Helen Thomas: Bush Causes Whiplash By Saying Bad Intel Made Good Decision

[MSgt213]

Bush Causes Whiplash By Saying Bad Intel Made Good Decision
If War Was Right, For Who?
by Helen Thomas


President George W. Bush poses a curious contradiction: He admits his decision to attack Iraq was based on faulty intelligence, but he insists that it was the right step to take.

"My decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision," he told an audience at the Woodrow Wilson International Center on Dec. 14.

Well, let's think about that: 2,161 Americans killed in action; thousands maimed for life; 30,000 Iraqis, "more or less," as Bush put it, have been killed and thousands more wounded.

Iraqi cities have been battered by U.S. bombing, car bombings, kidnappings and religious strife. Don't forget the billions in U.S. tax dollars spent every month on the war.

Top American officials can only sneak into Iraq, unannounced or undercover and heavily protected in armored vehicles -- not exactly as conquering heroes.

Was this war worth it, and for whom? For the families who will never see their sons and daughters again? For the children who may never climb on their fathers' knees again?

How about the Iraqis who were subjected to a "shock and awe" unprovoked attack that has left parts of their country destroyed and a colonial-style takeover by the U.S.?

Was it worth it for the thousands of anonymous detainees -- neither charged, tried nor convicted -- in U.S.-run prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Baghdad, and Bagram, Afghanistan, some subjected to torture and some who died in the hands of their captors?

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1224-28.htm

[Olney Blue]

1. Helen nails it.

Also in article:

"I know that some of my decisions have led to terrible loss -- and not one of those decisions has been taken lightly," Bush declared. "I know this war is controversial -- yet being your president requires doing what I believe is right and accepting the consequences."

He added he has "never been more certain that America's actions in Iraq are essential to the security of our citizens."

It is good that he has taken the blame, relieving the historians of making that decision -- not that it would have been a tough call for them.

But Bush will never be able to admit that the invasion was a mistake. How could he look into the faces of parents of a killed GI and tell them that their son or daughter died because of his mistake?

[bammertheblue]

2. Helen always nails it

She's my hero, because she gives everyone crap, regardless of their party affiliation, which I think is just what we need. EVERYONE should be accountable.

[Demeter]

3. His Taking Responsibility Will Make Job that Much Easier for Lawyers

when he's brought to the Hague in cuffs. By the next US constitutional government.

[MadisonProgressive]

4. Why send him to the Hague when we can send him to Baghdad?