It Turns Out Ahmadinejad Was the Truthful One
Bush is such a liar. Or is he just out to lunch on the most important issue that he faces? In October, he charged that Iran’s nuclear weapons program was bringing the world to the precipice of World War III, even though the White House had been informed at least a month earlier that Iran had no such program and had stopped efforts to develop one back in 2003.
Is it conceivable that Bush was telling the truth at his press conference Tuesday when he stated that he learned of the National Intelligence Estimate report, which contained that inconvenient fact, only last week? Even if Bush read the NIE report, he clearly doesn’t respect it, for at his press conference he said “the NIE doesn’t do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world-quite the contrary.” Not that he has anything against the NIE, whose directors he handpicked. “I want to compliment the intelligence community for their good work. Right after the failure of intelligence in Iraq, we reformed the intelligence community.”
But whether or not the intelligence agencies are reformed, the president still ignores them. He didn’t listen when they told him he was wrong in claiming that Iraq had purchased yellow cake uranium from Niger and he doesn’t listen now when they tell him his alarms about Iran are without factual foundation. The difference this time around is that because Bush is a discredited lame duck the intelligence chiefs were a bit more forthcoming with their findings in a report that has, in part, been made available to the public.
The whole episode shows that our democratic system retains at least some essential checks and balances, but it also is depressing to see that, in this instance at least, the fanatical leader of a theocracy seems to have a higher regard for truth than does the president of the world’s greatest experiment in representative democracy.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who took office as Iran’s president in August of 2005, two years after Iran’s nuclear weapons program ended, has now been vindicated in his claims that Iran has abandoned the weaponization program. Not so Bush, who has summarily dismissed the intelligence community’s findings and, using his favorite tactic in dealing with debacles, is sticking to his original story. A story, as in the case of the earlier Iraq threat inflation, that too many in the mass media and Congress, including some leading Democrats, have bought.
Take Hillary Clinton, who said that “Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is in the forefront of that” by way of defending her vote for a resolution that, like the one she voted for before the Iraq war, blindly supports rather than seriously questions the president’s case for war. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was absolutely correct in calling candidate Clinton out on that vote and challenging her lame excuse that she had not read the full intelligence report before her Iraq war vote. “Members of Congress,” Obama cautioned, “must carefully read the intelligence before giving the president any justification to use military force.”
Not a bad idea. In the case of Iraq’s non-nukes, the intelligence evidence supporting Bush was flimsy at best when it did not directly contradict his key assertions. In the case of Iran, it is now publicly understood that there is no such evidence, flimsy or otherwise. But don’t count on that to stop the bipartisan coalition of invasion hawks from pushing on.
Once again, they will attack the United Nations’ experts, who have been proved right in Iran as they were in Iraq. A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency pointed out that the NIE report supports the agency’s view that there is “no evidence” of an undeclared nuclear weapons program in Iran and “validates the assessments of [IAEA Director General] Mohamed ElBaradei, who continuously said in his public statements that he saw no clear and public danger, and that therefore that there was plenty of time for negotiations.”
Can we get ElBaradei to run in the Iowa caucus? Why are our leading presidential candidates so easily fooled?
It’s humiliating to all of us who believe in a free press, separation of powers and individual liberty that a system of government designed by its founders to hold leaders accountable can be so easily manipulated by an unremarkable loser who has been rewarded throughout his life for screwing up. It is hoped that this time around the truth will catch up with him before he gets us in yet another bloody war, just to show he can.
Robert Scheer is editor of Truthdig.com and a regular columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle.
© 2007 TruthDig.com
An absolute exposure of who our “leaders” and “journalists” really are, all of this—And again, I will never vote for any of the spineless Congressional incumbents from my state again, may even get active against them in favor of ANYbody else….The silence is deafening from people who swore and get paid to uphold the U.S. Constitution….
did you take notice mr. tenent? mr. powell? gen. pace? and way too many other “sheeple” in this administration. true americans will speak truth to power.
and it’s about damn time some officials uphold their oaths and “defend and protect” our constitution from “enemies foreign and domestic”
Now can we stop demonizing Mahmoud?
I do not believe that any NIE has been released to the American public without a tacit (even if denied) blessing from the administration. It’s easier for Bush to ramp down the “bombs away” rumor this way, and that’s
all it is. There is also the possibility that some of the Republican presidential candidates asked for some
disclosure of truth to keep voters from being afraid to elect them in ‘08. Who knows? But an “accidental” dissemination? Not hardly.
As for bragging on how “truthful” Ahmadinejad is, the title on this article—whoever put it there—is less than useful. I’m not with the guy who recently said “we don’t have homosexuals in Iran like you have in the United States” (and “the Holocaust is a myth”—no matter what he says about his nuclear energy programs or weapons programs. We needn’t brag on that nut just because we are disgusted with Bush.
All the admin has to do is change Q to N and they can use all the same material.
America is the Cadillac of all war machines, and Hillary cant wait to get behind the wheel, and feel the wind blowing against her face.
Why would the Dems impeach?
So they could get impeached, business as usual is an impeachable offence.
Stop demonizing Ineedajob or BushCo?
Why not just start-demonizing them, but accurately — this-time for the Realities of the roles these ‘people’ play — for sheer change-of-pace, if nothing-else? [Those-two have been ‘bunk-buddies’ from ‘the-git’…]
Just like Saddam was the truthful one before. It really takes work to make these foreign despots look good, but bush and co have succeeded.
“Why are our leading presidential candidates so easily fooled?”
I would say “fooled” is incorrect. They are all for maintaining BAU for the MIC, which is why they say whay they say. As proven by DK’s campaign, you will not get the big warbucks’ donations that allow you to be declared a “front runner” by the MSM if you don’t pump militarism and help to further the “fear” factor used to control people’s minds.
Isn’t it sad that the Bush admin has taken the US reputation through the mud? Now he is asking Iran to come clean? I mean is this so-called president seriously that stupid? Does he really think that the world is that stupid?
When is this moron of a president going to ask Israel to come clean with their nukes, bio and chem weapons?
As I sais, the admins new motto is :
HYPOCRITES R’ US!!
Again, the intelligence doesn’t matter. Bush will be attacking this time in order to prevent Iran from getting ‘the knowledge necessary to build a bomb’. despite the fact that such knowledge has been available to almost all uni students since the 1950s.
Get enough uranium together and it goes boom, or force it to go boom by making it implode using common explosives. The real trouble comes from purifing the shit, not from building them.
“A story, as in the case of the earlier Iraq threat inflation, that too many in the mass media and Congress, including some leading Democrats, have bought.”
The article suggests the reason the mass media and most of Congress have bought Bush’s lie about Iran is because they are so stupid they can’t see it is coming from a discredited lame duck president.
Only the die hard Bush supporters are that stupid (approx. 30% of our population). Wait, can it be that the mass media and our leading Democrats fall into this group? Probably true for the anchormen and women on TV news and for the editors of the daily newspapers. Their jobs are keeping them in line with corporate interests and on the take so to speak.
The majority of the Democrats including the leading Democrats have bought into this lie because they themselves have been bought. They may know which way the scientific truth is pointing to but they care more about which side of the bread is buttered by their sponsors and campaign donors.
The title of this article should have been “One more jewel in the crown of the US President”. The US empire like any other empire is built on lies and innocent blood. The perpetrator always demonises the victim in order to justify violence against the victim. What has been missing in the US society is acknowledgement that the “Emperor has no clothes”, followed by regret. As someone has rightly said that the word “regret” is missing in the American society. That is why the misleading title “It truns out Ahmedinejad was the truthful one” (may be Robert Scheer has right reasons for choosing such a title). What we see is a way of life with “no regret” for its lies, crimes, death of innocent people, destruction of states.
May be the Americans should reflect upon some of the events that have happened and see whether there is an iota of regret either in the US president, or government, or the political representatives, the media or the general public:
“Ordering the US invasion and occupation of Iraq before United Nations weapons inspectors could complete their job, and then calling the war a “crusade”. More than a million of Iraqis who have been killed and the 2 million Iraqi refugees. Saying “mission accomplished”, and then watching more than 3,600 US troops die and many wounded not only physically but psychologically. Saying that 30,000 Iraqis, more or less, had been killed and then calling on Iraq - a Muslim country - to pattern its government after Israel - a Jewish nation.
“Being at a Republican fundraiser while dead bodies were floating in New Orleans. Saying that health insurance is no big deal and people have health care in the US by just going to an emergency room. An endless amount of troop surges, the increase in civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the strengthening of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Failing to (or intentionally, because Osama is a trump card for the US invasions) capture Osama bin Laden.
“But unfortunately, Bush is not alone in not showing any regret. The United States, with its preoccupation of self and overly narcissistic culture, has created an entire government and society that appear to be suffering from a lack of remorse. Just as some believe they are above the rule of law, others feel they are beyond regret. They know no boundaries to, nor have any regrets about, their dominant ideologies and their effects. Maybe this explains the inability of Americans to deal with and work with other nations and cultures in bringing about peace with justice.”
This is the reason why American public still wants to see the US president, and the government as THE “savior” of the world.
“The whole episode shows that our democratic system retains at least some essential checks and balances, but it also is depressing to see that, in this instance at least, the fanatical leader of a theocracy seems to have a higher regard for truth than does the president of the world’s greatest experiment in representative democracy.”
Hold on, Mr. Scheer, let’s not rush to pat ourselves on the back. That fanatical leader of a theocracy was fairly elected in direct elections, but the president of the “world’s greatest experiment in representative democracy” wasn’t. Remember the Electoral College? That little booby trap our Founding Fathers stuck in the Constitution to prevent real democracy and protect vested interests from the clamoring rabble?
“Can we get ElBaradei to run in the Iowa caucus? Why are our leading presidential candidates so easily fooled?”
Is Scheer referring to Hillary, who claims that Bush tricked her into approving the resolution against Iraq? And now this resolution against Iran? George didn’t fool Hillary. She sold us out to the Israel Lobby. There’s a huge difference, and Scheer should be aware of it.
“It is hoped that this time around the truth will catch up with him before he gets us in yet another bloody war, just to show he can.”
So Hillary was tricked by that spoiled brat George, who will murder millions of innocent Iranians in a temper tantrum? Either Scheer doesn’t get it, or like most US journalists, if he gets it, he’s afraid to tell the truth. Hillary and George are both neo-fascists playing out a decades-old neo-fascist script of world conquest. That’s the real truth behind our current predicament. Things will continue to get worse until we confront it, and deal with it.
Once again I’m amazed that American leaders are unaware of any and all information relating to arms control unless it emanates from the holy see-I-A. You must be aware that, around the world, there are reputable open-source papers on the disposition of the world’s atomic energy programs. There’s no need to wait for privately funded think tanks staffed by religious loons to tell you what’s what. Do you have universities in the US? Try there first and if not we’ve got plenty with libraries full of fair analysis on this subject. Or do you think that all the non-proliferation experts around the world are united in a cabal to deceive you and destroy the world. In case you haven’t noticed, you are not alone on this planet. I could have read more informative articles in a magazine years ago that make the nie look like something scribbled on a napkin.
One other thing if you will permit me,
Daniel David December 5th, 2007 12:39 pm:
“I’m not with the guy who recently said…”
I’m with you on the sentiment but two points,
1 It is not clear he said those things; I know that when he was speaking of the holocaust he was asking why Palestinians were paying the price for Europe’s treatment of the Jews.
2 The homosexual remark, I think was in context of Iran’s conservative nature as opposed to him claiming that they do not exist.
Also you are aware that he has made many speeches over the years and it is always the same tired misquotes that get trotted out. Remember that Al Gore “invented the internet”!?
Daniel David Daniel David
Your posts show less inclination to criticize the most powerful nation, its powerful corporations, its powerful network of military bases, client states and dependencies, or the powerful global PR machine they control.
Instead, you believe you can “judge” those individuals, nations and policies demonized by the above powers-that-be.
If you wish to actually understand the world, you must attack the source of the problem: the unequal control over access to resources.
That translates into an international hierarch of production (i.e., nations).
Those on top of the economic hierarchy, globally and within each nation, get the most benefits. Those on the lower rungs take the most costs.
So, to be truely a critical thinker, you must analyze the actions and statements of the economically powerful (and their junior partners in politics) -within and without the most economically and militarily powerful nation.
Chavez is attempting to gain more benefits for his country and his political constituency.
Before Hugo Chavez gained power, the traditional two parties responded to a narrow range of constituents: the Venezuelan oligarchy and the US plutocracy.
In 1989, the government under President Perez forced a widespread and profound IMF structural reforms on the people of Venezuela.
In response, there were huge riots (Caracazos Riots). The “democratic” government promptly shot many of them down.
The death count was up to 2,000. And the wounded were left on the streets.
Did the US or Venezuelan elite make a stink about the above killings? No. These people deserved it. The MSM barely reported it and it seemed to work.
The general population was quiet and serene…like a graveyard.
It is from this completely unjust, undemocratic trauma which Hugo Chavez emerged.
How come no one in the MSM brings up this bit of history?
In fact, the MSM could compare the treatment afforded the 1989 anti-IMF protesters with the treatment given to the present day anti-Chavez protestors. Many of their protests have violent…they even attempted to overturn Chavez’s democratically elected government in 2002…and no one shot, put to trial! Amazing!
By the way, Perez is living a very comfortable retirement in Miami. And he is a center for fomenting anti-Chavez activities (with US support).
Ahmadinejad told the truth. ___Bush lied. Unfortunately Ahmadinejad came across as a radical madman all too often. He also hinted that indeed Iran had, or was in the process of, having atomic weapons. He was bluffing and got called.
Bush on the other hand refused to even have a decent conversation with the man and attempt to open diplomatic negotiations with Iran. Of course that incredible idiot already had his lying agenda mapped out for him by his outsourced brain Cheney.
Bush has lost now. This was the drop. Now watch the sycophant rats scuttle away from him and his lies.
Bush is still dangerous, though. Too much executive power has been amassed around him. In desperation to retain power and save face Bush might still grab for dictatorial rule. Bush may unleash much havoc on his way down and out.
Not out of the woods yet. Only seeing glimmers of open landscape through the barring treetrunks. Now a real mental fight is enjoined.
Strive on, and bear in mind true reciprocity as the measure for global justice. One standard for all. Fit to individual circumstances, for sure, but never cast loose from the deeper one-standard principle.
No time to let Bush get away with any more.
Impeach, impale or imprison.
My fellow posters here at CD,
Given the historical evidence that this Adminsration clearly engaged in violating several laws, and with a complicit Congress that is dirilect in its duty to uphold the Constitution, I think we have come to a point where we the American public must confront this unfortunate situation. It in effect has become our duty to uphold the Constitution since those who represent us, clearly refuse to do it.
First, we are beyond impeachment. Having a President who consistently has lied to the people, engaged in illegal invasion of a country, and recklessly and deliberately refused to recognize the Constitution, the evidence clearly shows that this President has committed treason. Other members of his Administration also need to be held accountable for commiting the same crime.
Second, because the Congress of the United States of America has been negligent in upholding its sworn duty, and been complicit as accomplices to the President, it too must be held accountable. Members of the Congress need to be relieved of their duty, and put on trial in front of a grand jury consisting of their peers, to be tried as accomplices to the high crime of treason.
As a citizen of the United States, in accordance with my rights under the Constitution, I hereby accuse President George W. Bush of commiting treason and recommend his arrest until his trial date. He has the right to trial in front of a jury of his peers. I will draft a document to be submitted to the courts requesting his arrest.
I am asking all of you to support me in drafting a document accusing the President of commiting treason and his arrest until a trial date has been established. It indeed, is a sad moment in the history of this country, but one that needs to take place. In the place of our leaders, we will need to hold emergency elections to replace these people.
Regards,
Claudius
Iranian pres on the Holocaust. He said: IF it happened, why isnt a jewish state made in Europe instead of Palestine where they werent responsible?
Its understandable why his words were twisted: one, because Israel wanted its homeland in the mythical land of its forefathers, and two, Europe didnt want a jewish state in Europe.
The truth hurts.
As usual, our little sorry excuse for a human being (posing as an actual American president), has been proved to be a liar.
Nothing like (trying) to distract Americans from the real problems in this country or the real criminals: GWB, Cheney, Rice and the rest.
No wonder people aren’t buying anything. Voting is a scam. Houses are a scam. The war is a scam. The entire national government is a scam.
I’m voting this time with my dollarsby not buying anything I can get by without. Its the only thing that will take these people down. $
Oh, and turn off the TV. Why give them anything including your Nielson share.
“Stop demonizing Ineedajob or BushCo?
Why not just start-demonizing them, but accurately — this-time for the Realities of the roles these ‘people’ play — for sheer change-of-pace, if nothing-else? [Those-two have been ‘bunk-buddies’ from ‘the-git’…]”
That’s easy for you to say!
After David Gregory asked Dubya a question concering the lack of intelligence we have received on Iran over the last few years, Dubya explained that we haven’t had any information on Iran because the were such a “secret” society.
I wish Gregory would have followed with the question; Mr. President, do you think it is either A. ironic, B. not an issue, or C. treasonous that your White House destroyed the network and career of Valerie Plame, whose job it was to gather intelligence on Iran’s Nuclear programmes?
Claudius (2:16 pm) — you’re moving in the right direction, but you don’t go far enough. It’s not just the administration & the Congress.
At an elementary level, it’s also the media. And once you start thinking seriously about it, it’s all the ruling social, financial, & political institutions of US life. The Bush administration & Congress are simply the political agents of the corporate oligarchy. They carry out the will, & protect the interests, of the corporate elite.
In other words, if you wanted to impeach and jail all the people who truly deserve to be impeached and jailed, you’d have to jail the whole US ruling class. You’d have to jail almost all of official Washington, most of Wall Street, most of the media, most of the judiciary up to & including the Supreme Court, most of the IMF, the CIA, the Pentagon, USAID, the NED, & so on. You’d have to jail the US lackeys in other countries, especially the UK.
This would be a rather tall order!! // I mean, I’d love to see it happen, because that’s the only way justice can be done. But alas — I won’t be holding my breath.
Since when was Iran ever lying anyway? You people need to face the fact that it’s nothing but the Bush/Limbaughian rightwing attempt to fudge the facts anytime. The Left needs to quit horsing around and go on the offensive or just die and rot in hell !
BogusStory is right. The fact that George Bush is an idiot is irrelevant. What is important is that he is a stooge, and that the corporate interests he represents are not at all idiots. This also, I think, explains the lapses of judgment of our candidates and their congressional colleagues. Scheer is right that the hawks will keep pressing. As long as “our” oil lies under “their” sand, Iran will not be safe from invasion.
RichM,
Thanks for your reply. I was hoping to get your input at some point because please correct me if I am wrong, but you are or were a prosecutor? I simply am hoping just to break the ice, but that might be too much to ask. I no longer can just sit by and watch Bush and his minions repeatedly break the law and use the Constitution as a doormat. I feel compelled to level accusations at the President, which really is sad because I do have a great deal of respect for the office (but in Bush’s case, neither the office or the man). I realize that all of the other parties you mention are involved and it indeed, would be a tall order to jail all of them. I thought I would start with the head hanco and work backwards. Anyway, I will continue to do my part even if it means throwing pebbles at a tank. Hopefully, somewhere along the way, other people will join me (kind of like all of the people joining Forrest Gump in his Coast to Coast jog).
Everything is relative. Anybody would look honest compared to George.
I miss the most logical reaction to this indeed surprising news. Everybody knows bombing Iran is a bad idea, and I don’t mean from a humanitarian point of view but from a military one. USA already is involved in too many conflicts and also needs to be ready to take out Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal in the event of any unwanted turnover. The military simply can’t do it and they have told the president so, but he won’t listen. So they team up with the CIA – neglected in 2001, do we remember? – in a desperate attempt to stop the madness by going public. I don’t believe this is a set-up, it more looks like a clear sign of a palace revolt. Whether it works remains to be seen.
If you have paid any attention to the press conferences by bush the past few days, they are totally ignoring the intel from 2003 like it never happened.
deja vu. the UN weapons inspectors were very clear and did not stutter when they told the USA that Iraq did not have WMD.
Hmmm, flash forward, Iran stopped making nukes in 03. Again, did not stutter. Here we go again…..
The president has (finally) been caught in a lie. It was possible until now to cast some doubt (however little) on whether bush was lying to the nation or not. There can be no doubt now. It is inconceivable that he is unaware of vitally important intelligence and has remained ignorant of said intelligence for years. The obvious fact of the matter is that he is lying to the nation. I find this deeply disturbing.
It remains to be seen if he will be held accountable for this lie.
Regardless, he has no credibility anymore as far as I am concerned. He should be immediately impeached.
I agree, no additional discussion is required on this matter. Chimpy and the dick must NOW be impeached
for lying to the public, not once about sex with an intern, but something many times more important that most certainly could have started WW3. Impeach NOW, hang Jane Harman.
Claudius,
I am not a prosecutor, but I agree with your proposal. It is the correct action of a responsible citizen in a constitutional democracy. One of my friends keeps saying that the Congresspeople should not start impeachment proceedings because there are not enough votes — and I reply that it has gone beyond votes and impeachment, and become a crisis. Our leaders are demonstrable criminals and should be held to account. Submitting your accusing document is a good first step. But what next? How many such documents will it take before there is any legal action? Who will enforce it? What happens if, despite all we do, the status quo somehow prevails?
These are the questions that keep me up at night.
TextGuru,
Thank you for your support. I am asking those same questions. What is the next step after filing a legal accusation? That is why I am hoping posters like RichM and others who have an education in law can shed some light on how the process works. I have studied Constitutional Law, but have not had the experience in the courtroom as a seasoned lawyer. I would also hope that someone would contact Dennis Kucinich and urge him to drop the impeachment bill, and instead draft one accusing the President of treason and seeking imprisonment for commiting a high crime. After what this President has done and with a complicit Congress, Supreme Court, and media, in my estimation as a scholar and practicing Historian and Political Scientist, we are way beyond Nixon territory.
Mr.Scheer, What makes you think the leaders are actually fooled? Amost all of the justifications we hear are merely rationales, excuses for doing what they already planned, which is usually resource-grabbing. If situations actually conformed to the explanations they give, if their motives actually conformed to the high ideals they claim to defend, the world would be a completely different place. It seems the Collective Brain really came unhinged in the 80’s, with TINA Thatcher, one of whose claims was that “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” Question: how do you know? For the leaders of the worlds Vicious Gangs of Armed Thugs (the corporate-political alliance), evidence is irrelevant.
And while the rest of us argue motivations, justifications, details, anticipated results, who-knew-what-when, etc., the VGATs get to work looking after themselves. Slam-dunk.
You write: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who took office as Iran’s president in August of 2005, two years after Iran’s nuclear weapons program ended, has now been vindicated in his claims that Iran has abandoned the weaponization program.
First of all, you, like everyone else, simply accept the statement from the current NIE that Iran had a nuclear weapons program that ended in 2003 as if it were established fact. It isn’t. See this post and its link to a FAIR article to elaborate on the fact that the existence of such a program is by no means established.
Then you say that Ahmadinejad “has now been vindicated in his claims that Iran has abandoned the weaponization program.” Can you document that assertion? As far as I know, Ahmadinejad and the entire Iranian leadership has always denied the existence of any such program or any desire for nuclear weapons, and has never claimed that they had “abandoned” such a program. Read statements here from Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khamenei for backup of my statements.
Claudius you better talk it over with a very good retired Federal judge or a constitutional lawyer and have your ducks lined up. Someone like John Dean for example.
I applaud your sense of duty and courage.
If Bush can somehow get gas below $3.00 a gallon all will be forgiven, GWs job ratings will improve ten-fold overnight and the memory-challenged public will have smiley faces. This lie and all the others will be forgotten, like have a nice day.
“The whole episode shows that our democratic system retains at least some essential checks and balances”
Actually, the only check and balance that seems to be working is an ‘Intelligence’ community that would have been considered an abomination by the Founding Fathers.
When the only check on a President who acts more like a dictator comes from the military and the intelligence agencies, then that just simply points out the fact that we are a long, long, LONG ways away from the land of freedom and the republic with checks and balances that our founding fathers thought they were establishing.
Kem Patrick,
Thanks for the recommendation. I definitely intend to talk with seasoned legal experts before I submit my formal document.
Yes, Mr Scheer does perpetuate the common excuses we hear for Democratic misbehavior. In this case, he tries to spin this as Democratic leaders being fooled.
If they were fooled, they were willingly fooled. Here’s just two reasons.
– I’m sure they could have gone and talked to Mr. ElBaradei any time they wanted. Or at the very least just simply listened to what he’s been trying to say very publicly for quite some time now.
– Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Why on earth would anyone believe anything coming out of this administration after the Iraq lies? Surely at some point a functioning adult, and especially one who wants to lead our nation, must be able to make some judgement as to the credibility of people. And a group of people who’d very publicly been caught lying to start one war must surely merit some disbelief when they begin lying to start another war.
Basically, the Dems are just recycling the same excuses they gave for why they support the Iraq war. Oh, the intel fooled us. But only if you couldn’t do any independent thought on your own.
Before Iraq, the inspectors had free access to the country, yet the Bush admin couldn’t lead them to one WMD site. Surely that should have raised some questions. Its rather obvious that the Dems who supported the Iraq war did so DESPITE the evidence that existed at the time. Its only now that they claim they were ‘fooled’. So now, after the IAEA was openly saying for a long time that they had no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, we again here this same BS from the Dems who claimed they were once again fooled into backing another war.
At the very least, shouldn’t people who are so easily fooled be rejected in their bids to be the leader of our nation.
Just from observing Ahmadinejad I can tell he is more decent than Bush.
To me Bush is lower than any criminal we have in our prisons, I don’t believe he is even human.
I don’t think so BARN BURNER. When he stole his exhaulted position, gas was about $1,18 a gallon. We had a well equipped, well staffed Army and National Guard. Our treasury had a nice surplus and we didn’t owe China nine trillion dollars.
Some of the worlds other populations respected us, we did have some credibility. We had a viable Constitution and the right of habius corpus, torture was forbidden. We were not spending one half of a million dollars every minute, with an unjust war with Iraq. Bush has a lot of sins to correct before we ever forgive him. Besides, he ia damn liar.
Just exactly how are you planning to recall the members of Congress. A quick check in google found this. Its on Sen Lugar’s website, but I don’t see any factual errors based on my understanding.
I like the idea of ‘recall’, as well as the idea of voter sponsored initiatives. Both are enhancements to democracy by breaking the monopoly on power that elected reps have while in office. But since there is no legal mechanism today for recalling a member of congress, I’m a bit confused about what your petition is for.
http://lugar.senate.gov/services/pdf_crs/Recall_of_Legislators_and_the_Removal_of_Members_of_Congress_from_Office.pdf
“As to removal by recall, the United States Constitution does not provide for nor
authorize the recall of United States officers such as Senators, Representatives, or the
President or Vice President, and thus no Member of Congress has ever been recalled
in the history of the United States. The recall of Members was considered during the
time of the drafting of the federal Constitution in 1787, but no such provisions were
included in the final version sent to the States for ratification, and the specific
drafting and ratifying debates indicate an express understanding of the Framers and
ratifiers that no right or power to recall a Senator or Representative from the United
States Congress exists under the Constitution. Although the Supreme Court has not
needed to directly address the subject of recall of Members of Congress, other
Supreme Court decisions, as well as the weight of other judicial and administrative
decisions, rulings and opinions, indicate that: (1) the right to remove a Member of
Congress before the expiration of his or her constitutionally established term of office
is one which resides exclusively in each House of Congress as established in the
expulsion clause of the United States Constitution, and (2) the length and number of
the terms of office for federal officials, established and agreed upon by the States in
the Constitution creating that Federal Government, may not be unilaterally changed
by an individual State, such as through the enactment of a recall provision or a term
limitation for a United States Senator or Representative.”
…412 days left of the shrub….
Perhaps I ought to clarify my point about holding members of Congress accountable. I am familiar with the Constitution, especially the part quoted above. The recall is exactly the procedure to which I was referring but did not openly state it because I suspect that the intelligent people who frequently post on CD understood what I implied. That is the proper and legal method of removing elected officials. If an elected officer is dirilect in his/her duty there also is mandate for removal of that person from office, and that has to come from the people. I am willing to get it started, but others will have to follow.
And I should add, the intelligent people who occasionally post on CD
I’ve known from the moment the Supreme Court appointed him president that the Bush presidency has never had anything to do with Intelligence. Lately, I can’t even hear a word he says since his head is lodged so firmly up his rectum. Now I’m going to take a nice long nap. Somebody please awaken me when George, Dick, and their band of neocon thugs are all cold and safely planted in the ground.
The primary point of my petition really is to formally accuse George W. Bush of commiting treason and request he be formally charged. The accusation of a complicit Congress may have to come later.
“But whether or not the intelligence agencies are reformed, the president still ignores them.”
This being the case, why does Congress continue to spend $$multi-billions of tax payers dollars to fund intelligence agencies while Bush will only accept their findings if they support his “executive privilege” or what some would call his dictator agenda?
ROBERT SCHEER LOOKS FOR ANSWERS:
“Daddy, why are our leading presidential candidates so easily fooled?”
Robbie, I think you’re old enough to hear the truth now. All those Democrats you believe in, and the “candidates,” they haven’t been fooled at all. Except for a very few, your Democrats have been complicit in the war crimes that have killed over a million innocent people. They are fully behind the president and his agenda. Brace yourself, this is going to hurt: They care more about their careers then they do about anything else, including you, Robbie.
Aw, come on now, don’t start crying. It reminds me too much of when you found out there wasn’t a Santa Claus. Now, go to your room and cry it out. You’ll be stronger in the morning.
ROBERT SCHEER LOOKS FOR ANSWERS:
“Daddy, why are our leading presidential candidates so easily fooled?”
Robbie, I think you’re old enough to hear the truth now. All those Democrats you believe in, and the “candidates,” they haven’t been fooled at all. Except for a very few, your Democrats have been complicit in the war crimes that have killed over a million innocent people. They are fully behind the president and his agenda. Brace yourself, this is going to hurt: They care more about their careers then they do about anything else, including you Robbie.
Aw, come on now, what’s with the tears? Be a big boy. You’re acting like you did when I finally had to tell you that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Now, go to your room and cry it out. You’ll be stronger in the morning.
Bush/Cheney’s coverup of the NIE report, even as they continued to lie and beat the drums for war, should be sufficient basis for impeachment, conviction, and removal from office.
How many times can Dubya cry wolf before people stop listening to him? Frankly, given his accepting false intelligence on Iraq and failing to follow up on that August 2001 PDB about bin Laden being determined to attack inside the US, I find it hard to believe anything that comes out of this man’s lying, mendacious mouth.
All this saber rattling against Iran is doing nothing to help bring about Middle East peace. And it’s downright irresponsible to threaten WWIII as he has. That kind of language is incendiary and dangerous and has no place coming from the US. All it’s going to accomplish is to rile up our enemies even more and make them even more determined to do harm to our country.
Does the word “diplomacy” mean anything to this administration? Just what exactly is Condi’s job, anyway? If this administration continues its course of refusal to talk to countries like Iran and Syria, then there can be no hope for any kind of peace in Iraq or the greater Middle East.
Can we please just impeach this incompetent, dangerous administration NOW before it does anymore irreparable damage to this country? Please? Pretty please? What more does this administration have to do before impeachment goes back “on the table”? Oh, I forgot, you need an illicit sexual encounter in the Oval Office….So where’s that little blue dress, huh?
Hi Daniel David
Ahmadinejad was 100% off on his “no homosexuals in Iran” statement.
I have no idea if he really believes that, or if he was lying. Either way, we can all agree it’s absurd.
Now can we get past THAT dumb statement to the real and very serious issues of LIFE AND DEATH?
He never (YES, NEVER) denied the Holocaust. What he said was that the Holocaust had nothing to do with establishing a Zionist state which displaced the Palestinians.
You may agree or agree with his opinion, but by parroting the Western Media’s intentional twisting of the words, you are adding fuel to a very big fire.
BTW: Being a liberal atheist woman, I have a lot of issues with ALL fundamental religious leaders, INCLUDING Mr. Ahmadinejad, so this is not a defense of his religious opinions, which I totally disagree with.
However, I do not believe he has a hatred of Jews, but is understandably pissed off about Israel’s abuse of Palestinians.
I am a member of several peace groups, including ones based in Israel run by Israelis. We’ve all noticed that right-wingers automatically use the “anti-semitic” tag when anyone disagrees with Israeli policies. And if they are Jewish, then they are labeled “self-hating Jews”.
I am not saying you are a right-winger. But the media distorts translations to suit their needs. There are are English translations of his statement online, but if you want proof, find and impartial academic who speaks Farsi and have them translate the speech.
Ostrogoth wrote: “That fanatical leader of a theocracy was fairly elected in direct elections…”
Actually, he wasn’t. Before the balloting the clerics banned candidates they deemed too liberal. Imagine if “Focus on the Family” could ban any candidates it wanted. What would we have left?
Bush knew there were no weapons of mass destruction and he knows that Iran is nowhere near producing a bomb, but our president is a pathological killer, and he is only happy when people are dying, he loves mass murder, mass death. Death is his orgasm.
The Democrats should know this, especially Nancy Pelosi, and her failure to institute impeachment proceedings makes her complicit in the crimes of George Bush. Shame, Shame, and shame on America.
SallyUUK, Bush told Condi to get burn it in the fireplace. He’s dumb but not THAT dumb.
The president of Iran has minimal power. The clerics rule entirely. Reagan with Iran - contra and Bush the inferior with his foreign policy lunacy and Iraq war have secured the cleric’s position as dictators destroying the democratic oppositions small foothold in Iran.
This is not a coincidence. Demons are needed to suppress our rights and engage in enough fear mongering to distract us while the corporate elite rob us blind.
OK,I’ve been told that I am guilty of wishful thinking, but can we just skip impeachment and go directly to the lamp posts? These guys are world class criminals and deserve to at least be sent to the Hague. I believe that they intend to bomb Iran in part to provoke an Iranian response that would give them an excuse to declare an emergency and suspend the electoral process. That sort of talk has been considered “wing nut”, but I notice that other voices are now discussing the possibility. I think that we don’t even suspect a fraction of the crimes that they have commited, and that they cannot relinquish power because they know that once the “Justice Dept” is out of their hands evidence will come to light and that the American people will be so outraged that they will lose their freedom and their loot. A friend says that worse crimes have been forgiven by a successor administration, and the Lord knows we have commited a lot. But whether it is to rally the public around their flag drapped party, divert our attention from the Iraq and Afghanistan failures, or just steal Iranian oil, what should be obvious by now is that Bush and his coterie of criminals are determined to attack Iran. The imminent mushroom cloud argument worked before, so they cranked it up again, but it isn’t as if they ever believed it themselves, it was just part of the sales pitch. Now they’ve been caught in another lie, but it just means that they will have to put more emphasis on the “Revolutionary Guard training and material support for Terrorists killing American Soldiers” angle. But they will attack Iran, unless they are impeached first.
I’ve seen speculation that the military brass might refuse to obey orders. It would be a pretty sad commentary on our vaunted democracy if the only thing that could save us is a military putsch.
If Moveon.org weren’t sold out to “Impeachment Is Off the Table” Dems like Pelosi, Conyers and Reid, we might have been able to hope that they would sponsor a full-page ad in the New York Times with Bush and Cheney’s visages on it, along with four words:
IMPEACH THESE TRAITORS NOW
Maybe another organization will have the moral strength and courage to do so. I’m sure many thousands of us would help defray the costs of such a civic-minded effort.
Ostrogoth wrote: “That fanatical leader of a theocracy was fairly elected in direct elections…”
Militantliberal wrote: “Actually, he wasn’t. Before the balloting the clerics banned candidates they deemed too liberal. Imagine if ‘Focus on the Family’ could ban any candidates it wanted. What would we have left?”
Militantliberal, if “Focus on the Family” could ban any candidates it wanted we’d be left with a religious fanatic like Bush. Currently we have state governments refusing ballot access to third parties and a president who lost the popular election. The point I was making is that Americans have no right to boast about democracy, even to Iranian extremists. Americans preach democracy but practice fascism and imperialism at home and abroad; a prime example being the Shah’s reign of terror in Iran that aborted Iranian democracy and empowered the current crop of Iranian radicals.
Our problem runs much deeper than naive Democrats getting fooled by big bad Republicans.
It appears to me that this government, over at least the last three administrations, has given credence to information about the Middle East ONLY when that originates in Israel or Egypt (which coincides with the areas where we spend the most foreign aid $$$). Which is pretty damned illogical. There were plenty of voices very close to Saddam Hussein spreading the word that the WMDs in Iraq were gone: no one here listened. Ex-pres. Khatami of Iran has issued plenty of instructive comment about his country: again no one here listened. This despite the fact that Iran proved quite helpful to the U.S. in the aftermath of 9/11. And, as Khatami has said over and over again, Iran and the U.S. hold an important piece of common ground: neither state wants anything to do with a Sunni jihadist terror movement.
Who really gains from this deafness and stupidity? I find that answer elusive.
Onlooker Tel Aviv.
When I got to the phrase in Scheer’s essay, “…the fanatical leader of a theocracy…” I first thought that the writer was referring to our present “leader.” To me Bush comes close to matching that description as much as or more than some others whom the press describe in that manner. If Bush and his minions had their way we would be a theocracy of immense proportions and harm. And some of those in the running for ‘08 would still like to take us there. This experiment in democracy can still fail, and if it does it will be religious fanaticism that will do the major part of the work of pulling us down.
Actually we cannot all agree that “Ahmadinejad was 100% off on his, “no homosexuals in Iran”” statement because he never said that. He was saying that the homosexuals in Iran are not like the American homosexuals. Keeping a lower profile might be considered one difference. It has also been pointed out that he never said the “the Holocaust is a myth” and as for his other infamous quote, “Israel should be wiped from the map” he never said that either. An accurate translation should read, “The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time”. Lots of people call for regime change, even in the good old US of A.
So there are many differences between Iran and America. To expect Ahmadinejad to act and speak like an American is like expecting Bush Jr. to act and speak like a President.
Every word that issues from the mouth of this man Bush freezes in mid air as a cold hard lie. The words crash to the floor shattering into a thousand pieces as he smugly walks away from the press corps who then scurry around trying to patch together the rapidly melting nonsense.
Then, strangely, the pundits actually try to carry on a serious discussion, over what? It’s all a charade, the discussion is over.
A vicious circle:
CIA -> Wall St -> News Corps. You can start anywhere.
If we had reality-based news (Iran HAS signed the NPT) it would be a different country in the middle east under sanctions & inspections: Israel.
And again for all the demonizing coverage of Iran’s prez you’ve got to conclude that he’s a CIA plant.
preyorpray
“Why are our leading presidential candidates so easily fooled?”
Easily fooled? You must be joking. They are crooks, and it goes to support what I’ve been saying on many occasions on CD repeatedly, to wit:
1) Vote out all incumbents, regardless of whether they are crooks, or naïve and easily fooled.
2) Insist that fraudulent voting machines are replaced with the ones that give paper trails, like the ones recently useed in Venezuela.
3) Call in the UN election monitors.
Only this way we’ll make sure that we’re not the ones easily fooled again.
American’s debate the choices before them:
S o r r y _ k i d s, Mommy and Daddy have some bad new for you
Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
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« There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed »
liberty:
Not Tel Aviv, surely. With friends like this, who needs enemies?
“Why are our leading presidential candidates so easily fooled?’
i guess it is scheer who is so easily fooled. or maybe some candidates are fooled. the worst ones are like hillary who has to act like she believes the lies about iran because it is what aipac wants her to do. they pay and she has to dance to their chosen tune and sing their lyrics: iran is a terrorist country, israel’s bombs are much nicer than possible ones in iran.
poor aipac puppet(s)
Speaking of elections, what have the Doormat Democrats done to ensure the upcoming presidential election is not rigged (again)? Republicans own the voting machines, but the Dems don’t seem too concerned about another dishonest election. But then I guess it really doesn’t matter to them whether they win or not; they’ll just go along with whatever the Republicans want just as they always do.
The state department is now a shill for the pentagon.
bfearn..well said
Nukes are a red herring. The reasons for attacking Iran are the same as for Iraq. Access to oil and keeping China from building close alliances in the Middle East which they could use to control who gets the last drops of oil when we start running out
In Iraq, WMD worked as a pretext. In Iran, they figured they can not play the WMD card again, so they came up with the Kyl-Lieberman amendment in September, designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Not to say destroying Irans nuclear program is not a motive, but it is not the main one. And if you read the NIE report, you would see that while they have a very high confidence in the program being stopped as of summer, this drops to moderate confidence (hint-not high) that Iran has not restarted it as of October 31. Furthermore, they still have the centrifuges that are being installed which could highly enrich the uranium if they choose, and they need HEU for any nukes . So assuming Cheneys 1% doctrine is still in play, there is every reason to believe Iran is still on the table.
Our involvement would probably require an attack by Iran, real or staged, as a pretext. It may not happen on Bush’s watch as it could be that the decision has been made to let Hillary do Iran in 2009. Every President needs to pay their debt to the financial-corporate oligarchy by starting a war in return for being hired, so she will pay up if Bush does not go first.
There is a nation that has profited heavily from the destuction of Iraq at the cost of campaign contributions to both parties. It is the only nation in the Mideast that advocates the urgent need for attacking Iran.
Americans are too damn stupid to connect the dots and see that their government is composed of puppets to a foriegn power and the strings lead right to Tel Aviv. It probably has been noted by many in the Middle East that John “Death Squad” Negroponte who was part of the Iran-Contra-Israel sale of arms to fund death squads in Nicarauga was sent to Iraq followed immediately by an pronounced increase in sectarian violence.
If the Sunni’s and the Shia were concentrating on killing each other they wouldn’t be demanding real soveriegnity and control over their own oil fields. Instead Iraq’s puppet government somehow manages to lose monthly production and oil sales data. Wouldn’t it be nice for Halliburton and Blackwater if Iran was set up like Iraq is now?
Denial of the facts has always been the first and most favored option of the zionists.
Consider that Western banks (and corpo-rupto-fascist multinationals) use interest rates for extreme manipulative control and subjugation of 3rd world debt - and thereby most of the 3rd world people’s gov’ts and natural resources.
Consider that no-interest loans from IRAN’s Muslim banks, would create a market replacement for Western control of all 3rd world nations, and inject positive spending on internal education, health, as well as nationalization of each countries own resources - for their profits (not Western “investors”).
Having smart, wealthy, informed colonist didn’t work out too well for the British either in India or the USA, and the drum beat is familiar by now.
Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world »
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed »
Funny how despite this revelation, we’re not seeing anyone mention removing sanctions that were put in place over Iran’s uranium enrichment. In fact, I think some people still want us to press ahead for even harsher ones…justification or not.
We really ought to do a better job of screening our candidates for high office for pre-existing psychological disorders. Geroge W. Bush is medically unqualified to be president.
The title of this article should have read “It Turns Out Iranians Were the Saner Ones”.
Forget the fact that MA told the truth in 2003. Forget that he has a tendency to spout imflammatory nonsense from time to time. Forget the fact that he’s loony enough to visit Q/A sessions on ‘enemy’ soil.
Don’t ever forget that fact MA isn’t the real power in Iran, the mullahs are. And they’re also tired of MA’s behaviour.
In sum, the Iranians have a saner foreign policy than the US regardless of a loose-cannon amidst their ranks.
What else is new.
and where are those preferrable Democrats who sat on their hands, propped him up and now claim we will stay in Iraq until the foreseeable future and continue to legitimitize him.
Yet we are advised they are not so bad? Why should we support those who may mouth disdain, but when it comes down to the wire, give him free rein and expect us to rally behind them.
Forget it.
Oh, and they are under his desk of course…
Imagine the footage of the church begging for mercy for the life of Karla Faye Tucker fading into Bush mocking Karla Fay’s appeal. Fade into Bush guffawing and searching for the WMD under his desk fading into images of bloody corpses, tortured Iraqis, flag drapped caskets unloaded in the dark…fade into the flag waving and the message “got pride?”
zionist says: “Peak oil leads to peak water from peak population…”
Thus the necessity of “transfer”, huh?
http://www.fromoccupiedpalestine.org/node/613
I would like to submit that the one candidate which isn’t going along with this nonesense is Ron Paul. He has no ulterior motives to create a war, he’s not in a lot of lobbyists pockets (who are the real force behind the current adminstrations inertia toward war and more war). And he sees the current circumstances for what they realy are, not what the power elite want the public to see.
KARLOF1, DEEPA, BALAKIREV, COMARC & RETIRED: Excellent insights.
I had the privilege of viewing BUYING WAR as hosted by Bill Moyers PBS special last Friday night. One very important exposure made by the documentary was how few spoke up WHEN IT MATTERED, i.e. before the war with Iraq got underway. The film was especially damning of Powell who used his credentials to help forge the false basis for war, “the data being fixed” as we know from Downing Street memo.
It is the same issue now. How many place their personal comfort zone, cushy salary and perks in front of DOING THE RIGHT THING for posterity, others’ lives and the nation? This is where the understanding of reincarnation & the law of karma is so important. Selfish types like Powell LITERALLY have the blood of a million innocents on their hands, for what? Having a nice car and fancy home? “The wages of sin” as pontificated by Baptist ministers is not too far off from the understanding of the LAW of karma. When so much is at stake, when a decision literally holds the security of many lives in the balance, to act on behalf of the narrow interests of self is the greatest of sins. It lasts lifetimes! Payback is a bitch, but balance is the name of the cosmic game: “As above, so below,” style. Courage is a wonderful thing if used for its intended purposes.
Hi zionist,
Maybe we are getting somewhere from your last post no matter what you want us to think you are.
You Said: “Bechtel an Halliburton ,skull and bones, illuminati, they are white nazi like groups that own the fossil fuel network. Not Zionist influenced at all. What a load of deflecting BS.”
These groups are all involved with supporting Israel’s land grabs and billions of grants every Year…. Now if you are showing some shame for allowing Israel to become a Stooge for Western domination of the Middle East, maybe we can work something out for peace even with Zionists… You sound like The Iran Prez, Ahmedinegad with that comment because you are correct that these guys who support Israel’s occupation and wars with it’s neighbors are the modern Nazis. It was these guys who supported Hitler and the Holocaust… these bad guys have not changed at all… you are correct on that and greed and Oil is still their thing.
I never thought I could ever agree with a Zionist on much but maybe we stumbled on something here Eh?
Zionist, What the Arabs do in their own country is their problem and with a track record like the Zionists since 1945 you have nothing to brag about. I served in Palestine in 1947 trying to control a load of Zionist terrorists who were hell bent on stealing the Arab land and they are still doing it. Isreal should be forced back to the 1967 borders but with the Bush gang in Washington that’s unlikely.
Why are people surprised when they discover Bush is telling more lies when he couldn’t tell the truth if it was to his advantage.
You are the Chosen People? Chosen for what?
If you desire to control me zionist, you are chosen for failure. My grandma Cohen always thought that Zionists were crazy people and you seem to perpetuate that reputation with many things you say…. However I do agree with you that renewable energy is the key to peace in a big way.
I don’t think many Common Dreamers like the way The Saudis rule their people anymore than how Israel is treating Palestine and people of Gaza.
But it is possible that Israel can work out a peace finally for the good of all… and the USA can’t afford these Imperial wars any more. We all gotta change but if you want to wait for Oil to be gone before we have peace, that will not happen for a long time.
If you really want to control the USA, maybe you will have to start giving us the billions, Eh?
Now if you are The Chosen People to make Peace, now is the time!