We are now being told that Iran is meddling in Iraq and is “helping insurgents”. While the government doesn’t know whether it should release the information, it wants us to trust them. Trust them about evidence that National Security Advisor Steven Hadley said is “overstated”. That we should trust new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, because he says the evidence is “pretty good”.
This, from the same man who was under investigation for lying about the Iran-contra crimes.
We are being told that there is solid and credible evidence against Iran. Vice President Cheney says that he has seen proof. But the “proof” is coming from private briefings by the Pentagon’s Iranian directorate. A man named Abram Shulksy. Shulksy was the former head of the Office of Special Plans. The same Office of Special Plans that this week was found to have manipulated evidence about Iraq.
This, from the same men who lied about Iraq. From the same Vice President that was right in the center of the leaking of classified information for revenge. Classified information that led to the end of a counterproliferation program investigating Iran.
We are supposed to trust that the evidence being presented to the Vice President’s office by Iranian exiles and a discredited arms dealer who was involved in the Iran-contra scandal. Just like we were supposed to trust evidence from an Iraqi defector who was widely discredited as unreliable and a drunk. Evidence that was also refuted directly by Germany and other sources. Evidence that the Vice President’s office knew was unreliable but didn’t disclose that the evidence was dubious.
Just like Ahmad Chalabi, whose relationship with this administration provided the information that would lead this country to invade Iraq. The same man who was later deemed to be passing information along to Iran.
We were told to trust you then. To trust that the evidence was a slam-dunk. Only that it wasn’t. But it was worse. The evidence was already known to be manufactured and false. Not the “slam-dunk”. Just lies.
Yet, here we – second verse, same as the first. We are supposed to trust you that the evidence is there. Evidence that was described as “scant” just two weeks ago. Evidence that last week was described as something that “can’t be proven”. Evidence of a link that just one week ago, Secretary of Defense Gates said was “something he didn’t know the answer to”.
The Bush administration says that there is evidence and that it merits us to drop bombs all throughout Iran. Evidence whose release to the public is still being delayed. Evidence that Congress hasn’t even seen. But we should trust them that it is there.
Just like we trusted when we were told that that Iraq had WMDs. Just like we trusted when we were told that we don’t want to wait for the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.
Just like we were told to trust that New Orleans would be rebuilt. Or that we should be trusted that the bankruptcy bill would make things fairer and strengthen the economy. But things aren’t getting better in New Orleans. And article after article after article after article show increases in bankruptcies over the past few years.
We trusted you when you said that no one could have anticipated an increase in violence in Iraq. Or when you said that no one could have anticipated a breach of the levees. Or when you said that nobody could have predicted that they would fly planes into our buildings. But all of those happened. And you knew that all of those could or would happen, yet we were still told to trust you.
But we should trust you now. With no evidence. And the same lies and liars that were used before. The thing is – trust is earned, betrayed and lost.
We gave our trust. You betrayed our trust, and therefore lost it. A long time ago. “Trust us” just doesn’t cut it.