Iraq: The Bush Legacy

Correction - the paid trolls continue to whitewash traitor Bush.

 

Oh, I forget, you people still think Bush is President. Check.

 

The alternative truth is self apparent...BoBo is president and he is bumbling his way into losing Iraq...all else is diversion and silliness

 

I know this is an absolute waste of time, but ...

I saw an interview on CNN New Day this morning. Cuomo was trying to play the Blame Game but the talking head stopped him in his shoes. To wit: "Trying to place blame does absolutely nothing about fixing the situation NOW."

 

Not at all.

If we were invading other countries by "mistake," if the deficits were going up instead of down, if we were losing private sector jobs instead of gaining them, then I might be tempted to think that Bush was still president.

 

LOL, based on Clinton admins intel, deficits are still double what Bush had and during the Bush two terms, the unemployment rate was much lower and more people were in the workplace. You seem to forget the housing bubble and Obama doing everything opposite of what is needed to bring back the economy.

 

Invanding and occupying Iraq on Clinton's intel was a huge mistake. There was far better intel establishing that Iraq did not have the WMD in Mar 2003.

Not really. After inheriting a surplus, Bush drove the on budget deficit to $568 billion in 2004, and it hit $641 billion in 2008. It was $719 billion last year. Relative to GDP, the deficit last year was smaller than some Bush years.

Not true. The UR was 7.8% when Bush left office, it is at 6.3% now. I'm not sure what you mean by "the workplace", but there are more jobs, and more people in the labor force now than at any time during Bush's tenure.

Good point. We should be doing it more like when Reagan and Bush were president.

Reagan
Spending increase, 1981-1985: +39.5%.
Total government employment, 1981-1985: +607,0000

Bush
Spending increase, 2001-2005: +32.7%
Total government employment, 2001-2005: +603,000

Obama
Spending increase, 2009-2013: -1.89%
Total government employment, 2009-2013: -667,000

source data
Expenditures: http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/45249-2014-04-HistoricalBudgetData.xlsx
Employment: http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cesbtab1.htm

 

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE FALLS TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1978

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/lfpr-falls-to-lowest-level-since-1978-2014-5#ixzz34vUruqHr

 

So what?

 

The main reason the unemployment rate has dropped. Thanks Obama.

 

The LFPR was dropping before Obama took office and dropped further because of the GR Bush left us.

But the 9.3 million private sector jobs created since Jan 2010 has something to do with it too.

 

That's why the White House had 75 lawyers going over Iraqi Oil Contracts in preparation for the invasion, but never planned on providing food water and medical care for the people of Baghdad after it was occupied......

 

Iraq was certainly no mistake.

[video=youtube;S0f5u_0ytUs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0f5u_0ytUs[/video]

I have no reason to believe your hero Bill Clinton would not have acted just as Bush did had he been President. Bush acted on the same information as Clinton did, the clear evidence.

After the recession, bubble and Bush inherited and then the 911 attack with the proper policy we only hit 6.5% unemployment and for just one month and a one year deficit high of just $400B then Republicans lowered the deficit to $161B during a period of 52 months of full employment and solid economic growth. My what we would give to have those numbers again.

Had we had a deficit that went from $161B to $1,400B, the worst unemployment record since the depression, and troops back into Iraq because of a mistake, I might think Obama was President.....OH he IS PRESIDENT and this his HIS FAILURE along with the miserable deficit record including his FY2009 deficit and the worse unemployment record and middle class income record in decades.

 

Clinton didn't invade and occupy Iraq, and didn't have the knowledge that Bush had in March 2003 that UN inspectors had unrestricted free access to anywhere in Iraq, and had spent two months making hundreds of unannounced, spot inspections all over the country, finding no evidence of the supposed WMD.

Baseless speculation and false.

 

Glenn Beck Admits "Liberals, You Were Right" On Iraq



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/18/1307783/-Glenn-Beck-Admits-Liberals-You-Were-Right-On-Iraq


"From the beginning, most people on the left were against going into Iraq. I wasn’t.... Liberals, you were right. We shouldn’t have."

Beck made this surprising declaration on his radio show on Tuesday while discussing the widening rift between Republicans and Democrats. He urged both parties to come together to oppose another war in Iraq.

"Not one more life. Not one more life. Not one more dollar, not one more airplane, not one more bullet, not one more Marine, not one more arm or leg or eye. Not one more," he said. "This must end now. Now can't we come together on that?"




Further proof that Bush was a traitor to start this war of imperialistic terrorism.

 

That one of the top Republican entertainers should depart from fantasy to belabour the obvious may be startling, but consider the source of these prescient, cautionary observations:

"I think for us to get American military personnel involved in a civil war inside Iraq would literally be a quagmire.

Once we got to Baghdad, what would we do? Who would we put in power? What kind of government would we have? Would it be a Sunni government, a Shi’a government, a Kurdish government? Would it be secular, along the lines of the Ba’ath Party?

Would it be fundamentalist Islamic? I do not think the United States wants to have U.S. military forces accept casualties and accept the responsibility of trying to govern Iraq. I think it makes no sense at all."​

Who is that sage seer so precisely divining the consequences of such monumental folly, America's trillion-dollar nation-building fiasco?


Step out from behind the curtain of ignominy and take a bow, O prophet of woeful contenance!

 

His plan to do so failed, that did not mitigate the fact that that Saddam could not be allowed to remain in power as he clearly stated.

,

What new knowledge was there?

And all the while Saddam was hiding proscribed materials from them, even moving things out the backs of buildings as inspectors came in the front with Blix telling the UN Saddam was still not cooperating.

Tell me what were they looking for if we all new Saddam had no WMD or proscribed materials to make new WMD? What was the purpose is Saddam was no longer a threat and with the sanctions removed he would be no threat?

Solid facts leading to solid postulation.

 

Clinton had a plan to invade and occupy Iraq? Source please.

that UN inspectors had unrestricted free access to anywhere in Iraq, and had spent two months making hundreds of unannounced, spot inspections all over the country, finding no evidence of the supposed WMD.

Hussein wasn't hiding WMD because there was none.

You'll have to ask them.

 

The ILA

You said there was new information. what was it source please.

Wrong as noted in the OP and the fact he was moving things around and out of buildings to fool the inspectors.

It's your claim, if Saddam was WMD and we knew it as fact what were they inspecting for then? Why not just remove the sanctions and stop spending money on unneeded inspections?

 

Wasn't a plan to invade and occupy Iraq.

It was. Source is the UN inspectors' reports.

The OP says no such thing.

Oh, I thought you were talking about the Bush administration post invasion.

The UN inspectors were looking for WMD Iraq supposedly have. And after months of unrestricted access to the whole nation and making hundreds of unannounced spot checks all around the country, found no evidence of the WMD that Iraq was supposed have had.

That was new information obtained well after Clinton was president, and after the Joint resolution on Iraq. Any prudent leader would have reconsidered the intel based on this new information. But the Bush administration had already planned to invade.

 

Yes it was and replace the government which had he succeeded would have put him in the same position as Bush in providing security and getting elections done.

Cite it and link it.

It clearly states there were WMD in country under his possession.

ahhh

No you didn't.

It's your claim, if Saddam was WMD and we knew it as fact what were they inspecting for then? Why not just remove the sanctions and stop spending money on unneeded inspections?

You said new evidence said he had no WMD so which is it they were looking for WMD they believed he had or new evidence said he did not have any?

How do you inspect the entire county in a matter of 4 months and the fact remains Blix said Saddam was not cooperating. And a fundimental flaw in your argument, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The fact remains after we removed we found LOTS of proscribed WMD materials and even weapons, while degraded due to lack of proper storage, hidden from inspectors. The fact remains he could have and would have rearmed in a matter of weeks if not months using the hidden proscribed materials we found.

"The Kay team spent the first month of its mission sorting into three batches what he described as “an estimated seven and-a-half miles of documents”, many of them collected by US military from Iraqi official buildings, but many others handed over by Iraqi civilians.

The data yielded is substantial:

Batch One: Records of Saddam’s chemical, biological and nuclear programming with notes on budgets, manpower and procurement requirements. Detailed are the Saddam regime’s plans, productions processes and timetables for WMD development as well as special programs for concealing it all from UN inspectors for twelve years. Saddam’s officials hid these thousands of documents from the United Nations Blix-ElBarardei inspection team and left them out of the voluminous “full accounting” Baghdad submitted to the UN Security Council before the war.

Batch Two: This group, which also consists of many thousands of pieces of paper, tracks the implementation of the WMD programs with time schedules and assessments of progress made in each category and inventories the stocks building up in the illegal arsenal. Scientists or engineers would often win bonuses for notable progress in their work.

Batch Three: This pile offers leads to locations where forbidden weapons may have been concealed when the records were drawn up and ways to access them, including the evidence of the transfer to Syria by Saddam’s agents of large parts of the forbidden program.

After talking in secret to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kay declared there was a “truly amazing” deception program to throw UN weapons off the trail. We have people who participated in deceiving UN inspectors now telling us how they did it.”"
http://nyjtimes.com/cover/08-11-03/EvidenceSaddamWMD.htm

Cite it, cite Blix saying Saddam had no WMD in his possession, no proscribe materials and all was well and post the link.

And again if UNSCOM knew he was WMD free then what the hell were they looking for?

 

No it wasn't and the ILF specifically provided that US forces were not be be used.

These are from the later Blix reports the the security council from the inspections that were resumed late in 2002 and early 2003.

1-9-2003 Security Council briefing

I now turn to the role and results of our current inspections. Evidently if we had found any 'smoking gun' we would have reported it to the Council. Similarly, if we had met a denial of access or other impediment to our inspections we would have reported it to the Council. We have not submitted any such reports.

The awareness in Iraq that industrial facilities, military installations, public or private offices and dwellings, may be the subject of no-notice inspection is further likely to deter possible efforts to hide items or activities or, at the very least, to make such action much more difficult. This is no small gain. Saying this is in no way to ignore the special value of inspections directed to sites, which have been indicated by fresh and reliable intelligence.

Inspections resumed on 27 November 2002 and since then, almost everyday, including Christmas and New Year, inspection teams have been out in the field.

There are presently about 100 UNMOVIC inspectors and 58 support staff in Iraq. In addition, there are 49 air crew for the fixed-wing and helicopter operations.

One hundred and fifty inspections of 127 sites have taken place up to 8 January 2003.

http://www.un.org/depts/unmovic/new/pages/security_council_briefings.asp

2-14-2003 Security Council briefing

Since we arrived in Iraq, we have conducted more than 400 inspections covering more than 300 sites. All inspections were performed without notice, and access was almost always provided promptly. In no case have we seen convincing evidence that the Iraqi side knew in advance that the inspectors were coming. The inspections have taken place throughout Iraq at industrial sites, ammunition depots, research centres, universities, presidential sites, mobile laboratories, private houses, missile production facilities, military camps and agricultural sites.

More than 200 chemical and more than 100 biological samples have been collected at different sites. Three-quarters of these have been screened using our own analytical laboratory capabilities at the Baghdad Centre (BOMVIC). The results to date have been consistent with Iraq's declarations.

In my 27 January update to the Council, I said that it seemed from our experience that Iraq had decided in principle to provide cooperation on process, most importantly prompt access to all sites and assistance to UNMOVIC in the establishment of the necessary infrastructure. This impression remains, and we note that access to sites has so far been without problems, including those that had never been declared or inspected, as well as to Presidential sites and private residences.

http://www.un.org/depts/unmovic/new/pages/security_council_briefings.asp


3-7-2003 Security Council briefing

Inspections in Iraq resumed on 27 November 2002. In matters relating to process, notably prompt access to sites, we have faced relatively few difficulties and certainly much less than those that were faced by UNSCOM in the period 1991 to 1998. This may well be due to the strong outside pressure.

Some practical matters, which were not settled by the talks, Dr. ElBaradei and I had with the Iraqi side in Vienna prior to inspections or in resolution 1441 (2002), have been resolved at meetings, which we have had in Baghdad. Initial difficulties raised by the Iraqi side about helicopters and aerial surveillance planes operating in the no-fly zones were overcome. This is not to say that the operation of inspections is free from frictions, but at this juncture we are able to perform professional no-notice inspections all over Iraq and to increase aerial surveillance.

There have been reports, denied from the Iraqi side, that proscribed activities are conducted underground. Iraq should provide information on any underground structure suitable for the production or storage of WMD. During inspections of declared or undeclared facilities, inspection teams have examined building structures for any possible underground facilities. In addition, ground penetrating radar equipment was used in several specific locations. No underground facilities for chemical or biological production or storage were found so far.

http://www.un.org/depts/unmovic/new/pages/security_council_briefings.asp#6

Complete nonsense.

Yes I did.

Asked and answered.

They were tasked to search for the WMD the Bush administration was saying they had.

You take your crews and make hundreds of announced spot inspections all around the country where they were supposed to have WMD.

They found none of the WMD the Bush administration claimed they had.

On January 23, 2004, Kay resigned, stating that Iraq did not have WMD and that "I think there were stockpiles at the end of the first Gulf War and a combination of U.N. inspectors and unilateral Iraqi action got rid of them."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kay

Now, look, I didn’t — part of the reason we went into Iraq was — the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn’t, ... President Bush, Aug 22, 2006.

http://www.democracynow.org/2006/8/22/president_bush_admits_iraq_had_no

I never stated Blix said Saddam had now WMD in his possession. Straw man.

I never claimed "UNSCOM knew he was WMD free." Straw man.

 

So what? It still called for an invasion using US military weapons, using US military logistics, using US military training, using US money to train and equipped the force to do so and yes our military would have been involved. His plan failed, Bush succeeded.

That Blix's keystone cops did not find what they were looking proves nothing, we know Saddam was actively hiding things and we know what we found after he was removed. And as the OP states there were WMD there and under his control. And the fact remains on March 17th Saddam was STILL not cooperating.

Nope.

Dodged again.

Nope, the ones THEY said he had.

ROFL like Saddam as going to hide them where they were supposed to be. The fact remains the absurdity of the inspections was proven by what we found after he was removed.

UNSCOM claimed he had and were looking for the same WMD Clinton said he had.

But he didn't know and we know what we did find, all the materials necessary to rearm in a matter of months if not weeks.

Why do you have this strange conception the the WMD threat Saddam posed was strictly limited the WMD UNSCOM had cataloged and was destroying when they were kicked. Give me the evidence Saddam would never again rearm and be a threat again.

Then you whole case is blown because you have relied on him as your evidence.

THE POINT, that's why he was removed.

 

And that to you is the same as US troops invading and occupying eh? What a neocon.

It proves that the claims of the Bush administration that Iraq had WMD were bogus.

Nothing was found.

Iraq had no WMD.

On January 23, 2004, Kay resigned, stating that Iraq did not have WMD and that "I think there were stockpiles at the end of the first Gulf War and a combination of U.N. inspectors and unilateral Iraqi action got rid of them." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kay

Now, look, I didn’t — part of the reason we went into Iraq was — the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn’t, ... President Bush, Aug 22, 2006. http://www.democracynow.org/2006/8/22/president_bush_admits_iraq_had_no

Iraq had no WMD.


On January 23, 2004, Kay resigned, stating that Iraq did not have WMD and that "I think there were stockpiles at the end of the first Gulf War and a combination of U.N. inspectors and unilateral Iraqi action got rid of them." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kay

Now, look, I didn’t — part of the reason we went into Iraq was — the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn’t, ... President Bush, Aug 22, 2006. http://www.democracynow.org/2006/8/22/president_bush_admits_iraq_had_no

Iraq had no WMD.


On January 23, 2004, Kay resigned, stating that Iraq did not have WMD and that "I think there were stockpiles at the end of the first Gulf War and a combination of U.N. inspectors and unilateral Iraqi action got rid of them." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kay

Now, look, I didn’t — part of the reason we went into Iraq was — the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn’t, ... President Bush, Aug 22, 2006. http://www.democracynow.org/2006/8/22/president_bush_admits_iraq_had_no

And even if Iraq had had WMD, it would have had had it for 20 years (when the Reagan administration OK'ed Hussein to acquire it) and had never been used in terrorist attacks or after the Iran war.

It didn't make Iraq an "urgent threat" justifying the waste of a trillio + dollars and scores of thousands of lives.

Ridiculous.