Where is the public outrage?
The current political climate in the United States angers me. What angers me is the almost complete lack of public outrage to the Iraq war, given the lack of justifiable reasoning for said conflict. I'll start by stating that I recommend that every person in the United States owes it to themselves to watch Fahrenheit 9/11. The day the movie came out, the Bush administration was administering spin control, claiming the movie was a pack of lies (Without even having watched the movie!) Before condemning the movie, I recommend
A) Watching the movie,
B) Taking a look at Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 Notes/Sources
C) Forming your own opinion on the subject
The truth is that the American Media is very corporate/right wing oriented, which makes it hard to have a balanced view on the issues. While you're at it, I recommend taking a look a couple other documentaries:
A) Control Room: A documentary on perception of the United state's war with Iraq, with an emphasis on Al Jazeera coverage - This title should help you get another perspective on the impact of the War.
B) Out-Foxed: I have yet to actually see this film, although I have ordered it. This documentary provides some insight into the government's influence on reporting
by the Fox News Network. Lawrence Lessig has some material on this film. The New York Times also has an article on the film:
You can order the film from the following website: http://www.outfoxed.org/, or from amazon.com. (In fact, since being released last week, Out-Foxed is the #1 seller on DVD at Amazon.com)
c) UNCOVERED - The Truth about the Iraq War - A summary about the deception of the Bush Administration used to justify the Iraq War. This documentary includes a video montage, showing clips of Bush and Powell attempting to back up the intelligence stating that Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is almost pathetic watching the certainty on their faces disappear over time. The penultimate moment comes when Bush is asked: (Paraphrasing) "Do you think the United State's credibility is on the line concerning the finding of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq?" Bush stutters for a few moments and then states "I, uh, have no idea what you mean..."
D) The Fog of War - A documentary by Robert McNamara about his career as Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War and the Cold War. This documentary helps you to understand the futility of the war.
Getting back to my original point, I would like to re-state that I am angry at the current political climate of the United States. Where is the public outrage? Why are the opinion polls showing Bush/Kerry in an almost dead-heat, given the complete lack of evidence to support the current War on Iraq? What were the original reasons given to justify the War on Iraq?
#1. Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Bush has now himself conceded that they will probably never find evidence of WMDs. The senate intelligence committee has now found that the pre-war intelligence that the Bush Administration claimed to have simply failed to exist. This sentiment is now echoed by the Butler report findings in Britain. Before the war began, there was speculation that the administration did not want to reveal the information contained in the intelligence reports, because it would compromise the security of human intelligence assets within Iraq. The reports now reveal that the administration actually had poorly trained intelligence teams, which collected unreliable information, and a shortage of agents within Iraq. Where is the outrage?
#2. Saddam and Iraq have ties with Al Qaeda - There is no credible evidence linking Saddam Hussein with the Al Qaeda terrorists of 9/11. IN FACT, a much better case can be made for claiming ties between the Osama Bin Laden and the president himself. These ties can be documented as follows:
-President Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard with James R. Bath.The two were suspended together for failing to take a medical exam. Later, the Whitehouse attempted to hide this connection when releasing a public document, however the Michael Moore already had the original.
-James R. Bath later financed President Bush's first company, Arbusto Oil. James R. Bath became a money manager for the Saudi Bin Laden group, owned by the Bin Ladens, who one of the richest families in Saudi Arabia
-The Saudi Bin Laden Group invested heavily in several Texas companies, and is heavily linked to the Carlyle Group, President Bush Sr., James Baker, etc.
-The Bush Administration has tried to downplay/marginalize/spin this link by stating that Osama was the black sheep of the family, and has no ties with the rest of the family. This may or may not be true, but it is pretty astonishing that the Bin Ladens were escorted out of the country without even being held for questioning immediately after the national airspace was re-opened. The fact that the nation of Saudi Arabian Royal Family has trillions of dollars invested in the United States economy makes it very difficult or the US Government to act impartially when dealing with these people.
The fact is, is that is much easier to link the Bush Administration directly to Al Qaeda than it is to link Saddam Hussein to the Al Qaeda. If the Bush Administration had this type of evidence to demonstrate a link, it would be all over the news. The Senate Intelligence Committee once again refuted this claim, stating that there is no credible evidence that could be used to state this claim.
The United States AND The World are now a safer place - Now that evidence has come out to show that the War on Iraq was waged on false pretences, the Bush Administration has started to once again administer spin control, stating that the War on Iraq was justified by stating "The United States is now a Safer Place". This fact was hammered home by the fact that George W. Bush repeated this phrase 8 times during a recent 32 minute speech in Oakridge, Tennessee. The fact is: AMERICA IS NOT A SAFER PLACE! Iraq has now become a breeding ground for anti-American sentiment. I watched some of the images from The Control Room, and saw hatred in the faces of young children growing up in Iraq. Iraq has now become a failed state, and we have created a new generation of children that will grow up hating the United States. What evidence is there that the United States is now a safer place? In fact, Tom Ridge recently stated that there is evidence that a wide scale terrorist attack will be made in the United States, with the intent of disrupting the democratic process. How is the United States a safer place?
The State Department issued a "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report in April, and tried to point to lower terrorism numbers, stating that Global Terrorism had declined to a 34-year low in 2003, stating that the Bush Administration's efforts were working. Later on, it was found that the report was severely flawed, missing hundreds of terrorist attacks. In fact, when a revised report was released, the number of casualties due to terrorism shot up to 625, which was more than twice as high as the report initially showed, marking 2003 as having one of the highest levels of terrorism ever reported. (Audio Report, NPR.
The fact remains that the Bush Administration has failed to provide credible justification for the war on Iraq. Every justification they have used has turned out to be a lie. The only valid assumption that can be made is that this is a war of greed. Several large corporations in the United States, most notably, Halliburton, stand to make a mighty profit from the war (Search Google News: Halliburton Iraq contract). The Bush Administration claims to stand for strong moral values; however their actions have failed to live up to their words. The soldiers fighting this war, the people of Iraq, and the public, in general, all deserve a proper explanation.
To Summarize: The Bush Administration deceived the United States Public and the Senate by using flawed intelligence and deception to wage an unjust war on the people of Iraq. After the Senate Intelligence Report came out condemning the war, the Bush Administration was given the chance to state that they had made a mistake. Instead, they have continued to state that the War on Iraq was just. The hubris demonstrated by Bush Administration has gone unchecked for far too long. I find it amazing that, given the overwhelming evidence of deception demonstrated by the Bush Administration, that the results of the 2004 election are still in question. Where is the public outrage? How can the United States public still support this administration? Why are the current polls showing the race to be dead heat?
A) Watching the movie,
B) Taking a look at Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 Notes/Sources
C) Forming your own opinion on the subject
The truth is that the American Media is very corporate/right wing oriented, which makes it hard to have a balanced view on the issues. While you're at it, I recommend taking a look a couple other documentaries:
A) Control Room: A documentary on perception of the United state's war with Iraq, with an emphasis on Al Jazeera coverage - This title should help you get another perspective on the impact of the War.
B) Out-Foxed: I have yet to actually see this film, although I have ordered it. This documentary provides some insight into the government's influence on reporting
by the Fox News Network. Lawrence Lessig has some material on this film. The New York Times also has an article on the film:
You can order the film from the following website: http://www.outfoxed.org/, or from amazon.com. (In fact, since being released last week, Out-Foxed is the #1 seller on DVD at Amazon.com)
c) UNCOVERED - The Truth about the Iraq War - A summary about the deception of the Bush Administration used to justify the Iraq War. This documentary includes a video montage, showing clips of Bush and Powell attempting to back up the intelligence stating that Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is almost pathetic watching the certainty on their faces disappear over time. The penultimate moment comes when Bush is asked: (Paraphrasing) "Do you think the United State's credibility is on the line concerning the finding of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq?" Bush stutters for a few moments and then states "I, uh, have no idea what you mean..."
D) The Fog of War - A documentary by Robert McNamara about his career as Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War and the Cold War. This documentary helps you to understand the futility of the war.
Getting back to my original point, I would like to re-state that I am angry at the current political climate of the United States. Where is the public outrage? Why are the opinion polls showing Bush/Kerry in an almost dead-heat, given the complete lack of evidence to support the current War on Iraq? What were the original reasons given to justify the War on Iraq?
#1. Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Bush has now himself conceded that they will probably never find evidence of WMDs. The senate intelligence committee has now found that the pre-war intelligence that the Bush Administration claimed to have simply failed to exist. This sentiment is now echoed by the Butler report findings in Britain. Before the war began, there was speculation that the administration did not want to reveal the information contained in the intelligence reports, because it would compromise the security of human intelligence assets within Iraq. The reports now reveal that the administration actually had poorly trained intelligence teams, which collected unreliable information, and a shortage of agents within Iraq. Where is the outrage?
#2. Saddam and Iraq have ties with Al Qaeda - There is no credible evidence linking Saddam Hussein with the Al Qaeda terrorists of 9/11. IN FACT, a much better case can be made for claiming ties between the Osama Bin Laden and the president himself. These ties can be documented as follows:
-President Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard with James R. Bath.The two were suspended together for failing to take a medical exam. Later, the Whitehouse attempted to hide this connection when releasing a public document, however the Michael Moore already had the original.
-James R. Bath later financed President Bush's first company, Arbusto Oil. James R. Bath became a money manager for the Saudi Bin Laden group, owned by the Bin Ladens, who one of the richest families in Saudi Arabia
-The Saudi Bin Laden Group invested heavily in several Texas companies, and is heavily linked to the Carlyle Group, President Bush Sr., James Baker, etc.
-The Bush Administration has tried to downplay/marginalize/spin this link by stating that Osama was the black sheep of the family, and has no ties with the rest of the family. This may or may not be true, but it is pretty astonishing that the Bin Ladens were escorted out of the country without even being held for questioning immediately after the national airspace was re-opened. The fact that the nation of Saudi Arabian Royal Family has trillions of dollars invested in the United States economy makes it very difficult or the US Government to act impartially when dealing with these people.
The fact is, is that is much easier to link the Bush Administration directly to Al Qaeda than it is to link Saddam Hussein to the Al Qaeda. If the Bush Administration had this type of evidence to demonstrate a link, it would be all over the news. The Senate Intelligence Committee once again refuted this claim, stating that there is no credible evidence that could be used to state this claim.
The United States AND The World are now a safer place - Now that evidence has come out to show that the War on Iraq was waged on false pretences, the Bush Administration has started to once again administer spin control, stating that the War on Iraq was justified by stating "The United States is now a Safer Place". This fact was hammered home by the fact that George W. Bush repeated this phrase 8 times during a recent 32 minute speech in Oakridge, Tennessee. The fact is: AMERICA IS NOT A SAFER PLACE! Iraq has now become a breeding ground for anti-American sentiment. I watched some of the images from The Control Room, and saw hatred in the faces of young children growing up in Iraq. Iraq has now become a failed state, and we have created a new generation of children that will grow up hating the United States. What evidence is there that the United States is now a safer place? In fact, Tom Ridge recently stated that there is evidence that a wide scale terrorist attack will be made in the United States, with the intent of disrupting the democratic process. How is the United States a safer place?
The State Department issued a "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report in April, and tried to point to lower terrorism numbers, stating that Global Terrorism had declined to a 34-year low in 2003, stating that the Bush Administration's efforts were working. Later on, it was found that the report was severely flawed, missing hundreds of terrorist attacks. In fact, when a revised report was released, the number of casualties due to terrorism shot up to 625, which was more than twice as high as the report initially showed, marking 2003 as having one of the highest levels of terrorism ever reported. (Audio Report, NPR.
The fact remains that the Bush Administration has failed to provide credible justification for the war on Iraq. Every justification they have used has turned out to be a lie. The only valid assumption that can be made is that this is a war of greed. Several large corporations in the United States, most notably, Halliburton, stand to make a mighty profit from the war (Search Google News: Halliburton Iraq contract). The Bush Administration claims to stand for strong moral values; however their actions have failed to live up to their words. The soldiers fighting this war, the people of Iraq, and the public, in general, all deserve a proper explanation.
To Summarize: The Bush Administration deceived the United States Public and the Senate by using flawed intelligence and deception to wage an unjust war on the people of Iraq. After the Senate Intelligence Report came out condemning the war, the Bush Administration was given the chance to state that they had made a mistake. Instead, they have continued to state that the War on Iraq was just. The hubris demonstrated by Bush Administration has gone unchecked for far too long. I find it amazing that, given the overwhelming evidence of deception demonstrated by the Bush Administration, that the results of the 2004 election are still in question. Where is the public outrage? How can the United States public still support this administration? Why are the current polls showing the race to be dead heat?
posted by markh100 at
8:37 PM
