Contributing Editor BarbinMD took note Friday morning in Bush on Iraq, then and now that in his Thursday Fort Bragg speech the President seemed to have forgotten what he had said about Iraq in 2006. Just more proof of the Roman rhetorician Quintilian's aphorism that "A liar needs a good memory." And that was true long before amateur fact-checkers spent their spare time crawling all over the Internet.
As Spencer Ackerman pointed out at ThinkProgress, much of what Mister Bush said in his speech was lies. A few of us tried to tell pro-war liberals like Ackerman about the President's penchant for lies way back in 2002 and 2003 when they wouldn't listen. But, hey, some people take a bit longer to wise up than others.
The densest collection of lies in the speech came in these two paragraphs:
Some of our fellow citizens wonder whether the mission in Iraq is worth the cost. I strongly believe it is. And here is why: The enemy has made clear that Iraq is the central battleground of the great ideological struggle of our time. This is a struggle between those who murder the innocent to advance their hateful objectives and those of us who love liberty and long for peace. We saw that these enemies — what these enemies intend for our country on September the 11th, 2001 — and we must do everything in our power to stop the enemy from attacking us again.
Withdrawal from Iraq before we have achieved success would embolden al Qaeda and give them new safe havens from which to plot attacks on the American homeland. Withdrawal before success would embolden Iran in its nuclear weapons ambitions and its efforts to dominate the region. Withdrawal before success would send a signal to terrorists and extremists across the world that America is weak, and does not have the stomach for a long fight. Withdrawal before success would be catastrophic for our country. It would more likely — be more likely that we would suffer another attack like the one we experienced on September the 11th. It would jeopardize the safety of future generations. And we must not, and we will not, allow that to happen.
Out there somewhere, I suppose, live pockets of hopeful people who thought perhaps we would get a reprieve from Mister Bush's lies now that he is a lame duck (240 days and counting). 'Twas never to be.
Not only are the lies obviously going to continue right up until January 20, but he's also not even going to put a fresh coat of BS on them. Just repeat the golden oldies. And why not? Even though, as of eight months ago, only 33% of Americans still think Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11, Mister Bush's relentless propaganda, aided by lickspittle military analysts and a still complicit megamedia, have yet to produce a majority in Congress willing to stop funding the war and occupation. Why would the White House tamper with what works?