The Administration "Re-Wronging" History
Published November 30, 2005
Vice President Dick Cheney - November, 2005: "The president and I can not prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone — but we're not going to sit by and let them rewrite history..."
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on whether the invasion would have taken place if there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq:
February, 2004: "... there would have been no war."
November, 2005: "... probably yes."
Clearly, "rewriting history" is part of a usual day's work in the Bush Administration. And its employees are quite good at it - they just don't seem to be doing a very good job of explaining crucial discrepancies when they are discovered.
To get a feel for the thinking that gives rise to the false "righteous indignation" exhibited by Dick Cheney and others in the administration, consider the following statements a senior Bush advisor made to Ron Suskind, former Wall Street Journal reporter and author of The Price of Loyalty, as reported in the New York Times Magazine. First, Suskind states that the advisor pointed out that he (Suskind) lives "... in what we [the administration] call the reality-based community." The advisor defined that community as being those who ''believe that solutions emerge from 'your' [presumably the rest of us] judicious study of discernible reality.''
The unnamed advisor went on to explain:
"That’s not the way the world really works anymore... We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to study what we do."
Perhaps it's worth taking a look at the "empire's own reality" and "history's actors" and their roles in it - if only to explain how we got from:
February 2004
Q: Mr. Secretary, you said in your opening remarks, sir — you described it as two paths that nations can take, and you noted that Saddam Hussein, had he opened up his country to the UN resolutions, there would have been no war.Rumsfeld: Was what I said today correct? Yes. There would not have been a war. I mean, that's just a fact.
To here:
November 2005
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos: If you had known that no WMDs would be found, would you still advocate invasion?Donald Rumsfeld: If I... I... the answer is probably yes.
The stunning reversal by Rumsfeld is an example of the fast and loose manner with which the administration is playing with its "position" on Iraq. Goalposts are moved constantly. Targets are never defined, and costs in lives and treasury are under- and/or unreported blatantly.
The reason the fundamental WMD issue is important is that it prevents an honest debate about how to end this war. The events on the ground have certainly changed and must be dealt with, but without keeping in mind that we entered into this war to prevent a supposedly catastrophic, imminent threat presented as coming in the form of a "mushroom cloud," no reasonable solution can be found to end this war in a satisfactory manner.
- The Administration "Re-Wronging" History
- Published: November 30, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Politics
- Writer: AmeriPundit
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Comments on this articleComments
This is the most despicable administration in US History. The filthiest, corrupt lying jackals to ever sit in DC and yet people still think these guys are just swell and are "protecting Merrika".
They are all war criminals. They have hurt the US so badly that it's beyond full repair. They're responsible for 9/11. They're responsible for the illegal wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq. They're responsible for the continued selling out and hollowing out of America's middle class. They continue to allow millions of Third Worlders into America when we don't need them.
The Bush Adminstration is putting the final nails in America's coffin. Just wait and see. It's going to get worse and worse in this country.
Jeee-sus H. Christ! They don't even operate in "reality" - that's for the rest of us who live in the Real World. We're fucked.
"Just wait and see. It's going to get worse and worse in this country." - TommyD
Thanks for expressing your side's wishes in a clear, concise format.
ReTard, it's not my "my side's wishes" that thing's get worse in this country, it's just the realistic and logical outcome of a government gone really, really bad. Anyone one with the gift of free thought can see that the US's current policies can not, and will not, end in a good or beneficial way for the vast majority of American citizens. Empires never end well, but always with great and swift collapse.
But I guess you'll turn on FOX News tonight and believe whatever they tell you, so I might be wasting my time here.
Why is it so hard for people to see the truth of what's happening in this country and why it needs to change now!?!?!
Redtard & his ilk are members of a hard-core decreasing minority, as even the half-wits who voted for Bush in 04 are waking up & smelling the stench of corruption on The Hill & in the WH.
Nancy, you're right. The cheerleaders for war are so desperate to retain a little bit of their self-dignity after being so utterly defeated by the reality of America's illegal Iraq invasion that they're just lashing out at anyone who speaks up about the awful reality that this nation finds itself in because of following the insane delusions of grandeur by insane politicians.
Nancy, they're weak. They thought that they could boost their faux machismo by cheerleading the US military into "killing all dem Ay-rabs" when these guys know in their heart of hearts that they could never muster the bravery to actually put the rubber to the road and hook up with the front lines in Iraq.
It's all psychological with these guys. Shattered they all are.
I'm no cheerleader or chickenhawk, I was a member of the US armed forces and have been to Kuwait. I risked my life to disarm leftover Iraqi and US munitions so that little kids could play outside without fear of blowing themselves up.
I've been there and I know people very well who are over there now. They tell a different story than what you guys spew. I have to take personal experience and eyewitness accounts over propaganda from radicals angry because they lost in the last election.
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"There can be no doubt that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction." Dick Cheney
"Saddam has chemical weapons." Colin Powell
"Saddam has biological weapons." G. W. Bush
"We know he has these weapons and we know where they are." Donald Rumsfeld.
"He tried to obtain uranium from Africa." G.W. Bush
"Would I lie to you? Would I lie to you honey? Would I say something that wasn't true." Annie Lenox