This took place today at a rare Press Conference Bush gave in the White House Press room. Helen Thomas asked him a simple question.
"Why did you really want to go to war from the moment you stepped into the White House?"
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This took place today at a rare Press Conference Bush gave in the White House Press room. Helen Thomas asked him a simple question.
"Why did you really want to go to war from the moment you stepped into the White House?"
This is a well documented fact. "It was all about finding a way to do it" says Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. Ron Suskind, a Wall Street Journal reporter, interviewed Paul O'Neill, and was told that's what it was all about in early 2001. Finding a "way" to invade Iraq.
Everyone is familiar with the PNAC's "Rebuilding America's Defenses".
Everyone is familiar with this quote...
"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor."
But what does it say in the rest of the document?
Here are some interesting tidbits...
"Although the no-fly zone air operations over northern and southern Iraq have continued without pause for almost a decade, they remain an essential element in U.S. strategy and force posture in the Persian Gulf Region. Ending these operations would hand Saddam Hussein an important victory, something any American leader would be loath to do."
Here's a great one...
"While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein."
And another...
"After eight years of no-fly zone operations, there is little reason to anticipate that the U.S. air presence in the region should diminish significantly as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power. Although Saudi domestic sensibilities demand that the forces based in the Kingdom nominally remain rotational forces, it has become apparent that this is now a semi-permanent mission. From an American perspective, the value of such bases would endure even should Saddam pass from the scene."
So why did the President lie to Helen?
Is it because if the President wanted to invade Iraq before 9/11, and the only way he could do so was by something like a "catastrophic and catalyzing event" taking place, and then something like 9/11 DOES happen...
Doesn't that make him a suspect?
Hmmmm...