Why should be believe George W Bush?
"I'm sick and tired of games and deception," George W Bush in January 2003 discussing Saddam Hussein.
I know exactly the feeling that President Bush was trying to communicate to the American people back in 2003. But I feel it toward George W Bush. The frustration of a regime that would play games and use deception cuts at the very idea of a government by the people and for the people. But, Iraq never proclaimed itself to have a government by the people or for the people. However, the United States of American not only declares this, but it enshrines it in the idea of American culture. The United States of America proclaims this as a principle of American society and it claims that it should be exported around the world. So, when I see the games and deceptions emanating from the Bush administration I feel sick to my stomach and tired of the never ending excuses given to the citizens of the United States.
Today at the White House Press conference Scott McClellen was swatting questions like flies. Helen Thomas asked him if the US was going to attack Iran. The answer from Scott McClellen was that we were using diplomacy. Now, this sounds extremely familiar. Back in 2002 the Bush administration insisted that we were using diplomacy in order to win the support of the United Nations in the run up to the war in Iraq as we stationed American troops around Iraq. It is pretty clear today that the United States didn't really care what the UN would say, the were going to get regime change with or without the support of the UN. But that isn't what was said at the time. For example, from a press briefing in September 2002:
Q So the President agrees with Secretary Powell that there must be an international coalition consensus before there is any attack on Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has always said that he will consult. The President has always said that through leadership, others follow. That creates coalitions and that continues to be the President's view and the Secretary's view and the administration's view.
Q And Vice President Cheney agrees that there -- with Secretary Powell on the need for inspectors to go back in?
MR. FLEISCHER: The American position, as the Vice President said in his remarks, and Secretary Powell said, and as the President has said, is that arms inspectors in Iraq are a means to an end, but the end is knowledge that Iraq has lived up to its promises that it made to end the Gulf War, that it has in fact disarmed, that it does not possess weapons of mass destruction. And the President's position, the Vice President's position, the Secretary's position consistently have been --
Click here for the entire Press Briefing.
And, the actions of the President seemed to suggest that the US was going into Iraq regardless of what public thought about the idea of invading Iraq. The question was put to Ari Fleischer:
Q There's a widespread public impression based upon the statements that the President and others in the administration have already made that he seeks a military solution, whether it is correct or incorrect. Don't you run the risk of backing yourselves into a corner where no other solution is possible unless he speaks out soon?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think this issue raises one of the most fundamental matters of a democracy, of a presidency, leadership, Congress' role as well. And these are the very difficult judgments that Presidents of the United States are called upon to make, where they have to ascertain at what point is the price of inaction greater than the price of action. At what point do the dangers presented outweigh the risks of doing nothing. And these are why nations have elections, why they elect leaders, why these leaders have authority to use, why these leaders use this authority in conjunction with the Congress. But again, it presupposes a decision made. No decision such made, but the President understands the vital importance of all the various issues that you're raising. These are the right issues to raise. The President is aware of them all.
Click here for the entire Press Briefing.
And, even after Congress gave authority to the president to wage war in Iraq, the Bush administration wasn't honest about its intention. In this press briefing the White House seems to suggest that this request for the use of force is just a technicality. Ari Fleischer is trying to assure reporters that it isn't likely that the President Bush would actually use this authority unless he had overwhelming support for the operation.
Q Is regime change, though, part of the goal of what you're trying to accomplish through the U.N.?
MR. FLEISCHER: The goal of what we're trying to accomplish through the U.N. is exactly what the President laid out last week, which begins with disarmament and Iraq's honoring the resolutions to destroy all their weapons of mass destruction; to cease the repression of minorities; the return of prisoners that were taken in the '91 war; to renounce Iraq's involvement with terrorism; to permit no terrorist organizations to operate in Iraq; and to cease its violation of the oil-for-food programs. Those are the issues the President brought to the attention of the United Nations.
Q Ari, if I could follow up on Sandra's question. Now that the President has secured the bipartisan agreement of the leadership of Congress to pass a resolution authorizing him to use force, is he prepared to share with the American people, to level with the American people, about what the use of force actually, practically means? For instance, is the administration, now that this debate is underway and will take place in the next couple of days, prepared to say how long will American soldiers be in Iraq, should the President use this authority he is seeking?
MR. FLEISCHER: Make no doubt, if this gets to the point where the President decides that force is the route to go in order to preserve the greatest chance for world peace, and for regional peace, the President will, of course, speak to the American people. The President is in the middle of a process where he began at the United Nations talking to the world about the importance of the United Nations showing its relevance. And the President has started this process as a result of the consultations not only with the Congress, the United Nations, but, of course, the American people have a right to hear what the President thinks. And that, if it comes to that point, the President will do that at the appropriate time.
Q But the Congress is now at the sticking point, at the point at which members and senators have to decide, based on what their constituents' view is, in part, to give the President the authority to use this force. They now have to make the decision. And don't they need the answer to the question, if we give you this force, this authority to use force, how long will American soldiers be in --
MR. FLEISCHER: The President will continue to talk about this publicly and in various forums and in various ways. And at the appropriate time, in his judgment, he will talk to the American people more directly about it.
Q One more question. He expects the Congress to vote to authorize him to use force before he answers the question how long American soldiers would be expected to be in Iraq and what government the United States would support, post Saddam?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think Congress is asking the appropriate questions in the hearings that it has, so that Congress can make the appropriate decisions as they approach a vote on a resolution. And I think Congress is satisfied with what they are hearing from the President and are hearing from the administration witnesses that are going up there this week, today, tomorrow and the next day. Anything beyond that, I don't want to speculate about the timing of it, but the President understands, of course, the importance of talking to the country about it. It's a vital part of the job of the President.
Click here for the entire Press Briefing.
And, today we have Scott McClellen and George W Bush asserting that the idea of attacking Iran is wild speculation. It may be speculation, but it certainly isn't that wild if we consider the history of the administration using deception to gain support for the attack on Iraq...
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