Bush's Speech: Let's Count the Lies
David Swanson
June 28, 2005
In the coming free 30 minutes of uninterrupted airtime
that ABC News and the Disney Corporation will no doubt
give to a spokesperson for the majority of Americans who
believe that the war on Iraq was a mistake, I expect we'll
see some of the following points made about the speech
that Bush just gave.
First, it was curious to see Bush adopt
usage of the French language, in particular his repeated
usage of the word "oui." At one point, he said
"Oui, accept these burdens." Some viewers supposed
he meant "We accept these burdens," but no one
has been able to identify a single burden that Bush has
accepted, leading to the consensus that the French word
must have been the one on the teleprompters.
Second, and there's no really delicate way
to put this, it was stunning to see the extent to which
Bush flat out lied his ass off. The Downing Street Minutes
and related documents have made clear, among other things,
that Bush determined early on to promote two false justifications
for the war: asserting a threat from Iraq's fictitious
weapons of mass destruction, and blaming the attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, on Saddam Hussein. Tonight, Bush said
he never made any such crazy claims.
Just kidding. Actually, Bush made them again
tonight. Of course, voices in the media believe the fact
that he's lying his ass off is "old news," and
polls ARE starting to reflect that. But apparently repetition
of the lies themselves is new news, worthy of commercial-free
airtime that even the Michael Jackson trial never merited.
And ABC News had been given the speech transcript ahead
of time. They provided commentary on it before and after
Bush read his lines. Yet their commentary never touched
on the "old news."
Bush came back to September 11th at least
four times during the speech. He said that we (oui?) are
fighting "a global war on terror," and that
"the terrorists we're fighting aim to remake the
Middle East…Iraq is the latest battlefield in this
war."
"Terrorists on streets of Baghdad are
followers of the same ideology," Bush said, that
produced the attacks of – you guessed it – September
11, 2001.
But – do we really still have to say
this? – the regime that Bush changed in Iraq had
exactly nothing to do with those attacks. And the terrorists
on the streets of Baghdad were not there until Bush attacked
and occupied Baghdad. So, why did he do so?
There was, he just reminded us, "only
one course … to defeat them abroad before they attack
us at home."
Bush is sticking to the lies that he included
in the formal letter and report that he submitted to the
United States Congress within 48 hours after having launched
the invasion of Iraq. In the letter, dated March 18, 2003,
the President made a formal determination, as required
by the Joint Resolution on Iraq passed by the U.S. Congress
in October 2002, that military action against Iraq was
necessary to "protect the national security of the
United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq,"
as well as suggesting that the war is part of a global
campaign against those behind the attacks of September
11, 2001.
But Iraq couldn't even shoot down an airplane
after endless and illegal provocation during the summer
of 2002. What was the threat? That they would nuke us
in 45 minutes, that unmanned planes would spray us with
killer chemicals? These lies have all been shredded, and
yet the idea that there was a threat is still new news
to ABC News.
"We [oui?] fight today," Bush
said tonight, "because the terrorists want to attack
our cities and kill our citizens, and Iraq is where they
are making their stand. We will fight them there, and
we will stay in the fight until the fight is won."
So, the disaster that Bush has created in
Iraq is now the justification for having created it. But
who is this universal group of "terrorists"
fighting this global war?
Bush made that clear tonight by quoting
none other than Osama Bin Laden as saying that "the
war is waging in Iraq." But he didn't say that BEFORE
Bush launched a war against Iraq! Hey, Ted Koppel, do
you guys, like, keep stuff on tape or that sort of thing?
Bush added to his lies tonight, as he does
every day in which he maintains silence on key points
about which the media will not ask him. He did not say
tonight that there will be no permanent US military bases
in Iraq. He did not say tonight that the Iraqi people
will get to keep their oil. He said he would give no exit
date until "the job is done" and the "mission"
is "complete," but he did not provide any way
for a mortal to measure whether that state of affairs
has been reached or not.
"To complete the mission, we will continue
to hunt down the terrorists and insurgents." But
won't you always continue to hunt down somebody or other,
Mr. President? So, won't the mission never be complete?
So, won't there be permanent military bases? And wouldn't
you now forswear any interest in giving oil to your cronies
if you were ever going to do so?
Bush said nothing about the rise in terrorist
incidents since he launched his war on terror, nothing
about the steep decline in affection for the United States
around the world. He knows that he has made us less safe,
yet he asserted that "My greatest responsibility
as President is to protect the American people."
But, as Sam Husseini has argued, a good
way to reduce the fighting in Iraq and make Americans
less hated would be for Americans to take steps to investigate
and, if necessary, impeach Bush. The message that would
send to the people of Iraq would be far more powerful
than any boost in U.S. Army recruitment.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/568
Or, we could all sign up and go kill and
die for Bush.
Hmm.
It's a tough choice, I know.
"This 4th of July," Bush said
tonight, "I ask you to thank the men and women defending
our freedom by flying the flag…or helping the military
family down the street."
Why don't you PAY the military family for
the work it does, and provide those people with decent
health care and education? I'll fly a flag or eat a picnic
on one, as I see fit, but it won't be because you lied
to a bunch of courageous young people and sent them off
to give their lives or their limbs or their sanity for
your wealth, ease, and ego, while you mumble lies off
a teleprompter about what you're sacrificing.
You want to sacrifice? Take ten minutes
and answer Congressman Conyers' letter. Did you know that
128 Congress Members and 560,000 of the rest of us have
signed it?
http://www.johnconyers.com/
Do it for your country, Mr. Commander in
Chief.
Give 10 minutes back to the nation that
has given you so much.
:: Article nr. 13183 sent on 29-jun-2005
05:19 ECT
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