I’m not ashamed; by the time the invasion started, even I believed Saddam had 'em, and that American troops were walking into a chemical & biological shitstorm.
But now that the smoke has cleared, I realize that any trust in this President, even though meager, was misplaced. I don’t see how this makes me or anyone else who was deceived worthy of your opprobrium.
Well, then, keep your wits about you in the future. In my five years here, I have repeatedly taken the opportunity to remind people that politicians lie. Remember your indignation the next time you hear a promise — from any of them.
Wow, what a newsflash.
And non-politicians don’t lie? “All have sinned, and all have fallen short of the glory of God.” Everyone lies, sometime. Saying, “politicians lie,” is not in and of itself useful information. If you’re saying that you might as well flip a coin as to use your own judgment to guess whether a politician is telling the truth or not in any given situation - now, that would be a claim that would mean something.
Well, it certainly is. Ordinary lies are inconsequential or of limited consequence. But when a man who is seeking power over you and your life lies, then when he is given that power, his lies can be of great consequence. Bill Clinton, for example, promised to eliminate discrimination against gays in the military, and it was a key promise of his campaign. Instead, once he took office and encountered political resistance, he backtracked on his promise and instituted the infamous “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The consequence was that more gays were discharged from the military under his policy than ever before.
If they both did the crime, they should both be punished for it. At the least, put Ashcroft in front of a grand jury, see if there’s enough evidence to indict. If there is, try him in court.
How was Bill Clinton during his Presidency decieved by George W. Bush on the issue of Saddam Hussein violating his agreement with the UN?
My point is that those who supported the war did so based on the intelligence supplied by the Bush administration. If you have some axe to grind regarding something that happened way back in the Clinton administration, please explain how that is relavent to whether or not Bush justified the invasion with false intelligence.
“…it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq…”
Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (signed by Bill Clinton)
“What if he [Saddam] fails to comply, and we fail to act? Or we take some ambiguous third route which gives him more opportunities to develop this program of weapons of mass destruction? … Well, he will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction. And someday, some way, I guarantee you he’ll use the arsenal.”
Bill Clinton, December 16, 1998