To Bush, Iran = Iraq
December 4, 2007 – 3:46 pmPresident Bush said that the international community should continue to pressure Iran on its nuclear programs, asserting Tehran remains dangerous despite a new intelligence conclusion that it halted its development of a nuclear bomb four years ago.
“I view this report as a warning signal that they had the program, they halted the program. The reason why it’s a warning signal is they could restart it,” Bush said one day after a new national intelligence estimate found that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003.
This rhetoric is eerily similar to previous statements regarding the necessity of tax cuts and a war with Iraq. Namely, the facts are merely inconveniences towards a preconceived policy. In this administration, ideology continues to trump reality.
4 Responses to “To Bush, Iran = Iraq”
This is appalling and infuriating on several levels:
One, why did it take four years for our “Intelligence Community” to evaluate and release this information? And given their track record, why should we believe that they got it right this time?
And then there’s Bush’s outrageous intransigeance and refusal to acknowledge the facts!
It wouldn’t be so bad if he were merely running the corner hardware store (which I’m not sure he’s capable of doing).
But he’s the head of the most powerful nation in the world, which makes him without question the most dangerous man in the world.
By Steve Levine on Dec 4, 2007
If Bush knew about this earlier this year — or last year — and still continued to beat the drums for war with Iran, he’s guilty of lying and misleading the country, and should be impeached.
If he DIDN’T know about this, he certainly should have, in which case he’s guilty of misfeasance and nonfeasance, and should be impeached.
I can live with either reason.
By Steve Levine on Dec 4, 2007
In Bush’s mind, military action against Iran is justified regardless of whether they were still pursuing nukes. Remember, the facts are shaped to fit the policy, not the other way around.
By Joshua Rosenstock on Dec 4, 2007
It’s not as if there was a breakthrough in intelligence-gathering, or a sudden revelation of information available to our intelligence community.
This report was generated by a reassessment (of data) that must have been ongoing for a while, so it seems unbelievable that none of this would have been communicated to the scold-in-chief during his briefings.
If he did have such foreknowledge, one would think it might have caused him to temper his saber-rattling just a bit.
Except this is an executive so serenely confident of ‘the mandate of heaven’, despite all evidence to the contrary, that he truly is delusional.
I believe the Shogun/Mikado power-sharing arrangement between Bush and Cheney, and the hijacking of the executive branch of our government by corporate interests, are more threatening to world peace and our democracy than Iran.
By Vince Williams on Dec 4, 2007