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In reply to the discussion: My List of DU'ers WHO DID NOT BELIEVE Bush LIES about Invading Iraq! [View all]stevenleser
(32,886 posts)4. Me. And I have proof!
http://www.network54.com/Forum/142834/message/1047272702/Reasons+for+attacking+Iraq+exposed+as+lies%2C+lies+and+damned+lies
Reasons for attacking Iraq exposed as lies, lies and damned lies
March 9, 2003
Steven H. Leser
Two days ago, the top two UN Weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei talked of "substantial measure(s) of disarmament" across Iraqi weapons programs. ElBaradei's report thoroughly debunked charges of Iraqis using aluminum tubes for nuclear weapons use and that after "thorough analysis, the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded, with the concurrence of ourside experts, that documents which form the basis for the reports of recent uranium transactions between Iraq and Niger are in fact not authentic...we have therefore concluded that these specific allegations are unfounded." The AP article discussing the report ran the headline, "BLIX: Iraq Actively Cooperating to Disarm"
So, there you have it. Iraq is now cooperating. They are destroying missiles, their scientists are disclosing all in interviews and it seems they were not working anywhere near as intently as we were led to believe to develop nuclear weapons. So, we're not going to war, right?
Wrong.
In perhaps the most stunning display that all we have been told regarding why we are going to war against Iraq is total balderdash, Colin Powell and Dubya are indicating war is right around the corner, if not that plans are being stepped up. The fact is, once Dubya was elected, nothing was going to stop him from invading Iraq. It might be for the oil, it might be to avenge the attempt on his daddy, it might be to finish his daddy's unfinished business after the first Gulf War. Whatever the reasons, they have nothing to do with protecting anyone else against Iraq, and the reasons have nothing to do with terrorism. That much is now abundantly clear.
What does this tell us about the people who are leading our country? It tells us that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Powell and Rumsfeld are willing to kill hundreds of thousands of people and put hundreds of thousands of our men and women in uniform in harms way to prosecute a war against a nation that does not present a clear and present danger to the US or our allies. In short, when they give the "Go ahead" they will be committing mass murder and genocide. I have written articles critical of the war in the past, but characterized these people (Bush, et. al) of being confused, wrong, or stupid as was my belief at the time. They may still be all those things, but I also now believe they know full well that to wage war now against Iraq is morally bankrupt, corrupt and criminal. Bush and any Bush administration official who stands by the pResident on this issue after the war begins should be impeached and sent to the Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Am I being too strong? I don't think so. Our Constitution talks about the inalienable rights of all people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. War and killing go completely contrary to those basic rights, and it is because of this that past great leaders of our country have established terms like "Clear and Present Danger" to put a moral qualification as to what kind of threat another nation has to pose to us or our allies before we can morally resort to war. A proposed war against Iraq barely had a whiff of such justification before the latest weapons inspectors report. Now, any hint of justification is gone. Americans of all parties, backgrounds, religions and ideologies need to rise up in protest against this war, because once it starts, whatever else this war costs, it will cost us our national honor.
Reasons for attacking Iraq exposed as lies, lies and damned lies
March 9, 2003
Steven H. Leser
Two days ago, the top two UN Weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei talked of "substantial measure(s) of disarmament" across Iraqi weapons programs. ElBaradei's report thoroughly debunked charges of Iraqis using aluminum tubes for nuclear weapons use and that after "thorough analysis, the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded, with the concurrence of ourside experts, that documents which form the basis for the reports of recent uranium transactions between Iraq and Niger are in fact not authentic...we have therefore concluded that these specific allegations are unfounded." The AP article discussing the report ran the headline, "BLIX: Iraq Actively Cooperating to Disarm"
So, there you have it. Iraq is now cooperating. They are destroying missiles, their scientists are disclosing all in interviews and it seems they were not working anywhere near as intently as we were led to believe to develop nuclear weapons. So, we're not going to war, right?
Wrong.
In perhaps the most stunning display that all we have been told regarding why we are going to war against Iraq is total balderdash, Colin Powell and Dubya are indicating war is right around the corner, if not that plans are being stepped up. The fact is, once Dubya was elected, nothing was going to stop him from invading Iraq. It might be for the oil, it might be to avenge the attempt on his daddy, it might be to finish his daddy's unfinished business after the first Gulf War. Whatever the reasons, they have nothing to do with protecting anyone else against Iraq, and the reasons have nothing to do with terrorism. That much is now abundantly clear.
What does this tell us about the people who are leading our country? It tells us that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Powell and Rumsfeld are willing to kill hundreds of thousands of people and put hundreds of thousands of our men and women in uniform in harms way to prosecute a war against a nation that does not present a clear and present danger to the US or our allies. In short, when they give the "Go ahead" they will be committing mass murder and genocide. I have written articles critical of the war in the past, but characterized these people (Bush, et. al) of being confused, wrong, or stupid as was my belief at the time. They may still be all those things, but I also now believe they know full well that to wage war now against Iraq is morally bankrupt, corrupt and criminal. Bush and any Bush administration official who stands by the pResident on this issue after the war begins should be impeached and sent to the Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Am I being too strong? I don't think so. Our Constitution talks about the inalienable rights of all people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. War and killing go completely contrary to those basic rights, and it is because of this that past great leaders of our country have established terms like "Clear and Present Danger" to put a moral qualification as to what kind of threat another nation has to pose to us or our allies before we can morally resort to war. A proposed war against Iraq barely had a whiff of such justification before the latest weapons inspectors report. Now, any hint of justification is gone. Americans of all parties, backgrounds, religions and ideologies need to rise up in protest against this war, because once it starts, whatever else this war costs, it will cost us our national honor.
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You actually still believe that bullshit? As in seriously? WOW. Happy to say I never did.
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#17
You mean that Al Qaeda camps were in Afghanistan including the leadership? Yes. And they were. nt
stevenleser
Mar 2013
#18
Or in Pakistan? Or somewhere else? Everything you think you know came from which source again?
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#27
Do you actually believe the garbage you are trying to shovel in my direction?
stevenleser
Mar 2013
#40
I definitely don't believe anything that either your or mine government told me. Don't have one
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#44
Why did you not want to invade the country from where, we were told, most of the
sabrina 1
Mar 2013
#74
Why would we invade a country they just happened to be in at that time? Why didn't
sabrina 1
Mar 2013
#91
"Why would we invade a country they just happened to be in at that time?" Seriously?
stevenleser
Mar 2013
#97
Careful. You are going to be told you are peddling trash. Or something like it. Because otherwise
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#86
I'm used to that. I was online posting to Republicans when the Afghanistan invasion
sabrina 1
Mar 2013
#94
Afghanistan was for oil. The route to the Caspian sea. Robert Sheer among other great
sabrina 1
Mar 2013
#72
No, it wasn't. That is an invention of people who want a reason to be against that war.
stevenleser
Mar 2013
#85
I feel sorry for you. Really sorry. Unfortunately repeating Shrub's generated BS time after time
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#88
Yes, exactly. International support against terrorist attacks was not under question.
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#108
You clearly have no knowledge of our history with Afghanistan and the Oil Cartels, the Taliban
sabrina 1
Mar 2013
#93
I've seen all of that supposed evidence. We have business dealings with all but 2-3 countries
stevenleser
Mar 2013
#98
Please, the congressional record contains records of millions of business dealings.
stevenleser
Mar 2013
#103
But when a crime is committed, intelligent people, especially good investigative journalists
sabrina 1
Mar 2013
#112
Correlation does not equal causation. There are millions of simultaneous issues we could assert as
stevenleser
Mar 2013
#113
Mmm, that's what Bush supporters told me exactly, that the whole war for oil thing was
sabrina 1
Mar 2013
#115
Something tells me that Bush supporters aren't generally smart enough to come up with that line. nt
stevenleser
Mar 2013
#116
You call that smart? I am disappointed. And btw you are quite wrong about Bush supporters.
sabrina 1
Mar 2013
#117
I was on the other side of the pond when 10 million of us in UK took to the streets. That's almost
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#21
I lurked til 2004 but I didn't believe anything that came from that admin from Day 1
Gidney N Cloyd
Mar 2013
#28
Am proud to have voiced opposition to this war from the git-go, including a letter to
indepat
Mar 2013
#33
Was not on DU yet but was marching in London together with 1 million other Brits.
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#37
No, Thank You! I remember it well how absolutely batshit crazy it was in US than and every single
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#45
I remember British press desperately trying to lower the number of people who were in London.
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#66
Our arseholes were paying more attention to anarchists (even though they were perfectly polite and
idwiyo
Mar 2013
#83
I still have the poster I carried in ONE of the NYC marches I was in pre-Invasion.
WinkyDink
Mar 2013
#51
Me--and I watched the Canadian news programs on News World International
Lydia Leftcoast
Mar 2013
#56
Dennis Kucinich totally deserves to be honored here ~ The Bloodstained Path, 2002:
Zorra
Mar 2013
#59
I never believed any of W's excuses for waging aggressive war against Iraq.
Lionel Mandrake
Mar 2013
#63
Almost nobody who was here in the run up to shock and awe believed the lies.
hedda_foil
Mar 2013
#71