WP: Bush Recasts Rationale

[Brian Rucker]

Here are some choice tidbits from the story:

All these assertions were disproved or rejected by the Duelfer report. Not only did Duelfer say Iraq had no weapons, but he said Hussein was interested in acquiring weapons because Iran, Iraq's longtime enemy, had its own weapons programs -- not because it wished to attack the United States.

Duelfer said that before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the sanctions on Iraq were eroding and that Hussein hoped to rebuild his programs if those sanctions were ever lifted. But the appetite for lifting the sanctions evaporated in the U.N. Security Council after Sept. 11, 2001, and Duelfer said Hussein had no formal written strategy or plan for restarting his programs.
While the Duelfer report said that the prospect of Iraq escaping the sanctions faded after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush took the opposite lesson.

Before Sept. 11 , "we were trying to fashion a sanction regime that would make it more likely to be able to contain somebody like Saddam Hussein," Bush told reporters on Jan. 31, 2003. "After September the 11th, the doctrine of containment just doesn't hold any water, as far as I'm concerned. . . . The strategic vision of our country shifted dramatically, and it shifted dramatically because we now recognize that oceans no longer protect us, that we're vulnerable to attack."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20562-2004Oct9_2.html

[TrodKnee]

Some dude named Duelfer wrote some report...it said Bush was right!

[TomChick]

Waiting for the Dan Morris spin in 3...2...1...

:)

-Tom

[Gordon Cameron]

because we now recognize that oceans no longer protect us,

Didn't we learn that one after Pearl Harbor?

[Andrew Mayer]

Didn't we learn that one after Pearl Harbor?

You don't learn about WWII in business school!

[Woolen Horde]

because we now recognize that oceans no longer protect us,

Didn't we learn that one after Pearl Harbor?

Shhhh.... Pappy Bush fought in Double-U Double-U 2, and we know how much Jr. doesn't like to associate with his dad. You know, if he could, he'd have Rove annoint him the "political son" of Reagan. The slight problem in that is that the Reagans despise him. as Ron Jr.'s scathing attacks (which everyone knows that Nancy greenlit) show.

[Daniel Morris]

Waiting for the Dan Morris spin in 3...2...1...

Umm...here it is: The Duelfer report is the final, exhaustive, conclusive debunking of everything Bush said in the run-up to the war, and as such it destroys the credibility of everything the Bush adminstration could ever again have cause to say, whether to the American people or to the world at large.

How's that, Tom? Because your comment makes me doubt that you ever read anything I post here. : )

[TomChick]

I actually thought you might have somehow used it to buttress your argument that the invasion of Iraq was Necessary and Good, albeit botched.

BTW, I do read most of what you post, but you post as if you're delivering a mildly obtuse college lecture rather than mucking about with P&R's informal water cooler talk/bickering. It's a lot easier to track guys like Zarathustra and Midnight Son. :)

-Tom

[Andrew Mayer]

The Kerry campaign has documented the Bush spin on theInvasion. (http://blog.johnkerry.com/rapidresponse/archives/003309.html#003309). I don't normally post pieces this big, but this is a case where the size itself makes the point:

HOT OFF THE PRESSES: SADDAM’S “INSATIABLE APPETITE”: It's obviously a risk but I think to say that this was a greater risk now than before Saddam Hussein was out of power simply doesn't face the fact that Saddam Hussein had an insatiable appetite for weapons of mass destruction. He had an unflinching hatred for the United States. He had every reason to cooperate with our enemies. This was a gathering and growing threat and it was time to take care of it.” [Condi Rice, Fox News Sunday, October 10, 2004]

PREVIOUS REASONS:

1. War On Terror: “But no terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.” [Testimony of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld before the House Armed Services Committee regarding Iraq, Rayburn House Office Building (Washington, D.C.), 9/18/02]

2. WMD: “His regime has amassed large clandestine stocks of biological weapons, including anthrax and botulism toxin and possibly smallpox. His regime has amassed large clandestine stockpiles of chemical weapons, including VX and sarin and mustard gas.” [Rumsfeld Testimony, 9/18/02]

3. Denied Access to Inspectors: “His regime has in place an elaborate, organized system of denial and deception to frustrate both inspectors and outside intelligence efforts.” [Rumsfeld Testimony, 9/18/02]

4. Regime Change: “The president also, however, is committed to regime change” [Testimony of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell before the Foreign Operations, Export Financing And Related Programs Subcommittee Of The House Appropriations Committee, 2/13/02]

5. Saddam Hussein is Evil: “Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections, then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world. States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil.” [President George W. Bush, State of the Union, 2/4/02]

6. Curry Favor with the Middle East: “Pat, if we assist in the liberation of Iraq. If Iraqis are dancing in the streets, as they will be when Saddam goes, that has--that has the potential to transform the region in our favor,” [Richard Perle, MSNBC’s Hardball, 3/29/02]

7. Set an Example for Nations that Sponsor Terrorism: “The message is very clear: If you give sanctuary to terrorists, you, yourself, are put at risk. This president was the first president to base policy on that assumption. If we now proceed, as I hope we will, and I know Pat thinks we should, to go after Saddam Hussein in Iraq, then I think we will have made it so clear to other states that are either supporting terrorism or building weapons of mass destruction or both, that they will change their policies. Up until now they've had no incentive. There has been no pressure on them to refrain either from supporting terrorism or for seeking weapons of mass destruction. We need to change that situation.” [Richard Perle, MSNBC’s Hardball, 4/18/02]

8. Liberate Iraqis: “…the Iraqi people are repressed and are being subjugated by that regime. There is no doubt in mind, but the overwhelming majority are anxious to be liberated and be free of that regime.” [Rumsfeld Testimony, 9/18/02]

9. Iraq’s Broken Promises: First, it's clear from the Iraqi regime's 11 years of defiance that containment has not led to their compliance. To the contrary, containment is breaking down.” [Rumsfeld Testimony, 9/18/02]

10. Revenge: “After all, this [Saddam Hussein] is a guy that tried to kill my dad.” [President George W. Bush, Remarks by the President at John Cornyn for Senate Reception, 9/26/02]

11. Threat To the Region: “He threatens the regimes of his neighboring countries frequently.” [Rumsfeld Testimony, 9/18/02]

12. Because We Can: “Saddam Hussein is loathed and detested, despised by most of the people of Iraq. If we can not organize an effective opposition to Saddam -- if we can not drive this tyrant from office, than we can't do anything. And I believe if we do it and are successful and we can be successful, we will be regarded as the liberators of Iraq.” [Richard Perle, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Reports, 11/6/01]

13. Unfinished Business: MR. PERLE: “Well, this specter of house-to-house fighting in Baghdad has been raised again, as it was in 1991. It's one of the reasons why we failed to finish Saddam in '91, which we should have done. The specter has been...” MR. RUSSERT: “But you supported the president in '91.” MR. PERLE: Well, I thought it was a bad idea to stop and leave the Republican Guard in place, because we had them surrounded in the desert, and the sensible thing to do would have been to force the disarmament of Iraq on that occasion, but we didn't do it.” [NBC’s Meet the Press, 10/6/02]

14. For the Sake of History: “I'm a patient man. I intend to use all the tools at our disposal. But for the sake of freedom, for the sake of what's right, for the sake of a -- for the sake of history, we're not going to let the world's worst leaders threaten America with the world's worst weapons.” [President George W. Bush, Remarks by the President at Elizabeth Dole for Senate Finance Dinner, 7/25/02]

15. Disarmament: “I think one other point I'd make before proceeding is that there is obviously a misunderstanding on the part of those who think that the goal is inspections. The goal isn't inspections, the goal is disarmament. That is what was agreed to by Iraq. That is what was understood by the United Nations.” [Rumsfeld Testimony, 9/18/02]

16. Commitment to Our Children: “…for the sake of freedom and peace, if the United Nations will not deal with Saddam Hussein, the United States and our friends will. (Applause.) We owe it to our children to defend freedom. We owe it to our children and children elsewhere to keep the peace.” [President George W. Bush, Remarks by the President at Doug Forrester for Senate Event, 9/23/02]

17. Imminent Threat. “As we meet today, it's been almost four years since the last U.N. inspectors set foot in Iraq, four years for the Iraqi regime to plan, and to build, and to test behind the cloak of secrecy. We know that Saddam Hussein pursued weapons of mass murder even when inspectors were in his country. Are we to assume that he stopped when they left? The history, the logic, and the facts lead to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein's regime is a grave and gathering danger.” [President’s Address to the U.N. General Assembly, 9/12/02]

18. Preserve Peace: “To assume this regime's good faith is to bet the lives of millions and the peace of the world in a reckless gamble. And this is a risk we must not take. … The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace.” [President’s Address to the U.N. General Assembly, 9/12/02]

19. Threat To Freedom: “If we fail to act in the face of danger, the people of Iraq will continue to live in brutal submission. The regime will have new power to bully and dominate and conquer its neighbors, condemning the Middle East to more years of bloodshed and fear. The regime will remain unstable -- the region will remain unstable, with little hope of freedom, and isolated from the progress of our times.” [President’s Address to the U.N. General Assembly, 9/12/02]

20. Link to al Qaeda: “The regime has long-standing and continuing ties to terrorist organizations. And there are al Qaeda terrorists inside Iraq.” [President George W. Bush, Remarks by the President on Iraq-A Decade of Deception and Defiance, 9/26/02]

21. Iraq is Unique: “By its past and present actions, by its technological capabilities, by the merciless nature of its regime, Iraq is unique. As a former chief weapons inspector of the U.N. has said, ‘The fundamental problem with Iraq remains the nature of the regime, itself. Saddam Hussein is a homicidal dictator who is addicted to weapons of mass destruction.’” [President George W. Bush, Remarks by the President on Iraq, 10/7/02]

22. Relevance of the United Nations: “All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?” [President’s Address to the U.N. General Assembly, 9/12/02]

23. International Law: “And he has demonstrated time and again his aggressive intent. One can argue as to what his development activities are. One can argue as to what his stockpiles look like. One can argue at the pace of development within Iraq of these terrible weapons. But what is not arguable is that he is in violation of international law and the international constraints that were placed upon him.” [Secretary of State Colin Powell, Remarks upon Receiving the National Committee on American Foreign Policy’s Hans J. Morgenthau Award, 9/12/02]

24. TODAY’S LATEST – “SADDAM HUSSEIN HAD AN INSATIABLE APPETITE FOR WMD”: “It's obviously a risk but I think to say that this was a greater risk now than before Saddam Hussein was out of power simply doesn't face the fact that Saddam Hussein had an insatiable appetite for weapons of mass destruction. He had an unflinching hatred for the United States. He had every reason to cooperate with our enemies. This was a gathering and growing threat and it was time to take care of it.” [Condi Rice, Fox News Sunday, October 10, 2004]

NOTE: The Bush administration’s rationales for the war on Iraq were originally identified by University of Illinois senior Devon M. Largo in her senior honors thesis, “Uncovering the Rationales for the War on Iraq: The Words of the Bush Administration, Congress, and the Media from September 12, 2001 to October 11, 2002.” [http://www.pol.uiuc.edu/news/largio_thesis.pdf]

[shift6]

Didn't we learn that one after Pearl Harbor?
Wasn't that one of those things we vowed to "Never Forget"? Oh wait...