Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Bush didn't lie? Well, here's 20 REASONS

Your 20 reasons one by one

The article you linked claims there were 20 lies about the war. You make the claim that Bush made these lies. Lets look at them one by one.

1 Iraq was responsible for the 11 September attacks

Bush never said Iraq was responsible for 9-11, not once.

2 Iraq and al-Qa'ida were working together

I believe it was agents from the Czeck government who claim that one of Saddam's top intel agents met with Mohammad Atta (leader of the 9-11 highjackers) in Praque in April of 2001. Our own CIA doesn't put much credance with this report. The Iraqi agent was picked up just a couple weeks ago, so perhaps we'll learn more in due course.

On the other hand, there were al-Qa'ida operatives training in northern Iraq.

3 Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa for a "reconstituted" nuclear weapons programme

The British government still stands by this claim. Nothing personal, but I'm willing to give them more credibility than I do a newspaper or you.

4 Iraq was trying to import aluminium tubes to develop nuclear weapons

Those aluminum tubes were built to a far higher quality specification than is needed for artillery rockets, far higher than even we use for our "gold plated" military systems.

5 Iraq still had vast stocks of chemical and biological weapons from the first Gulf War

By the prewar figures based on UN inspections in the 1990s, there were thousands of tons of these weapons unaccounted for. What was the more reasonable supposition - that Iraq destroyed the weapons (without any form of evidence) or that they still had them? There was a lot of effort to get those sanctions lifted against Iraq and they were based in large part on compliance with the inspections and disarmament. If they wanted to end the sanctions, all they had to do was show evidence of the weapons' destruction.

6 Iraq retained up to 20 missiles which could carry chemical or biological warheads, with a range which would threaten British forces in Cyprus

I don't have any knowledge on this one, but there was a detailed description of an air strike that supposedly destroyed an outlawed Scud missile in an early April issue of "Aviation Week & Space Technology" magazine. Perhaps the Weapon System Operator being interviewed for the article was mistaken in the weapon she destroyed. Such things happen. Based on the radar track data of some of the missiles launched against Kuwait during the war, it appears some of the missiles flew considerably longer than the range restrictions allowed.

7 Saddam Hussein had the wherewithal to develop smallpox

This is another of those areas where conflicting accounts must be considered. Does that automatically translate to you that "Bush lied?"

8 US and British claims were supported by the inspectors

See #5 above.

9 Previous weapons inspections had failed

See #5 above.

10 Iraq was obstructing the inspectors

If memory serves from news articles earlier this year, this was a true statement. Iraqi scientists at first refused to be interviewed by the inspectors, and later relented but only in the presence of "minders". There were other examples mentioned in the news articles from late last year and early this year of less than the full cooperation with inspectors mandated by UNSCR 1441.

11 Iraq could deploy its weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes

And this claim (by Tony Blair, not George Bush) was later rescended. Bush never made it, so how does that count as a lie by Bush?

12 The "dodgy dossier"

Again, this applies to Blair. Are you going so far as to blame Bush for everything, even things by Tony Blair? If so, what color is the sky on your planet?

13 War would be easy

Compared to previous military operations of a similar scope, the war was easy. It wasn't a cakewalk (wars seldom are) but taking over a country the size of California in 3 weeks was a decided military victory.

14 Umm Qasr

What's the point, that someone mistakenly claimed the city was under control a few days early? Was that a lie or a mistake? I suppose the Independent newspaper (and you) have never made a mistake.

15 Basra rebellion

Since this was coming from a region under British control, how does it count as a lie by Bush?

16 The "rescue" of Private Jessica Lynch

Yes, the early news reports by the Washington Post appear to be wrong. However, as a Newsweek article Tom linked on the Current Events page, there still seems a lot of uncertainty as to what happened to her. It also appears that the head injuries she suffered blocked out all memory of the incident, a not uncommon occurrance.

17 Troops would face chemical and biological weapons

Given Saddams proven history of using chemical and/or biological weapons against the Kurds and Iran, it wasn't an reasonable belief. What were they supposed to believe?

18 Interrogation of scientists would yield the location of WMD

And they still might (or have already). As with the scientist who revealed the centrifuge buried in his backyard and the untold thousands of pages of documents recovered, there are a lot of clues that will have to be sorted through before the full truth is known.

19 Iraq's oil money would go to Iraqis

Until a full Iraqi government is operational, letting the UN administer the fund would be letting them siphon off billions for "administrative costs" like they did with the "Oil for Food" program.

20 WMD were found

Yeah, everyone knows you have to bury hydrogen producing trucks to keep them from being discovered, just as everyone "knows" that airliner contrails are part of a government plot to poison the people.

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