Iraq WMD, Case for War
What was the case for war? How was it justified?
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Scott Ritter Right about Iraq WMD: Nominated for Presidential Medal of Freedom ... not selected!
RANDY SCHOLFIELD: RITTER RIGHT ABOUT IRAQ: "Ritter right about Iraq | RANDY SCHOLFIELD: RITTER RIGHT ABOUT IRAQ
President Bush has been handing out Presidential Medals of Freedom lately like they were Little League good sportsmanship ribbons.
The medal apparently is an award for good effort, even if the results aren't so winning.
He awarded one to former Iraq viceroy Paul Bremer, who most notably disbanded the Iraqi army, leading to our present security implosion.
And he gave one to George Tenet, the former CIA chief, who most notably presided over two of the most devastating intelligence failures in the nation's history: first Sept. 11, then Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
It was Tenet who told the president that finding weapons stockpiles in Iraq was a 'slam dunk.'
Right. Give that man a medal.
I'd like to nominate someone who really deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom: Scott Ritter.
Remember Ritter? In a column in 2002, I wrote about the square-jawed former U.S. Marine and United Nations weapons inspector, who was in Wichita several months before the invasion of Iraq, giving a talk -- no, a plea -- about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
He was adamant: Saddam Hussein had no WMDs -- at least none of any consequence or that posed an imminent danger to the United States. Certainly nothing that would warrant a rushed invasion. 'We can't go to war based on rhetoric and speculation,' he told the crowd. 'We'd better make sure there is a threat out there worth fighting.'
He argued that 90 percent to 95 percent of Saddam's WMDs had been dismantled by the U.N. inspection team in which he served from 1991 to 1998. And that Saddam was otherwise well-contained by U.S. forces.
Now we know: He was right."
RANDY SCHOLFIELD: RITTER RIGHT ABOUT IRAQ: "Ritter right about Iraq | RANDY SCHOLFIELD: RITTER RIGHT ABOUT IRAQ
President Bush has been handing out Presidential Medals of Freedom lately like they were Little League good sportsmanship ribbons.
The medal apparently is an award for good effort, even if the results aren't so winning.
He awarded one to former Iraq viceroy Paul Bremer, who most notably disbanded the Iraqi army, leading to our present security implosion.
And he gave one to George Tenet, the former CIA chief, who most notably presided over two of the most devastating intelligence failures in the nation's history: first Sept. 11, then Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
It was Tenet who told the president that finding weapons stockpiles in Iraq was a 'slam dunk.'
Right. Give that man a medal.
I'd like to nominate someone who really deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom: Scott Ritter.
Remember Ritter? In a column in 2002, I wrote about the square-jawed former U.S. Marine and United Nations weapons inspector, who was in Wichita several months before the invasion of Iraq, giving a talk -- no, a plea -- about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
He was adamant: Saddam Hussein had no WMDs -- at least none of any consequence or that posed an imminent danger to the United States. Certainly nothing that would warrant a rushed invasion. 'We can't go to war based on rhetoric and speculation,' he told the crowd. 'We'd better make sure there is a threat out there worth fighting.'
He argued that 90 percent to 95 percent of Saddam's WMDs had been dismantled by the U.N. inspection team in which he served from 1991 to 1998. And that Saddam was otherwise well-contained by U.S. forces.
Now we know: He was right."
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Revisionist history: Original rationale for invasion was groundless
Revisionist history: Original rationale for invasion was groundless - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA: "January 15, 2005 | A Register-Guard Editorial
News flash! The White House acknowledged Wednesday that its hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction has ended without finding the stockpiles that President Bush cited as the main justification for invading Iraq nearly two years - and more than 1,350 American lives - ago.
Given the president's extraordinary ability to revise his rationale for the war, some Americans may have forgotten the administration's original wide-eyed warnings about the imminent danger posed by Saddam Hussein's stockpiles of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
...
Vice President Dick Cheney, Aug. 26, 2002: "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us."
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Sept. 8, 2002: "The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
President Bush, Nov. 3, 2002: "Saddam Hussein is a man who told the world he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, but he's got them."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5, 2003 - five weeks before the invasion: "The gravity of this moment is matched by the gravity of the threat that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction pose to the world."
Revisionist history: Original rationale for invasion was groundless - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA: "January 15, 2005 | A Register-Guard Editorial
News flash! The White House acknowledged Wednesday that its hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction has ended without finding the stockpiles that President Bush cited as the main justification for invading Iraq nearly two years - and more than 1,350 American lives - ago.
Given the president's extraordinary ability to revise his rationale for the war, some Americans may have forgotten the administration's original wide-eyed warnings about the imminent danger posed by Saddam Hussein's stockpiles of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
...
Vice President Dick Cheney, Aug. 26, 2002: "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us."
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Sept. 8, 2002: "The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
President Bush, Nov. 3, 2002: "Saddam Hussein is a man who told the world he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, but he's got them."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5, 2003 - five weeks before the invasion: "The gravity of this moment is matched by the gravity of the threat that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction pose to the world."
