Bush Politics and WMDS

February 5, 2004

Bush has WMD problems and he will lie and blame to escape responsibility as usual.

David Kay, former US weapons hunter said there are no stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons in Iraq. He also said they weren't  there at the time the Iraq War started last year.

Bush said repeatedly that Iraqi WMDs were a one reason for war. Now that they have not been found, he is trying to avoid blame and criticism. After all he is running for re-selection this year.

At first, he said he wanted to find out why there was a WMD intelligence failure but refused any suggestion of an independent inquiry. After a couple days reflection he changed his mind and now Bush will appoint a committee to investigate himself and his administration.

How convenient. What a white wash.

In reality, the new commission will isolate the issue by keeping it in a political fog. It will be under investigation and out of sight. Bush can then deflect criticism by saying "it is under study" and "we need to wait". Of course, the results of the inquiry will be available after the 2004 elections. To insure a successful cover-up he will appoint at least one of his daddy’s cronies to the commission, insuring favorable results for himself.

Bush and the Republican Party faithful will criticize anyone who brings up WMDs. To them, it will be a non-issue. Their righteous indignation will be dishonest.

Bush needs to confront this issue right now. He must stop blaming intelligence agencies and accept responsibility. He must stop denying he failed to properly assess the situation and admit he “cherry picked” intelligence to justify a war he started to plan in early in 2001.

The CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency repeatedly warned Bush and his advisors about WMDs in Iraq. They said they weren’t sure about them and their information was unreliable.  Bush ignored them and he continued to hype the WMD threat, claiming they were a reason for war.

Now, there is an increase in political pressure.

Today, George Tenet, CIA Director said an investigation is needed to find out whether intelligence data was manipulated. He also said there was no imminent threat from WMDs before the war. This is in contrast to the 2003 State of the Union address when Bush said:

"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words and all recriminations would come too late."

Bush must now face this issue. Most expect him to do it openly, and honestly. Instead he has started the “blame game”, has made denials and now has decided on a self-appointed committee to hide the facts until next year.

Bush has betrayed the nation’s trust, a serious matter his supporters will ignore. Incredibly they will actively support him and in doing so brand themselves as liars and untrustworthy.