The Obfuscation Report

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Jim Ridout

How did we get from tracking down our known enemy in the caves of Afghanistan to pursuing political ideology in the castles of Iraq? George Bush went before the American people after we were attacked on September 11, 2001 and promised to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaida. Troops were sent in the tens of thousands and we fought and removed the Taliban. Osama, our known enemy, was rarely mentioned, and the search for his capture suddenly became a secondary goal. President Bush in an interview told us he doesn't think about him very much. But, Mr. President, this is THE MAN that you promised to capture or kill! Doesn't think about him very much?????

But then a strange thing began to happen. Each and every time George Bush or Dick Cheney or Condoleezza Rice or Donald Rumsfeld mentioned 9/11, they did not speak of capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden. Noooooo!!!! They spoke of Saddam Hussein and his known connection to 9/11. The Bush Administration began a long marketing campaign to promote an invasion of Iraq on the basis of a connection to the attack on America on 9/11.

Troops and military support personnel were moved into the region a year before the actual invasion. And our known enemy, Osama Bin Laden, was not even on the radar. Sure troops were kept in the area so they could lay claim to their commitment, but they had committed 15 times the number of troops to the invasion of Iraq based upon lies and manipulations. The stories regarding aluminum tubes, yellow cake, missile launchers, unmanned drones, and mushroom clouds were all false. They were debunked by our own intelligence analysts and by those of foreign nations such as Germany. What did George Bush and his gang of warmongers do? They began smear campaigns against all who disagreed with them, the French, the Germans, and Joe Wilson. They were willing to out one of our own CIA operatives whose job it was to track raw materials that may be used in the manufacture of Weapons of Mass Destruction for purposes of personal political philosophy and, even more disturbing, to do so to win re-election.

The claim that they are making now is that our Congress saw the same intelligence they did. That is simply another lie. Congress saw their version of the intelligence. Congress got to read their ad for a call to war disguised as intelligence. Now it is important to remember that many of those in the Bush Administration also belonged to the "Project for a New American Century," whose philosophy called for preemptive invasions of Middle Eastern Nations and specifically Iraq.

Ah, then came the day. The day when George Bush dressed up in a military pilot's outfit and pretended he landed a jet on an aircraft carrier far out at sea, when he actually sat in the jet that landed on a carrier in San Francisco Bay. George Bush then declared "Mission Accomplished" under a banner that read the same. But what mission was that? Had we captured or killed Osama Bin Laden, as he had promised us he would? No. We had taken Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. We had captured castles in Baghdad while our enemy was living in a cave in Afghanistan. We had defeated the same Iraqi army that we had easily defeated a decade before. So which mission was accomplished? One that benefited the American people or one that fulfilled the goals of the "Project for a New American Century"?

The lies appear to be endless, whether they pertain to the war in Iraq, the use of White Phosphorous, torture, outing a CIA operative, paying people to portray support for pet projects such as No Child Left Behind or changes to Medicare, or continuing to give more wealth to the wealthy while poverty and hunger gnaw away at much of our population. Tony Blair has threatened journalists in Great Britain if they release details of a meeting between Blair and Bush, in which the reports suggest that George Bush had a desire to blow up news outlets that disagreed with his ideology. What is missing in any statement from Blair is the assertion that the memos contain information that may be harmful to national security, which further suggests that his strong-arm tactic is a means to prevent people from learning the truth.

The only possible strategy for George Bush and his gang is to continue to lie and deceive. They must fabricate more lies to support the original falsehoods; if they fail to do that their support will dwindle into the single digits. The very future of The Republican Party is predicated upon George Bush continuing to lie and deceive with the hopes that they will cling to the last 30% of the people that actually still believe them. They must work through the night to fabricate a "New Truth." They must revise history. They must claim no wrongdoing. They may want to follow the model of Japan, who now has printed textbooks denying any invasion of Korea or China, and they have fired teachers who wish to teach the truth.

We have gone from caves in Afghanistan to Castles in Baghdad. Our known enemy is alive and well, but our President proclaimed "Mission Accomplished." I believe him. He and his gang successfully deceived the American people and his personal political ideology was achieved. In the wake of his sins, we have lost 2,100 heroes and drained our treasury. Our shores are no safer, our ports are just as porous, air cargo goes unchecked because it would cost 4 billion dollars that we don't have after spending 200 billion in Iraq, and communication between intelligence agencies and first responders is pathetic.

It really doesn't matter how politically incorrect it may sound to call the President of the United States a liar or to ask for his impeachment. They are words that will cause anger and infuriate some, but that does not mean we do not deserve the truth?

How did we get from caves to castles? How does our known enemy become an afterthought? How did we spend 200 billion dollars on lies and manipulations, while we have American citizens who go to bed hungry every night and children that are in need? Does the phrase, "to provide for the general welfare," sound familiar?

Impeach George Bush.

Jim Ridout
Albuquerque, New Mexico

BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

# posted by David @ Tuesday, November 29, 2005