Do you believe there are/were WMDs in Iraq?

[buzz_knox]

I'm not sure I know what law you are referring to Buzz...

It's the Iraq Liberation Act, HR 4655, signed into law by Clinton on October 31, 1998.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Did Bush make reference to that law during his campaign?

 

[DRZinn]

Does depleted uranium count as a WMD?

Of course not.

 

[buzz_knox]

Did Bush make reference to that law during his campaign?

I have no idea, but I would suspect he did. It's the law of the land, and as long as his goals are consistent with that law and the intent of Congress as represented by that law and the subsequent authorization for use of force (the debates concerning which did cite the law), so whether he cited to the specific law really doesn't matter.

 

[seansean]

check this link out, iraq veterans against the war...
http://www.ivaw.net/index.php?id=1

 

[buzz_knox]

The opening line of that website reads

Today marks the second anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, a key milestone in the current U.S. Government’s campaign of lies and deceit common since 9/11.

Gee, nothing one-sided or prejudicial there. And it continues into the inevitable (yet decidedly ignorant) comparison with Vietnam.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Buzz, did Bush make any reference at all to invading Iraq during his 2000 campaign?

 

[buzz_knox]

Invading? No. He did say that Hussein needed to be dealt with. And I've since discovered that the campaign platform did call for the full implementation of the 1998 act with a reported focus on continuing the efforts of the past. 9/11 is what changed things, unless you listen to O'Neill, who is the source for the idea that Bush was planning an invasion from day one, but has since recanted enough times that his credibility on the issue is a serious concern.

 

[richyoung]

"Actually, the annual death toll under Hussein was lower. Scary, huh?"

NOT when you factor in the Iran-Iraq war, the invasion of Kuwait, GW 1 and 2, suppression of the Kurdish uprisings, and the deaths due to withholding food, water, and medical help from whole regions simply because they eren't considered "loyal" enough to him. Not to mention the 5,000 a month he was scragging to keep himself in power. DO YOU THINK the "official records" have a paper trail of every person who caught a bullet to the back of the head or every Kurdish village wiped out? DO YOU THINK Sadaam was stupid enough to leave the evidence laying around for a possible "crimes against humanity" trial? The death toll in Iraq will now go DOWN - something that was impossible under SH. What I find "scary" is the idea that someone allegedly with more brain cells firing than Terrri Schiavo would seriously put forth these arguments.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Buzz, I tend to believe Oneill.

I don't see what his motive would have been for just making that stuff up.

Why he later contradicted himself is uncertain to me. Could he have somehow been influenced or persuaded by the administration to shut up? Possible.

 

[DRZinn]

Here's one: the environmentalists should be happier than a pig in [a mud puddle] that Hussein is gone. He drained one of the biggest natural marshes in the world just to punish the people who lived there.

 

[seansean]

not for nothing, but depleted uranium isn't particularly good for the environment either. These are facts, minus the tinfoil...
http://www.iacenter.org/depleted/du.htm

 

[buzz_knox]

We can agree that O'Neill is a liar. Plain and simple. So the question is when was O'Neill lying? When he made the statement to sell a book, or when his prior statements supporting the President was thrown in his face? And there can't be an argument of misinterpretation, because the statements are 180 degrees in opposition.

As for being influenced by the administration, I don't subscribe to the conspiracy theories like that. In this day and age, all someone has to say is that the admin. used improper influence and the full weight of the media would come down to protect the "whistleblower."

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Buzz you may be right but I think you are naive if you believe back room deals, political coersion, and good old fashioned blackmail don't still exist in our political system.

 

[thorn726]

hmmmmmmmmmm

awful quiet on this ever since we find out previous reports were Wrong.
all WRONG. ooops!

so are we just blaming the media?? Ol' dubya sure didn't seem to admit anything. oh it's not him, he had bad info, the prez doesnt make actual decisions, it's everyone else's fault.

not his fault everyone only read what they liked and ignored what they didnt right?

i just wish Clinton would had the nerve to go in there and done this , or we the American people coulda said we need to depose Saddam becasue he's a tyrant, ratrher than this veil of WMDs that didnt exist.