It's Time to Admit Error. . Robert Parham, Baptist Center for Ethics

It's Time to Admit Error, and Find
a New Path in Iraq

Robert Parham
07-29-05

Bush led the world to war on the
wings of a falsehood.

He and his administration asserted
mistakenly that Iraq had weapons
of mass destruction and was close
to having nuclear weapons. Their
specious claims resulted in a
misguided rush to military
adventurism that has left the
world a more dangerous place-more
terrorism, more deaths of innocent
Iraqis, more anti-Americanism,
more deaths and injuries of
American troops and more
squandering of the American
treasury.

While a host of Democrats enabled
Bush, Christian fundamentalists
placed their moral and spiritual
blessing on the war as a crusade.
Many within the cable TV news
industry beat relentlessly the war
drums.

Nevertheless, Bush and his
administration bear the ultimate
responsibility for an unwinnable
and seemingly unending war.

Here's a chronology of what the
president, vice president,
secretary of state and CIA
director said:

On Jan. 29, 2002, Bush said, "Our
... goal is to prevent regimes that
sponsor terror from threatening
America or our friends and allies
with weapons of mass destruction."

"Iraqi continues to flaunt its
hostility toward America and to
support terror. The Iraqi regime
has plotted to develop anthrax,
and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons
for over a decade. ... This is a
regime that has something to hide
from the civilized world."

On Sept. 12, 2002, Bush said,
"Iraq continues to withhold
important information about its
nuclear program-weapons design,
procurement logs, experiment data,
an accounting of nuclear materials
and documentation of foreign
assistance. Iraq employs capable
nuclear scientists and
technicians. It retains physical
infrastructure needed to build a
nuclear weapon. Iraq has made
several attempts to buy high-
strength aluminum tubes used to
enrich uranium for a nuclear
weapon. Should Iraq acquire
fissile material, it would be able
to build a nuclear weapon within a
year."

On Oct. 7, 2002, Bush said that
Iraq "possesses and produces
chemical and biological weapons.
It is seeking nuclear weapons."

"The evidence indicates that Iraq
is reconstituting its nuclear
weapons program....Satellite
photographs reveal that Iraq is
rebuilding facilities at sites
that have been part of its nuclear
program in the past. Iraq has
attempted to purchase high-
strength aluminum tubes and other
equipment needed for gas
centrifuges, which are used to
enrich uranium for nuclear
weapons."

"If the Iraqi regime is able to
produce, buy, or steal an amount
of highly enriched uranium a
little larger than a single
softball, it could have a nuclear
weapon in less than a year."

"Facing clear evidence of peril,
we cannot wait for the final
proof-the smoking gun-that could
come in the form of a mushroom
cloud."

On Jan. 28, 2003, Bush said, "It
is up to Iraq to show exactly
where it is hiding its banned
weapons and lay those weapons out
for the world to see and destroy
them as directed."

"The British government has
learned that Saddam Hussein
recently sought significant
quantities of uranium from
Africa."

On Feb. 5, 2003, at the United
Nations, Secretary of State Colin
Powell said, "Every statement I
make today is backed up by
sources, solid sources. These are
not assertions. What we're giving
you are facts and conclusions
based on solid intelligence."

"We know that Iraq has at least
seven of these mobile biological
agent factories. The truck-mounted
ones have at least two or three
trucks each."

"These are sophisticated
facilities.... They can produce
anthrax and botulism toxin. In
fact, they can produce enough dry
biological agent in a single month
to kill thousands upon thousands
of people."

On Feb. 27, 2003, Bush said, "In
Iraq, a dictator is building and
hiding weapons that could enable
him to dominate the Middle East
..."

"The danger posed by Saddam
Hussein and his weapons cannot be
ignored or wished away."

On March 7, 2003, Bush said,
"Iraqi operatives continue to hide
biological and chemical agents to
avoid detection by inspectors. In
some cases these materials have
been moved to different locations
every 12 to 24 hours ..."

"He possesses weapons of terror."

On March 16, 2003, Bush said, "The
dictator of Iraq and his weapons
of mass destruction are a threat
to the security of free nations."

"He possesses the weapons of mass
murder."

On March 16, 2003, when Vice
President Dick Cheney was asked on
"Meet the Press" what he
considered the most important
rationale for war, he said, "his
[Saddam Hussein's] development and
use of chemical weapons, his
development of biological weapons,
his pursuit of nuclear weapons."

"We believe he has, in fact,
reconstituted nuclear weapons."

On March 17, 2003, Bush said,
"Intelligence gathered by this and
other governments leaves no doubt
that the Iraq regime continues to
possess and conceal some of the
most lethal weapons ever devised."

"The terrorist threat to America
and the world will be diminished
the moment that Saddam Hussein is
disarmed."

On March 20, 2003, the U.S.
launched a war against Iraq.

On May 1, 2003, Bush stood in
front of a huge banner on a U.S.
aircraft that said, "Mission
Accomplished."

On May 29, 2003, Bush said that
the U.S. had "found the weapons of
mass destruction."

On July 2, 2003, Bush challenged
insurgents-"bring 'em on."

On July 11, 2003, Director of
Central Intelligence George Tenet
released a statement about the
president's assertion that Iraq
had sought uranium from Africa.

"These 16 words should never have
been included in the text written
for the President," said Tenet. It
was troubling that "the 16 words
eventually made it into the State
of the Union speech. This was a
mistake."

On March 25, 2004, Bush joked
about the failure to find weapons
of mass destruction. Narrating a
slide show at a black-tie dinner
for radio and television
reporters, Bush was shown in the
Oval Office looking under a piece
of furniture. "Those weapons of
mass destruction have got to be
here somewhere," he said.

"Nope, no weapons over there," he
said about another slide. "Maybe
under here," he said of a third
slide.

As of July 28, 2005, no weapons of
mass destruction have been found.
No Bush apology has been issued
for leading the world to war on
the wings of falsehood. No
evidence exists that Bush has kept
his pledge to usher in an era of
responsibility.

Instead, here is what has
happened:

* The Iraqi civilian death
count is between 23,006 and
26,052.

* The U.S. military-related
death count is 1,790,
excluding the number of
deaths in and around
Afghanistan.

* The number of injured
American soldiers is 13,657,
excluding the number of
injuries in and around
Afghanistan.

* The wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan already cost $314
billion; the cost could
increase another $450 billion
over the next 10 years.

The violence in Iraqi shows no
sign of lessening. Terrorism
continues unabated. The nation's
treasure is evaporating.

We are on an unsustainable path.
We need a way out, beginning with
the president acknowledging grave
errors in judgment and securing a
new leadership team.

Robert Parham is executive
director of the Baptist Center for
Ethics.

_______________________

Richard Mitchell

Clergy & Laity Network of Kentucky
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CLN-KY/

phone (home): (859) 277-6101
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email: Richard.Mitchell@insightbb.com

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