Headed to War No Matter What
While it may seem like rehashing old news, given the recent ratcheting up of rhetoric against Iran and the possible staging for a confrontation that could be already underway, it seems appropriate that we recall how we came to be bogged down the neighboring country.
Few probably remember it but in April 2006, Tyler Drumheller, former head of the CIA's European operations directorate, gave an interview in which he alleged that the Bush administration had ignored evidence that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction. "The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming, and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy, to justify the policy," Drumheller said during the interview.
Drumheller's account has now been confirmed by two other former CIA officials. Also confirmed was that not only was the intelligence provided by a member of Saddam's inner circle ignored but it was also never shared with Congress nor with key administration officials such as then-Secretary of State Colin Powell. It was Powell's February 2003 presentation to the United Nations that helped clinch the deal for war in the minds of many.
Of course all of this really isn't any surprise. It has been obvious for a while now that Bush was hellbent on war no matter what. And so consumed was he of the belief that Saddam had WMD that some three years after the invasion, he still privately believed that to be the case.
Bush once famously mangled a quote about the number of times a person can be fooled. It is perhaps the only advice from this administration I would suggest we take to heart.
More via Meme.
(Filed at State of the Day and All Spin Zone)
Few probably remember it but in April 2006, Tyler Drumheller, former head of the CIA's European operations directorate, gave an interview in which he alleged that the Bush administration had ignored evidence that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction. "The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming, and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy, to justify the policy," Drumheller said during the interview.
Drumheller's account has now been confirmed by two other former CIA officials. Also confirmed was that not only was the intelligence provided by a member of Saddam's inner circle ignored but it was also never shared with Congress nor with key administration officials such as then-Secretary of State Colin Powell. It was Powell's February 2003 presentation to the United Nations that helped clinch the deal for war in the minds of many.
Of course all of this really isn't any surprise. It has been obvious for a while now that Bush was hellbent on war no matter what. And so consumed was he of the belief that Saddam had WMD that some three years after the invasion, he still privately believed that to be the case.
Bush once famously mangled a quote about the number of times a person can be fooled. It is perhaps the only advice from this administration I would suggest we take to heart.
More via Meme.
(Filed at State of the Day and All Spin Zone)
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