Today's Truths About the Iraq War
Gary Ater
February 16, 2007
Senator Hillary Clinton says that "If we knew before we invaded Iraq, what we know today, there would not have been the vote in the US Senate that led to the war in Iraq."
Just what is it that we know today?
(The following is based on the eventual "real truth" that contradicts direct statements from President Bush and/or his senior administration officials prior to the US attack of Iraq.)
THE TRUTH:
A) Iraq did NOT have trained al-Qaeda members in bomb making and poison and deadly gases. (As stated by President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati):
B) Saddam did NOT seek quantities of uranium from Niger, Africa. (As stated by President Bush, Jan. 28, 2003 in the State of the Union Address)
C) The Vice President's statement that Saddam had reconstituted the nuclear weapons program was his opinion, NOT based on fact or real intelligence.(V.P. Cheney stated, Mar. 16, 2003, on Meet the Press)
D) The CIA did NOT have proof of contacts between Senior Iraqi officials and al-Qaeda for the past 10 years.(Per CIA Director, George Tenet, in a statement released on Oct. 7, 2002)
E) There were NO manned or unmanned aerial weapons in Iraq hat could disperse chemical or biological weapons in the United States.(As stated by President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati)
F) There was NO intelligence that Iraq had chemical & biological weapons and Iraq's command & control arrangements had NOT been established.(As per President Bush , Feb. 8, 2003, in a National Radio Address)
G) The US did NOT know where the WMD's were located.(As was stated by Donald Rumsfeld, on Mar. 30, 2003, in a statement to the Press.)
H) Iraq did NOT have 100-500 tons of chemical weapons which could fill 16,000 battlefield rockets.(As per the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, Feb. 5, 2003, to the UN Security Council)
I) There were NO, U-N prohibited portable biological weapons labs found in Iraq.(As stated by then Sec, of State, Colin Powell in his address to the United Nations, Feb. 5, 2003)
J) Iraq did NOT buy aluminum tubes to use for gas centrifuges which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.(As stated by President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati)
The above 10 items does NOT include the following additional untrue statements made by President Bush and/or his administration officials:
1) "The Iraqi's will pay for their reconstruction after the war. It won't cost the US but a couple of hundred million dollars tops."
2) "It will all be over in 3-6 months."
3) "Our troops will all be out of Iraq within 6 months."
4) "Of course there's a plan for dealing with any occupation of Iraq after the war."
5) "The Iraqi Army will handle all the local Iraqi police activities after Saddam is gone."
6) "I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." (Vice Pres. Dick Cheney, June 20, 2005. TV interview)
Based on the above "truths" & "untruths", one might ask: "Why is it considered unpatriotic by some, for a US citizen to claim that the President and his administration has "lied to the American public about going to war with Iraq?" Many supporters say: "But many Democrats voted for the President to use force in Iraq if necessary." As pre Senator Clinton, that vote for approval of using force would not have occurred if the real truths were known by those that did vote to support the President's request.
Just what is it that we know today?
(The following is based on the eventual "real truth" that contradicts direct statements from President Bush and/or his senior administration officials prior to the US attack of Iraq.)
THE TRUTH:
A) Iraq did NOT have trained al-Qaeda members in bomb making and poison and deadly gases. (As stated by President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati):
B) Saddam did NOT seek quantities of uranium from Niger, Africa. (As stated by President Bush, Jan. 28, 2003 in the State of the Union Address)
C) The Vice President's statement that Saddam had reconstituted the nuclear weapons program was his opinion, NOT based on fact or real intelligence.(V.P. Cheney stated, Mar. 16, 2003, on Meet the Press)
D) The CIA did NOT have proof of contacts between Senior Iraqi officials and al-Qaeda for the past 10 years.(Per CIA Director, George Tenet, in a statement released on Oct. 7, 2002)
E) There were NO manned or unmanned aerial weapons in Iraq hat could disperse chemical or biological weapons in the United States.(As stated by President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati)
F) There was NO intelligence that Iraq had chemical & biological weapons and Iraq's command & control arrangements had NOT been established.(As per President Bush , Feb. 8, 2003, in a National Radio Address)
G) The US did NOT know where the WMD's were located.(As was stated by Donald Rumsfeld, on Mar. 30, 2003, in a statement to the Press.)
H) Iraq did NOT have 100-500 tons of chemical weapons which could fill 16,000 battlefield rockets.(As per the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, Feb. 5, 2003, to the UN Security Council)
I) There were NO, U-N prohibited portable biological weapons labs found in Iraq.(As stated by then Sec, of State, Colin Powell in his address to the United Nations, Feb. 5, 2003)
J) Iraq did NOT buy aluminum tubes to use for gas centrifuges which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.(As stated by President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati)
The above 10 items does NOT include the following additional untrue statements made by President Bush and/or his administration officials:
1) "The Iraqi's will pay for their reconstruction after the war. It won't cost the US but a couple of hundred million dollars tops."
2) "It will all be over in 3-6 months."
3) "Our troops will all be out of Iraq within 6 months."
4) "Of course there's a plan for dealing with any occupation of Iraq after the war."
5) "The Iraqi Army will handle all the local Iraqi police activities after Saddam is gone."
6) "I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." (Vice Pres. Dick Cheney, June 20, 2005. TV interview)
Based on the above "truths" & "untruths", one might ask: "Why is it considered unpatriotic by some, for a US citizen to claim that the President and his administration has "lied to the American public about going to war with Iraq?" Many supporters say: "But many Democrats voted for the President to use force in Iraq if necessary." As pre Senator Clinton, that vote for approval of using force would not have occurred if the real truths were known by those that did vote to support the President's request.
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