I don’t know why I’m arguing since I agree with your overall conclusion, but the bit you have highlighted in red could just mean that if Saddam won’t go, the Iraqi military should mutiny to avoid bloodshed. I think the ambiguity was probably intentional, because Bush wanted to have an out for when it was suggested to him that his comments meant he was going to invade regardless.
xtisme I hope the previous cites are adequate. I had an earlier discussion on this board, with furt, pervert and a few others perhaps, where I cited a report or 2.
There wasn’t so much ‘last-minute-ism’ in the reports I recall. More like a few months lead time. The parameters of the deal on the table seemed firm and definite too.
No worries, I did ask you to parse further.
I agree vis-a-vis the ambiguity – “plausible deniabilty” along with “lack of accountability” has been taken to an art form in politics and the Roveian School is at the movement’s vanguard, providing cutting edge material at frantic pace. The folks from the “depends on what the meaning of is, is” era mere amateurs by comparison.
Having said that, I still think that Bush had no choice but to invade at that point and he was implicitly saying as much. Why? Well, think about it. After being so shrill for so long about the “grave danger” that Iraq’s WMD’s represented, a mere change of Gov in same would not, ipso facto, mean that the nonexistent “threat” was gone. After all, had Saddam resigned/left, odds are very good to great that someone from the Baath Party would have succeeded him. Hardly a satisfactory outcome for the “make our own reality” crowd and their ME “vision.” Nope, Iraq was earmarked for change and that’s that.
Then again, reality has a way of coming back and biting you right in the ass.
Certainly. I appreciate the cites. It gives me more to think about. Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier, its been a bit hairy at work since last night.
To you, no.
I agree, by that point Bush didn’t really have a choice (even if he WANTED another option which it doesnt look like he did) but to go to war. Once those troops were deployed and the logistics was set the clock was ticking. You simply can’t keep troops indefinitely in that kind of situation. In addition, as you pointed out, Bush had invested too much in the whole ‘grave danger’ thing to back down.
And it appears that Bush et al didn’t even want to leave Saddam an out if the indications I skimmed through are correct. STUPID STUPID STUPID!! You ALWAYS leave an enemy a way out, and its always better to simply pay someone off to leave than launch an invasion in terms of both money and cost of lives. I’m fairly confident that had Bush given Saddam a chance to wiggle out he would have…its always puzzled me in fact that he DIDN’T, considering his actual expection of what would happen if the US invaded (i.e. he would lose) coupled with his vast fortune. Certainly its better to rule, but not if its assured you are going to lose. Its hard to believe that my attitude towards Bush could actually sink lower (I didn’t think it could), but its been steadily dropping from zero lately as I absorb more of this stuff.
-XT
The question you should ask yourself, xtisme, is why you didn’t “absorb more of this stuff” two or three years ago…
Probably because of guys like you rjung. And if I’m honest because I was too lazy to really deeply dig into all this, taking a lot of this at face value.
-XT
“Hey, these people are telling me to pay attention to some unpleasant facts that contradict what I already believe in – let’s ignore them!”
:smack: 
rj, for some unpleasant facts about yourself - your "bedside manor’, as it were, sucks. It’s often nearly hyperbolic, shrill, abrasve, dismissive and condescending all at once.
I know I’ve mentioned this to you at least once. But just ftr, I thought I’d bring it up again.
I never claimed it wasn’t. 
Why do you think I never went into nursing?
I have no delusions about my own personal faults, one of the worse being that I have no tolerance for fools.
To paraphrase Jon Stewart, “Stop it. You’re hurting the country.”
Must…resist…temptation of… straightline.