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May 14, 2005 Recently, former CIA agent Ray McGovern interrupted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during a speech and accused him of lying about Iraq prewar intelligence. Rumsfeld was caught off-guard and stumbled through a feeble explanation. McGovern asked, "Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary?" Rumsfeld replied, “I’m not in the intelligence business. They gave the world their honest opinion. It appears that there were not weapons of mass destruction." McGovern added, "Your allegation that there was bullet-proof evidence of ties between al-Qaeda and Iraq. Was that a lie or were you misled?" Rumsfeld replied, "Zarqawi was in Baghdad during the prewar period. That is a fact." Rumsfeld later addressed the issue of his boss, the President, being a liar: "That charge is frequently leveled against the President for one reason or another, and it is so wrong and so unfair and so destructive of a free system where people need to trust each other and government, and the idea that people in government are lying about something is fundamentally destructive of that trust and at bedrock untrue." But the damage was done. Rather than address the questions of Iraq untruths, conservatives such as Bill O’Reilly wondered aloud why the liberal media didn't point out McGovern’s ties to the left. O'Reilly noted that McGovern had praised Cindy Sheehan, and called for the impeachment of President Bush. How does this make him (in O’Reilly’s words) “a far left zealot” and his questioning of the Defense Secretary less credible? This has always been the Bush administration’s response to criticism or questions of relevance: Label them “a liberal attack” and hope no one notices they skirted the issue. Columnist Derrick Z. Jackson writes, “One day after the Sept. 11 Commission said that there was ‘no collaborative relationship’ between Iraq and Al Qaeda, Vice President Cheney reasserted on CNBC, ‘There clearly was a relationship. It's been testified to. The evidence is overwhelming’." “Cheney claimed that 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta had met in Prague with an Iraqi intelligence agent. That allegation was also debunked by the 9/11 commission after the panel found abundant evidence that Atta was actually in the United States at the time the rendezvous supposedly took place. (Cheney)...called the claim of an Atta meeting with an Iraqi official in Prague ‘pretty well confirmed’.” Isikoff and Hosenball). Similar false statements were used by the Bush administration as justification for going to war with Iraq. Yet, during his Vice-presidential debate with John Edwards, Cheney contradicted himself. “I have not suggested there’s a connection between Iraq and 9/11.” While I’m reluctant to take the Barbara Boxer route and label the GOP “a culture of corruption,” I can say with a straight face that the White House has become nothing more than a country club for liars. It all starts at the top with G-dub and Cheney, Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, et al. There is no doubt there were bold face lies told concerning the pre-war intelligence on Iraq. While this doesn’t make Bush and company war criminals, it makes them morally repugnant. How can these men and women send American youth off to die in an unjust, uncalled for war that was planned nearly fifteen years ago? How can they even look tearful mothers in the face without bursting into laughter? The war for George Bush is little more than an ego trip. For PNAC, the Rendon Group and the real power behind the Presidency, it is a rationale for seeking world domination and these men will literallu stop at nothing. The facts are that in early 2003 Bush and company repeated the lie that there was “substantial” evidence of Saddam Hussein possessing weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were found by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) nor after G-dubs ego-trip/war. More Bush administration chicanery includes: The administration’s continually censoring scientific documents relating to global warming. Only conservatives make the argument that the volatility of the earth’s climate is "an accident of nature." Second, the administrations energy policy probably was created behind closed doors in a collusive effort between the White House and oil industry executives. The White House has experienced numerous leaks, including the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. (There is concern that whoever leaked Plame’s identity violated the 1982 Agent Identities Protection Act). Questions abound regarding the legality of the Bush administration’s peeping telephone records; this under the guise of rooting out terrorists. Furthermore, there have been payments made to journalists who put a positive spin on the President’s policies. Being nice, “this is not a culture of corruption,” but being honest it is a den of liars whose attempts to readjust reality are shameless. Sources newwswatch.com By Derrick Z. Jackson, “Cheney-Speak, bostonnews.com, June 23, 2004 Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, “Terror Watch: Cheney/s Debate Misrepresentations on Iraq,” Newsweek Campaign 2004 and MSNBC.com, October 6, 2004 ------------ About the author: Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is a 46-year old poet, novelist and aspiring screenwriter who resides in northern California with his three youngest children--Lawrence, Kimberly and Dante. He is a member of various writer's groups and has three novels in print, his most recent, "Like A Straight-Up Sucka," is available at www.lulu.com. website: http://stellbreadO@tripod.com Email: stellbread@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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