to “evidence” supporting his view, he did not cite any—and I do not believe there is any.

He did say correctly that “intelligence is never dispositive; it requires analysis and judgment, with the final call and responsibility resting with the president.” It is thus certainly possible to criticize President Bush for having believed what the CIA told him, although it seems to me that any president would have credited such confident assertions by the intelligence community. But to accuse the president of lying us into war must be seen as not only false, but as dangerously defamatory.

The charge is dangerous because it can take on the air of historical fact—with potentially dire consequences. I am reminded of a similarly baseless accusation that helped the Nazis come to power in Germany: that the German army had not really lost World War I, that the soldiers instead had been “stabbed in the back” by politicians.

Sometime in the future, perhaps long after most of us are gone, an American president may need to rely publicly on intelligence reports to support military action. It would be tragic if, at such a critical moment, the president’s credibility were undermined by memories of a false charge peddled by the likes of Ron Fournier.

Mr. Silberman, a senior federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, was co-chairman of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Liberals live in la-la land.

 

[Liminal]

really?

I don't think so

Yes! I know the far left drones can not admit that their religious deity would ever lie to them..

Obama lied and people died!

you people are all nuts

The far left drones that supports Obama illegal wars calling others nuts!

Obama lied and people died!

Maybe if you just keep repeating it to yourself that will make it true.

It is true even if the devote far left religious drones do not want to admit to it..

Obama lied and people died!

You are just silly. Think real hard and see if you can recall a time when a President didn't lie and people didn't die. I dare you. I double dare you. Let's see if we can figure out what makes this President so different.

 

[kaz]

Gotcha, using WMDs didn't prove he had them, that takes a UN inspection. Proving Ed's point...

We were specifically told there were nuclear weapons, so we had to invade immediately. Remember? Where are the nuclear weapons? They already knew for sure that Iran had a nuclear program, why not invade them?

No, I don't remember him having nuclear weapons, can you link that? I recall he had a program they were afraid would become nuclear weapons. I do not remember him actually having them. f you read the threads, you know I don't ask for links if I can find them myself. I can't find that.

Bush s Claims About Iraq s Nuclear Program

OK, thanks for a link showing what I told you, "I recall he had a program they were afraid would become nuclear weapons. I do not remember him actually having them."

Now you got one that shows your statement that he actually had nuclear weapons?

You want to play stupid? You can do that on your own, I'm done playing games with you.

OMG, don't say it, I'm not going to have the pleasure of your endless playground insults and arrogant condescension? What you don't want to do is back up your crap. You said he had nuclear weapons, that is completely different than trying to develop nuclear weapons. I agreed with the second point all along, but you kept going back to that he had nuclear weapons. No, he didn't. And no one said he did, but you.

 

[Liminal]

We were specifically told there were nuclear weapons, so we had to invade immediately. Remember? Where are the nuclear weapons? They already knew for sure that Iran had a nuclear program, why not invade them?

No, I don't remember him having nuclear weapons, can you link that? I recall he had a program they were afraid would become nuclear weapons. I do not remember him actually having them. f you read the threads, you know I don't ask for links if I can find them myself. I can't find that.

Bush s Claims About Iraq s Nuclear Program

OK, thanks for a link showing what I told you, "I recall he had a program they were afraid would become nuclear weapons. I do not remember him actually having them."

Now you got one that shows your statement that he actually had nuclear weapons?

You want to play stupid? You can do that on your own, I'm done playing games with you.

OMG, don't say it, I'm not going to have the pleasure of your endless playground insults and arrogant condescension? What you don't want to do is back up your crap. You said he had nuclear weapons, that is completely different than trying to develop nuclear weapons. I agreed with the second point all along, but you kept going back to that he had nuclear weapons. No, he didn't. And no one said he did, but you.

I said they had nuclear weapons? Now you're just lying. It wasn't me who gave the American people the impression that we had to invade Iraq immediately.

 

[kaz]

No, I don't remember him having nuclear weapons, can you link that? I recall he had a program they were afraid would become nuclear weapons. I do not remember him actually having them. f you read the threads, you know I don't ask for links if I can find them myself. I can't find that.

Bush s Claims About Iraq s Nuclear Program

OK, thanks for a link showing what I told you, "I recall he had a program they were afraid would become nuclear weapons. I do not remember him actually having them."

Now you got one that shows your statement that he actually had nuclear weapons?

You want to play stupid? You can do that on your own, I'm done playing games with you.

OMG, don't say it, I'm not going to have the pleasure of your endless playground insults and arrogant condescension? What you don't want to do is back up your crap. You said he had nuclear weapons, that is completely different than trying to develop nuclear weapons. I agreed with the second point all along, but you kept going back to that he had nuclear weapons. No, he didn't. And no one said he did, but you.

I said they had nuclear weapons? Now you're just lying. It wasn't me who gave the American people the impression that we had to invade Iraq immediately.

Wow, more word games. Do you ever go past the fifth grade? OK, Sparky, you said we were told they had nuclear weapons. I said no, we were told they had a program, but not they had weapons. You came back with a link supporting my point, they had a program.

I look forward to your next round of childish drivel.

 

[Liminal]

Bush s Claims About Iraq s Nuclear Program

OK, thanks for a link showing what I told you, "I recall he had a program they were afraid would become nuclear weapons. I do not remember him actually having them."

Now you got one that shows your statement that he actually had nuclear weapons?

You want to play stupid? You can do that on your own, I'm done playing games with you.

OMG, don't say it, I'm not going to have the pleasure of your endless playground insults and arrogant condescension? What you don't want to do is back up your crap. You said he had nuclear weapons, that is completely different than trying to develop nuclear weapons. I agreed with the second point all along, but you kept going back to that he had nuclear weapons. No, he didn't. And no one said he did, but you.

I said they had nuclear weapons? Now you're just lying. It wasn't me who gave the American people the impression that we had to invade Iraq immediately.

Wow, more word games. Do you ever go past the fifth grade? OK, Sparky, you said we were told they had nuclear weapons. I said no, we were told they had a program, but not they had weapons. You came back with a link supporting my point, they had a program.

I look forward to your next round of childish drivel.

You are apparently in full denial mode all the time. The Bush Administration clearly intimated the possibility that Iraq could have already acquired nuclear weapons.

Interview with Vice-President Dick Cheney NBC Meet the Press Transcript for March 16

 

[kaz]

OK, thanks for a link showing what I told you, "I recall he had a program they were afraid would become nuclear weapons. I do not remember him actually having them."

Now you got one that shows your statement that he actually had nuclear weapons?

You want to play stupid? You can do that on your own, I'm done playing games with you.

OMG, don't say it, I'm not going to have the pleasure of your endless playground insults and arrogant condescension? What you don't want to do is back up your crap. You said he had nuclear weapons, that is completely different than trying to develop nuclear weapons. I agreed with the second point all along, but you kept going back to that he had nuclear weapons. No, he didn't. And no one said he did, but you.

I said they had nuclear weapons? Now you're just lying. It wasn't me who gave the American people the impression that we had to invade Iraq immediately.

Wow, more word games. Do you ever go past the fifth grade? OK, Sparky, you said we were told they had nuclear weapons. I said no, we were told they had a program, but not they had weapons. You came back with a link supporting my point, they had a program.

I look forward to your next round of childish drivel.

You are apparently in full denial mode all the time. The Bush Administration clearly intimated the possibility that Iraq could have already acquired nuclear weapons.

Interview with Vice-President Dick Cheney NBC Meet the Press Transcript for March 16

So now you've gone from the standard W said Saddam had nuclear weapons as the justification to the war to that he "intimated the possibility that Iraq could have already acquired nuclear weapons." You should have stopped when you were behind...



Tell me about your self professed rhetorical genius again...

 

[Liminal]

You want to play stupid? You can do that on your own, I'm done playing games with you.

OMG, don't say it, I'm not going to have the pleasure of your endless playground insults and arrogant condescension? What you don't want to do is back up your crap. You said he had nuclear weapons, that is completely different than trying to develop nuclear weapons. I agreed with the second point all along, but you kept going back to that he had nuclear weapons. No, he didn't. And no one said he did, but you.

I said they had nuclear weapons? Now you're just lying. It wasn't me who gave the American people the impression that we had to invade Iraq immediately.

Wow, more word games. Do you ever go past the fifth grade? OK, Sparky, you said we were told they had nuclear weapons. I said no, we were told they had a program, but not they had weapons. You came back with a link supporting my point, they had a program.

I look forward to your next round of childish drivel.

You are apparently in full denial mode all the time. The Bush Administration clearly intimated the possibility that Iraq could have already acquired nuclear weapons.

Interview with Vice-President Dick Cheney NBC Meet the Press Transcript for March 16

So now you've gone from the standard W said Saddam had nuclear weapons as the justification to the war to that he "intimated the possibility that Iraq could have already acquired nuclear weapons." You should have stopped when you were behind...



Tell me about your self professed rhetorical genius again...

What do you suppose it means when the Vice President suggests that Iraq may have already acquired nuclear weapons?

 

[kaz]

What do you suppose it means when the Vice President suggests that Iraq may have already acquired nuclear weapons?

It suggests that the war was not justified by the President saying they do have them, which is what you claimed.

W sucked. I am not arguing he doesn't. He was one of the worst Presidents in our history. I was against invading Iraq and I am against being in the middle east at all. What I am arguing is that you'd be a lot more effective as an ally against Republicans on this if you cared about the truth.

 

[Liminal]

What do you suppose it means when the Vice President suggests that Iraq may have already acquired nuclear weapons?

It suggests that the war was not justified by the President saying they do have them, which is what you claimed.

W sucked. I am not arguing he doesn't. He was one of the worst Presidents in our history. I was against invading Iraq and I am against being in the middle east at all. What I am arguing is that you'd be a lot more effective as an ally against Republicans on this if you cared about the truth.

Oh I see, so then the Vice President didn't really represent the views of the Bush Administration, nor was he attempting to manipulate public opinion. Is that right?

 

[kaz]

What do you suppose it means when the Vice President suggests that Iraq may have already acquired nuclear weapons?

It suggests that the war was not justified by the President saying they do have them, which is what you claimed.

W sucked. I am not arguing he doesn't. He was one of the worst Presidents in our history. I was against invading Iraq and I am against being in the middle east at all. What I am arguing is that you'd be a lot more effective as an ally against Republicans on this if you cared about the truth.

Oh I see, so then the Vice President didn't really represent the views of the Bush Administration, nor was he attempting to manipulate public opinion. Is that right?

Non sequitur

 

[Liminal]

What do you suppose it means when the Vice President suggests that Iraq may have already acquired nuclear weapons?

It suggests that the war was not justified by the President saying they do have them, which is what you claimed.

W sucked. I am not arguing he doesn't. He was one of the worst Presidents in our history. I was against invading Iraq and I am against being in the middle east at all. What I am arguing is that you'd be a lot more effective as an ally against Republicans on this if you cared about the truth.

Oh I see, so then the Vice President didn't really represent the views of the Bush Administration, nor was he attempting to manipulate public opinion. Is that right?

Non sequitur

Looks like denial, personal remarks, and superficial semantics is all you've got to offer. Substance isn't really your thing is it.

 

[kaz]

What do you suppose it means when the Vice President suggests that Iraq may have already acquired nuclear weapons?

It suggests that the war was not justified by the President saying they do have them, which is what you claimed.

W sucked. I am not arguing he doesn't. He was one of the worst Presidents in our history. I was against invading Iraq and I am against being in the middle east at all. What I am arguing is that you'd be a lot more effective as an ally against Republicans on this if you cared about the truth.

Oh I see, so then the Vice President didn't really represent the views of the Bush Administration, nor was he attempting to manipulate public opinion. Is that right?

Non sequitur

Looks like denial, personal remarks, and superficial semantics is all you've got to offer. Substance isn't really your thing is it.

Personal remarks? Your first post to me was about your supreme intelligence and how lucky I was to have you respond at all.

I differ though in your contention that "substance" means chasing you down your endless rat holes and shifting standards. You said W justified the war that Saddam had nuclear weapons. A point you have yet to back up or admit you were wrong. Got anything but a playground insult or yet another shifting standard?

 

[Contumacious]

Yes, it is dangerous. But for dimocraps it's a convenient lie. A lie that Republicans are tired of fighting.

But it's time you realized that's what it is -- Just another lie from the party of lies --

From today's WSJ. I'd post a link, but you'll just run into a subscription wall

The Dangerous Lie That ‘Bush Lied’


.

The WSJ’s Latest Fractured Fairy Tale

Charles Burris



For LRC readers of an older generation, one of their favorite cherished childhood memories is The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. One of the best loved segments was Fractured Fairy Tales, classic fairy tales retold in comedic fashion narrated by Edward Everett Horton. The jovial editors of The Wall Street Journal have picked up where the moose and squirrel left off. Their latest Fractured Fairy Tale comes from one Laurence H. Silberman. In an egregious example of fanciful revisionist history entitled “The Dangerous Lie That ‘Bush Lied,’” Silberman hilariously attempts to resurrect and restore the George W. Bush administration’s fractured legacy concerning the veracity of intelligence regarding WMD prior to the preemptive invasion of Iraq. It will leave you rolling in the aisles in hysterics. So who is this jokester Silberman? He is a senior federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan for his crucial part in the 1980 October Surprise which sabotaged the Jimmy Carter re-election campaign by secretly meeting with Iranian officials to covertly delay the release of the American hostages held by Iran until the day Reagan was sworn into office.



.Yet more evidence that federal judges can not be trusted.


.