Who ignored all the pre war warnings in 2002? Those that for what ever reason, wanted us to invade Iraq, no matter what. Oil, Halliburton stock, billions to be made, if we invaded. That stock sure did jump once we invaded Iraq.
What about Iraq, after we leave? Isn't that going to be a problem? Not for President Bush or Cheney. And so, now we live the "Warnings that were clear, back in 2002"
In 2002, prior to our invasion, many qualified, smart, reasoned people tried to explain to then President, George Bush, (Cheney) how an invasion on Iraq would be a long term disaster, with unachievable goals, and possibly create unrepairable damage within the middle east, after we leave Iraq. And after we left Iraq, it would turn into a civil war.
"Critics of the invasion claimed that it would lead to the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians and soldiers as well as Coalition soldiers, and that it would moreover damage peace and stability throughout the region and the world."
There was also skepticism of U.S. claims that Iraq's secular government had any links to Al-Qaeda, the Islamic fundamentalist terrorist group considered responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
We all know that the skepticism was correct. Fox News and the Bush White house, has yet to admit they were wrong, and ignored the experts. They will not admit they were wrong. They will also dodge any blame for the current events in Iraq.
Chances are they will get away with it, and we won't find any major media reviewing the actual history of who was warned, and when.
The Opposition to going into war with Iraq was huge. Originally, 82% of the country was against us going into a war with Iraq, and were ignored by the media. The 11% of approval came from the war cheerleaders at Fox News, who have a lot of blame for the constant bombardment of "Pre-War" anticipation and cheer leading. It was like they knew exactly when we were going to get into a war, and they ramped up the pro war propaganda machine. Fox News managed to get half the country into favoring of us invading Iraq about two weeks prior to us starting this war. Their main reason was "Saddam attacked us on 9-11" Fox News has erased this part of history.
The opposition to the war manifested itself most visibly in a series of worldwide protests against the Iraq War during February 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq starting on March 20, 2003. Alternative news website Countercurrents.org said:
"Poll results available from Gallup International, as well as local sources for most of Europe, West and East, showed that support for a war carried out "unilaterally by America and its allies" did not rise above 11 percent in any country. Support for a war if mandated by the UN ranged from 13 percent (Spain) to 51 percent (Netherlands)" (From The Wiki peeps)
And here is the reason for this history lesson. Experts tried to explain to President Bush/ Cheney that an attack on Iraq would only give Al-Qaeda a huge boost to its recruiting efforts, and after we leave Iraq, there would be increased risk that the real weapons of mass destruction would end up in the hands of terrorists.
"There was also criticism of Coalition policy by those who did not believe that military actions would help to fight terror, with some believing that it would actually help Al-Qaeda's recruitment efforts; others believed that the war and immediate post-war period would lead to a greatly increased risk that weapons of mass destruction would fall into the wrong hands (including Al-Qaeda)."
More info on very qualified people begging our President's Bush/Cheney NOT to attack Iraq.
On July 28, 2002, eight months before the invasion of Iraq, the Washington Post reported that "many senior U.S. military officers" including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff opposed an invasion on the grounds that the policy of containment was working.[7]
A few days later, Gen. Joseph P. Hoar (Ret.) warned the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the invasion was risky and perhaps unnecessary.
Morton Halperin, a foreign policy expert with the Council on Foreign Relations and Center for American Progress warned that an invasion would increase the terrorist threat.[8]
In a 2002 book, Scott Ritter, a Nuclear Weapons Inspector in Iraq from 1991–98, argued against an invasion and expressed doubts about the Bush Administration’s claims that Saddam Hussein had a WMD capability.[9] He later accused the Bush administration of deliberately misleading the public.
My point. In 2002 Fox News and the Bush / Cheney team went forward with our attacking Iraq. Fox News did not broadcast the opinion's of those who tried to explain that if we did attack Iraq, at some point, we would have to end that war and leave, and once we were gone, Iraq would fall into a crisis or a civil war.
We are possibly at that point now, and this is when Fox News, the President's Bush and Cheney and all of those who ignored the warnings of a post -war Iraq, and the potential for a disaster, need to be called out.
We all know, President Obama will be set up, by those at Fox News, and possibly CNN as somehow being "his fault" there is the exact crisis in Iraq that was clearly explained to then President Cheney, & Bush. ( I have always felt Bush was a complete idiot, and had zero chance of being in charge or anything, other than finger painting, and Cheney was calling the shots.)
So, I feel it's time for the real history lesson, on exactly who warned who, back in 2002.
I would imagine Rachel Maddow would do some info on this history lesson, before those larger networks and stations start to shape this into "How could Obama let this happen to us narrative"
Or, possibly on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell ?
Or possibly on "All In with Chris Hayes "
Those are my fav show's.
I understand this is a crude, limited, and incomplete diary, but it just never ceases to amaze me how Fox News simply get's away with omitting history. I hope someone at the tv machine company has some video from 2002 to show.
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