On Iraq and WMD: Did the president lie?
Larry Elder
townhall.com
Can one make the case that President George W. Bush "lied" or "misled" or intentionally "mischaracterized" the intelligence on Iraq and WMD in order to lead us to war? Sure, if one possesses a visceral anti-Bush mindset coupled with a willingness to ignore powerful arguments in favor of the war:
Frankly, what Townhall or the NRO says is unimportant to me. I no longer believe them and their journalistic integrity is borderline at best in my mind. Besides, they will favor the president no matter what.
However, it is true that no one can claim legally that Bush lied. He has not said he lied and there is no other way to determine that he did.......short of a lie detector. Furthermore, by now, the administration has so muddied up the waters with numerous intel reports and cross accusations, trying to unravel the mess is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The whole thing is nearly impossible.
Is it easier for me to believe he lied than you? Of course.......I hate the sucker.....I think he's the worst president in at least 60 years, maybe more.
However, let me just say this........I knew he was lying last fall. I knew in the way that we ever know when someone is lying.....without an lie detector or an admission of guilt.......but rather by his body language and by the way he spoke.
Slowly but surely the truth is coming out......the neocons' manifesto, the administration talking about attacking Iraq prior to 9/11, the attempts to use info like the uranium buy when the CIA warned against it and then eventually the WH overriding the CIA's concerns. This White House wanted a war with Iraq and they damn well got it. And if they go down in flames in November, they are getting what they deserve.
But proving conclusively that they lied.........I don't think that's possible. However, it may not matter.......it looks like the damage has been done and they no longer have the confidence of a majority of the American people.
ted |
