A rundown of recent developments and links to the campaign of denial and deception waged by the Bush Administration to counter the Downing Street minutes, other recently released documents, and the reality of the situation in Iraq.
Plus, a cry for impeachment (and I don’t apologize for that and I don’t work for Rove).
Luke from wotisitgood4 snagged this screen grab from Whitehouse.gov which appeared on March 17, 2003, and it’s certainly appropriate now thanks to the Downing Street minutes and the other recently leaked documents.
Luke also linked to an excellent rundown of countless examples of deception by George Bush during the rush to war at Digby’s blog: “In Our Faces.”
“I recall a slight kerfluffle a while back about Bush saying that Saddam refused to allow the inspectors into Iraq, which those of us in the blogosphere noted with stunned surprise, but which was pooh-poohed by the press as being just another Bushism. But he actually continued to say it; he just said it more artfully. It was still an outright lie. And the only people who paid any attention to these words were voters who hadn’t followed the lead up to the war in all its subterfuge and Machiavellian detail — many of whom undoubtedly believed the president.”
“As I was searching through the archives of Bush’s speeches, I found that these lies were part of his stump speech until just before the election in October of 2004 at which point he suddenly switched gears and started talking about “freedom on the march.” Up until then, however, he had consistently said something virtually every single day on the stump that was a lie.”
In the last few days, denials of reality and soundbites of deception have been issued by key Administration officials.
In an interview with David Gregory on MSNBC’s Hardball, Presidential Advisor Karl Rove came out of hiding to thwart the DSM onslaught:
“First of all that is the British — a Brit making a comment about what he perceived to be U.S. policy. But remember the time frame, it is months and months and months before the balloon goes up in Iraq. And in those intervening months there was plenty of time planning for post-war efforts, vast amounts of planning. You never know exactly how a war is going to plan out.”
Rove even cut off Gregory in the middle of a question:
GREGORY: “A majority of the country opposes the war, more Americans now are calling for…”
ROVE: “I’m not certain that I agree with your assumption. You can find a poll and ask any questions you want, but I believe that if you say to the American people, `is it in the interest of the United States to see a stable and democratic Iraq arise at the center of the Middle East and should we do whatever is necessary to make that happen?’ that I’m sure Americans would say yes.”
Press Secretary Scott McClellan was asked at yesterday’s press briefing: “Scott, can we get a clear “yes” or “no” answer on whether the President agrees on the Vice President’s assessment that the insurgency is in “its last throes?” Is it a “yes” or “no”?”
His initial response:
“I think I already answered this question the last couple of days.”
When pressed again, McClellan insisted on relying on denial & deception when referring to the “facts on the ground” (and, as usual, there’s no need to even copy-and-paste his schtick, since we’ve heard it a million times before).
Also, The Raw Story linked to this Reuters story: “U.S. was big spender in days before Iraq handover” by Sue Pleming which reveals that the Denial & Deception Administration “handed out nearly $20 billion of Iraq’s funds, with a rush to spend billions in the final days before transferring power to the Iraqis nearly a year ago.”
“A report by Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, said in the week before the hand-over on June 28, 2004, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority ordered the urgent delivery of more than $4 billion in Iraqi funds from the U.S. Federal Reserve in New York.”
“One single shipment amounted to $2.4 billion — the largest movement of cash in the bank’s history, said Waxman. Most of these funds came from frozen and seized assets and from the Development Fund for Iraq, which succeeded the U.N.’s oil-for-food program. After the U.S. invasion, the U.N. directed this money should be used by the CPA for the benefit of the Iraqi people.”
“Cash was loaded onto giant pallets for shipment by plane to Iraq, and paid out to contractors who carried it away in duffel bags.”
Finally, check out Apian’s latest diary at Daily Kos: “THIS CASE IS GOING TO CRACK — Downing Street Minutes.” It seems that “[f]ormer British cabinet minister Clare Short is demanding a parliamentary investigation into Attorney General Peter Goldsmith’s advice on war with Iraq.”
The Administration of Denial & Deception must be stopped.
Please, Congressman Conyers, get to work on a resolution for impeachment. Please, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, we’re counting on you, too.
(All reality-based bloggers are still being urged to join the Big Brass Alliance which has passed the 500 mark. After Downing Street could also use more hands on deck.)
by Ron Brynaert
crossposted at Why Are We Back In Iraq?