America For Purchase

Republicans are seeking “credit where credit is due”, demanding all Americans thank George W Bush for the Iraq war, after President Obama formally ended the Iraqi Freedom combat missions.  Former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, who took blame for allowing President Bush to make the false claim in his 2003 State of the Union address, about Iraq trying to purchase uranium from Africa to build a nuclear weapon. In an interview with the New York Times, Hadley demanded Bush be given “credit” for Iraq:

“I thought I owed it to the former president that somewhere out there somebody gives him  credit and points out that he’s the one actually that started withdrawing U.S. troops and he’s the one that set up the framework for both a long term relationship with Iraq and a December, 30 2011 end date,” Mr. Hadley said in an interview.

Republicans John McCain, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, John Cornyn, Karl Rove, Dan Senor, Sarah Palin all want credit given to former President Bush.  These are some of the neoconservative architects of the Iraq War who have predictably reemerged to claim credit for the national disaster they created, the loss of over 4,000 lives of U.S. soldiers, which Republicans now portray as success.Who can forget that President Bush went to war in defiance of the United Nations, creating the ‘Bush Doctrine’ going to war without anyone’s permission.

Giving Republicans and George W Bush the credit they deserve.

The first made up lie about going to war in Iraq – al-Qaeda was in Iraq:

“Iraq has sent bomb making and document forgery experts to work with al-Qaeda.  Iraq has also provide al-Qaeda with Chemical and biological weapons training.”  George W Bush Feb 8, 2003

George W Bush “He’s a threat because he’s dealing with al-Qaeda”. It was a fabricated effort to convince the American people al-Qaeda was in Iraq and they were responsible for 9/11.

Condoleezza Rice September 2002 “There clearly are contacts between al-Qaeda and Iraq that can be documented; there clearly is testimony that some of the contacts have been important contacts and that there’s a relationship here”.

Bush lied – “There are no current links between the Iraqi regime and the al-Qaeda network, according to an official British intelligence report seen by BBC News”.

The 2^nd made up lie about going to war in Iraq – Saddam Hussein has Weapons of Mass Destruction

Dick Cheney “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.” August 26, 2002

George W Bush speaking at United Nations “Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction are controlled by a murderous tyrant”. October 7, 2002

George W Bush “Intelligence gathered by this and other governments’ leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.” March 17, 2003

General Tommy Franks “There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And . . . as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them.” March 22, 2003

Donald Rumsfeld “We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat. March 30, 2003.  Rumsfeld then lied about making that statement and was appropriately called out on it.

George W Bush   “Intelligence leaves no doubt that Iraq continues to possess and conceal lethal weapons.” March 17, 2003

George W Bush to UN General Assembly “Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons”. September 12, 2002

George W Bush former White house spokesman Ari Fleischer “We know for a fact that there are weapons there.” January 9 2003

April 10, 2003 Bush’s Press Secretary Ari Fleisher said “make no mistake, as I said earlier, we have high confidence that they have weapons of mass destruction.”

Bush lied – Saddam Hussein had NO weapons of mass destruction!  Even the CIA confirmed Bush lied about WMDs.

After the WMD lie was exposed George W Bush decided to joke about WMDs, demonstrating a vicious and callous disregard that he and his administration had for U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq under false pretenses. 

Backtracking: Donald Rumsfeld said “I don’t believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.” Senate’s appropriations subcommittee on defense, May 14, 2003

Backtracking:  Bush finally said “I did not have the luxury of knowing he did not have them”.  What?  Bush took America to war without the facts!

After all the dishonest reasons by the Bush Administration were exposed, the link to al-Qaeda and WMDs, Bush had to come up with yet another new rationale for why his war had to be waged. 

“The rise of a free self-governing Iraq would deny terrorist a base of operation, discredit their narrow ideology, and give momentum to reformers across the region. This would be a decisive blow to terrorism at the heart of its power, and a victory for the security of America and the civilized world.”
- George W. Bush, May 24, 2004

Interestingly enough, as previously stated, there were NO al-Qaeda in Iraq before Bush’s war.

All of President Bush’s reasoning for invading Iraq proved false!  And Paul Wolfowitz, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Bush, ultimately conceded that it was mostly for political convenience that the Bush Administration decided to go with the WMD argument.  Wolfowitz said “invading Iraq was determined based on what could be easily sold to the public. For bureaucratic reasons we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on.”

In fact, President George W Bush and his Administration made 935 false statements in the run-up to the Iraq war.

This is giving credit where credit is due to George W Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney Condolence Rice, Ari Fleisher and the Bush Administration for their Iraq war; for the torture they perpetrated against all decency, for the destruction of so many young American lives, the lives of Iraqis families, and decimating the U.S. economy.  Is that enough credit for you Stephen Hadley!

No one can argue that Saddam Hussein was not a tyrant and committed terrible atrocities against his Muslim people.   But because Saddam was dictator, it had nothing to do with Bush invading Iraq.  Given this idiocy, the U.S. would be attacking countries ruled by dictators all over the world.

America’s soldiers are to be honored for their service, accomplishments and dedication in bravely defending and sacrificing for this country.  This article in no way diminishes the honor displayed by our outstanding military in Iraq.  American troops have served and many made the ultimate sacrifice in serving these United States.

Iraq war Financial Cost:

• Cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom: $748.2 billion
• $900 billion of US taxpayers’ funds spent or approved for spending through Sept 2010.
• Lost & unaccounted for in Iraq – $9 billion of US taxpayers’ money and $549.7 million in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors.
• Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.
• Missing – $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)
• Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq – $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings
• Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported – $1.4 billion
• Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items – $20 billion
• Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem “questionable or supportable” – $3.2 billion

Iraq Reconstruction:

Since 2003, the United States has appropriated or otherwise made available $53.31 billion for the reconstruction effort in Iraq. This quarter, the Congress authorized an additional $200 million for the Commander’s Emergency Response Program for Iraq and $382.5 million for the Economic Support Fund.

• U.S. appropriations—$53.30 billion

American soldiers are to be honored for what they did in Iraq, for what their sacrifice and that of their families and America must take care of our veterans now many of them are home.

The Tragic Loss of Life:

• U.S. Deaths – 4,394
• U.S. Wounded – 31,768 (Defense Department’s weekly tally)
• Coalition deaths: 4,712
• Iraqi Security Force deaths: At least 9,451
• Iraqi civilian deaths: Between 96,037 and 104,754

[The estimate that over a million Iraqis; husbands, wives and children, have died, received independent confirmation from a prestigious British polling agency in September 2007. Opinion Research Business estimated that 1.2 million Iraqis have been killed violently since the US-led invasion.]

Deaths in any war are terrible enough. Deaths in a war of choice, a fabricated war, count as nothing short of murder.  As President Bush deliberately betrayed the American public with lies, he placed Americans and the U.S. Military at greater risk throughout the world.

Americans should never forget Republicans deliberately took this country into war under a cloak of deceit, spending and wasting billions of tax dollars as they drove the U.S. economy into massive debt.  When Republicans are giving power ‘back’ they will no doubt, initiate another war with Iran, sending thousands more U.S. soldiers into harm’s way, along with billions of dollars from the tax payers’ treasury.

Who can ever forget on May 1, 2003, President Bush stood aboard the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and declared to the country and to the world that “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”  Seven years later President Barack Obama ended U.S. combat missions in Iraq.

Condoleezza Rice “We can’t be blamed for whatever we got wrong about WMD: No one ever said that we knew precisely where all of these agents were, where they were stored.” June 8, 2003                                          

Americans are all united with overwhelming support for our heroes in the military.  This military veteran says to all our brave men and women in uniform, especially my own son,  ‘Thank You’ from the bottom of our hearts for all you have given and all you have sacrificed and to the families of fallen heroes. I would take your pain if I could. 

Please read International War Crimes Tribunal’s suit against the illegal Iraq War.

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Filed under: George W Bush