Thursday, November 17, 2005
Liar, Liar? Who's pants are on fire?
'I think it's a lie to say that the president lied' - John McCain; USNews.com: The National Interest
Did the President Lie?
The Republican National Committee has an excellent video--available at the homepage, linked here--with clips of various Democrats, during both the Clinton and Bush administrations, arguing about the menace that Saddam Hussein posed. With most Democrats now claiming that they would have been on Saddam's side all along if only that evil genius George W. Bush, that idiot, hadn't led them astray, it's worth reviewing. It's especially hard to credit the notion that BUSH LIED!!!! and fooled Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton and Sandy Berger all the way back in 1998.
President Bush:
"While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. Some Democrats and antiwar critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs.
"They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein. They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. And many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: 'When I vote to give the president of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat, and a grave threat, to our security.' That's why more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate–who had access to the same intelligence–voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power."
Did the President Lie?
The Republican National Committee has an excellent video--available at the homepage, linked here--with clips of various Democrats, during both the Clinton and Bush administrations, arguing about the menace that Saddam Hussein posed. With most Democrats now claiming that they would have been on Saddam's side all along if only that evil genius George W. Bush, that idiot, hadn't led them astray, it's worth reviewing. It's especially hard to credit the notion that BUSH LIED!!!! and fooled Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton and Sandy Berger all the way back in 1998.
President Bush:
"While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. Some Democrats and antiwar critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs.
"They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein. They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. And many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: 'When I vote to give the president of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat, and a grave threat, to our security.' That's why more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate–who had access to the same intelligence–voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power."
