Barbra Streisand tries to make the President look bad, with predictable results:

Bush set out to convince the American public that the war in Iraq was not only necessary, but that we are close to victory in our efforts to spread democracy in the Middle East. Being that both these sentiments are far from truthful, I was not surprised by the number of falsehoods and half truths that pervaded his speech. I wanted to highlight some of them since many of the major media outlets have failed to do so.

Babs is referring to the President’s address given on December 18, 2005. During this address, the President set out in detail the Administration’s plans with regard to the war in Iraq and the support the U.S. is giving to the new Iraqi government. Apparently, with democracy on the march and millions of Iraqi citizens going to the polls to exercise their new rights to vote and participate in the government, Babs still thinks that we should just leave and let them fend for themselves.

Bush’s Lie:

At any point along the way, Saddam Hussein could have avoided war by complying with the just demands of the international community. The United States did not choose war. The choice was Saddam Hussein’s.

Truth:

Iraq maintained that they had destroyed their stockpiles of illicit weapons. During UN investigations, Iraq handed over to inspectors 12,000 pages and several compact discs that describe the country’s arms programs and its elimination before and after 1990. The US claimed that they had translation problems because of the length of the material. It is hard to believe that a county as developed as the United States can not find an accurate translator. In order to avert going to war with the United States, Saddam permitted US troops and experts to do a thorough search of Iraq. However, it was the Bush Administration that was determined to wage a war with Iraq regardless of the lack of evidence presented to them.

Yes, Iraq said they had destroyed their stockpiles of weapons, and yes they submitted a 12,000 page report as proof. The problem was, they wouldn’t let the inspectors go into many areas of Iraq to verify that the weapons were indeed gone. Saddam allowed the inspectors no access to presidential palaces or other properties where inspectors feared that weapons were being hidden. Those inspections that were allowed to happen were tightly monitored and access to many buildings was refused.

Saddam had already proven that he was not someone to be trusted. The way he handled the UN inspection process only deepened the world’s mistrust. If Babs is suggesting that we should have just taken him at his word then she’s even less intelligent then I feared.

Bush’s Lie:

“In the war on terror, Iraq is now the central front.�

Truth:

Iraq and Saddam were not responsible for 9/11. Al Qaeda, headquartered in Afghanistan and led by Osama bin Laden, masterminded and carried out the biggest terrorist attack in US history. Thirteen of the fifteen hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Since the United States invaded Iraq under false pretenses over 2 years ago, the Administration has created a terrorist breeding ground that will have serious implications on our national security in the future.

No one in the Bush Administration has stated that Saddam was responsible, or even a small part of, the September 11th terrorist attacks. In fact, in several speeches and addresses, President Bush has gone out of his way to say that Saddam was not involved with the September 11th attacks. The only people who keep bringing this falsehood up are people who have tried to convince the public that the President lied to the American public to get Congressional authority to go into Iraq.

Oh, and Babs, if you’re going to try to impress people by spouting facts and figures, you should probably do a little research and make sure the “facts” you’re using are accurate. The truth is that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.

As for creating a “terrorist breeding ground,” is it really your opinion that these Muslim extremists, who have been planning attacks against America and Americans for many years, didn’t exist until the President sent our military into Iraq? The Middle East has been a breeding ground for terrorists for the past 50 years at least.

Bush’s Lie:

“When a unanimous Security Council gave [Saddam] one final chance to disclose and disarm or face serious consequences, he refused to comply with that final opportunity.�

Truth:

UN inspectors, headed first by David Kay and later by Charles Duelfer, and head of Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei reported that they could not find stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons in Iraq after months and months of searching. The inspectors, along with other members of the international community, asked for more time to investigate, but the Administration indicated they were not willing to wait for the evidence. The Administration prematurely pulled UN inspectors out because they were determined to invade Iraq and nothing was going to stop them.

Again with the more time argument. The fact is that Iraq had had over 12 years to comply with the terms of the agreement which ended the first Gulf War. The UN had issued 17 resolutions demanding that Iraq comply with the terms of the agreement. If Iraq were going to comply as required, they could have easily done it within the 12 year time frame they were given. However, that isn’t what happened. Instead, time after time, Saddam refused to comply and thumbed his nose at the world.

Bush’s Lie:

“September 11 also changed the way I viewed threats like Saddam Hussein…We cannot allow the world’s most dangerous men to get their hands on the world’s most dangerous weapons…In an age of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long.â€?

Truth:

As the United States continues to have its attention and resources concentrated on winning the war in Iraq, North Korea and Iran have developed their nuclear and biological weapons programs. Many scholars feel that North Korea poses the greatest potential and actual threat to the United States. Some experts believe that Iran’s nuclear weapons program has now become operational as well.

The Administration has failed in its non-proliferation efforts around the world. And by not preventing North Korea and Iran from strengthening their nuclear positions, they have undermined America’s national security.

Let’s see, North Korea developed it’s nuclear capability under the nose of the Clinton Administration, who had signed an agreement with North Korea which it failed to verify. Funny, I don’t remember Babs writing conspiracy theory material on her web site back then. Then again, Clinton was a Democrat who wanted to protect Babs’ right to kill her unborn children, so he gets a pass when it comes to his Administration allowing a hostile regime to develop nuclear weapons under their noses. As for Iran, there is a youth movement in Iran which is trying to influence the rest of the population to remove the current powers that be. Since we are in Iraq, which is right next door, Iran isn’t going to do anything that’s going to encourage us to pay them a visit.

Bush’s Lie:

“Iraqis will go to the polls to choose a government that will be the only constitutional democracy in the Arab world. Yet we need to remember that these elections are also a vital part of a broader strategy for protecting the American people against the threat of terrorism.�

Truth:

Although the Administration has put their support toward Ayad Allawi and the formation of a secular government in Iraq, the chances of that occurring are slim. Many scholars of the Middle East believe that the Shiite religious majority will ultimately do very well in the election and probably continue to suppress the voice of the Sunni and Kurd minorities. American officials are hoping for a significant display of support for Allawi as a secular leader in order to avoid the creation of a theocratic government, which could mean fewer rights for women and a more fundamentalist Islamic society than before. We will see how this plays out.

Excuse me Babs, but what exactly did the President lie about here? It seems that you hold a different opinion than he does, which is fine, but to call his statement a lie without so much as a single fact to substantiate it shows your true colors as a dealer in misinformation and ideologue.

Bush’s Lie:

“Today, many cities like Mosul and Najaf are coming back to life, and Iraq’s economy is growing.â€?

Truth:

In direct contrast to Bush’s statement, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times reported that both Mosul and Najaf still face continued security issues as well as religious and ethnic tensions. The Post stated that in “Najaf militia fighters of the two rival religious parties that control the Shiite holy city recently clashed in street battles. This month, former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi was attacked during a visit by an angry, rock-throwing mob that some Iraqis charge was backed by a militia. In Mosul, police are still heavily backed by American firepower and Sunni police are sharply at odds with the Kurd-dominated Iraqi Army in the north.

If only people would actually listen to what is said when the President speaks, they wouldn’t look like such an ass when they open their mouth. The President did not say that the insurgents had been eliminated from these cities and that no further violence would occur. In fact, he made mention a few times of the fact that a lot of work was still to be done before the insurgency could be defeated.

I have brought attention to just a few of the lies and inaccuracies I caught while listening to the President’s final attempt at convincing the public that the Administration has a strategy for victory in Iraq. The only parcel of truth I felt the President conveyed that morning to Americans was that much of the intelligence he used to make a case for the war turned out to be wrong and that he is responsible for the decision to go into Iraq. Unfortunately, he is 2 1/2 years too late in accepting the blame.

Ah, no you haven’t. What you have done is, once again, put on a display of your ignorance of the situation in Iraq and in the War on Terror in general. You’ve also shown anyone who cares enough to inform themself with the facts how dishonest a person you are.

The effort in Iraq is not going perfectly, to be sure. In end, however, when a new democracy has taken hold and each and every Middle Eastern citizen looks at Iraq and her people and sees the potential for their own freedom, the entire region will transform itself. Dictatorships and Theocracies will not survive when the fire of freedom is so close. Millions upon millions of people will gain their freedom, at least half of which will be women. When that happens, the ironic fact is that President Bush will have done more for Women’s rights than Babs, NOW, and every other feminist group combined.

Sorry, Babs. You’re just a sad, sad little girl who is clinging to the load of crap you were sold by all of your liberal buddies in the Sixties. Wake up, it’s the Twenty-First Century.

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 20th, 2005 at 10:15 pm by Nick, and is filed under Government, Jerks (Celebrities), Politics, War on Terror. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.